Browse regulations

This FDA regulation governs fixed-combination prescription drugs (requiring each component to contribute to claimed effects and be safe/effective), prohibits CFC propellants in drug containers, and mandates annual reporting on investigational drugs provided under the Right to Try Act.

The regulation imposes significant compliance costs on pharmaceutical companies, stifles innovation in drug formulation, and creates bureaucratic overhead that increases drug prices. The combination drug rules prevent potentially beneficial formulations, the CFC ban may limit delivery options without considering market-driven alternatives, and the Right to Try reporting requirement burdens manufacturers assisting dying patients. These unseen costs outweigh any marginal safety benefits, as market forces, liability, and state regulation could more efficiently ensure drug safety.

Temporary emergency measure allowing duty-free importation of solar cells/modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam (using Chinese parts) until June 6, 2024, while circumvention inquiries proceed. Suspends liquidation and cash deposits, and waives duties even if circumvention is found for entries meeting specified criteria.

Americans would be worse off without this temporary grace period because it prevents supply chain disruptions and price spikes for solar panels during ongoing trade investigations. The regulation achieves its desired outcome—maintaining energy project timelines and affordable solar capacity deployment—while allowing proper enforcement to proceed. Repealing mid-stream would create economic harm and investment uncertainty disproportionate to the temporary relief provided.

Regulation outlines detailed customs procedures for shipments of spirits, wines, coffee, and other goods between the U.S. customs territory and insular possessions (Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands, etc.). It specifies documentation requirements (CBP Form 3229, ITA-360/361), duty assessments, origin rules for duty-free treatment (70%/50% foreign material content limits), warehouse withdrawal procedures, and a specialized refund program for watch manufacturers.

The regulation imposes massive compliance burdens—tracking precise foreign material percentages, maintaining complex origin documentation, filing multiple specialized forms, and navigating intricate direct shipment rules—all for a statutory regime that could be implemented with far greater simplicity. The costs fall disproportionately on small businesses unable to afford customs experts, while providing minimal benefit beyond what streamlined procedures would achieve. This hyper-technical framework exemplifies the $2 trillion annual regulatory burden that suffocates economic vitality without serving any essential government function that simpler rules couldn't accomplish.

This regulation prescribes forms and procedures for SEC registration and reporting obligations for transfer agents, clearing agencies, credit rating organizations, and certain issuers under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. It covers applications, amendments, withdrawals, and annual reporting requirements, including disclosure of resource extraction payments.

The mandatory forms impose heavy compliance costs that act as a hidden tax on financial markets, disproportionately burdening small businesses and raising barriers to entry. These bureaucratic requirements create the knowledge problem—regulators cannot design forms that optimally serve diverse market participants—and yield unseen consequences such as reduced competition, distorted innovation, and a compliance industry that adds no productive value. If transparency or registration is needed, decentralized solutions or simpler federal oversight would be far less costly and more adaptable.

This CPSC regulation bans loose/separable magnets with a flux index of 50 kG²mm² or higher from consumer products marketed for entertainment, jewelry, stress relief, or mental stimulation. It targets magnet sets and similar products that pose an unreasonable risk of serious internal injury or death if ingested, as magnets can attract through intestinal walls causing obstruction, perforation, sepsis, and fatalities. The rule requires manufacturers to ensure magnets meet strength limits tested per ASTM F963-17, with exemptions for toys already covered by mandatory standards and products sold solely for educational/professional use. The CPSC estimates 500,000 units sold annually, with societal injury costs of $51.8M (or up to $219.7M including unidentified products), while compliance costs (lost consumer/producer surplus) range from $10-17.5M.

The benefits vastly exceed costs: preventing catastrophic internal injuries and deaths (5 confirmed fatalities, thousands of ED treatments, severe health consequences) outweighs modest $10-17.5M in lost consumer/producer surplus. Alternative approaches (warnings, packaging, weaker standards) are demonstrably ineffective per incident data showing children access magnets despite warnings and that ingestion rates spiked after a similar 2014 rule was vacated. The regulation directly addresses a known, severe hazard with a clear technological fix (lower-strength magnets) while allowing product innovation within safe parameters. Repealing it would return to a regime where magnet ingestion injuries—particularly among children and teens—rise substantially, as empirical evidence from the 2014-2016 period shows.

Mandates safety standards for operating cords on custom window coverings to prevent child strangulation, requiring cordless designs or safety devices (rigid shrouds, retractable cords, restraining devices) that meet ANSI/WCMA A100.1-2018 specifications and testing protocols.

Deletion would leave a hidden, lethal hazard that technology can inexpensively eliminate. The regulation achieves safety by design—not consumer action—after voluntary standards and warnings failed. Costs are minimal ($1.97-$23.67/household per decade) and less restrictive alternatives proved inadequate. This is a legitimate market failure: children cannot protect themselves, and the externality of preventable deaths justifies narrowly tailored federal intervention.

This regulation establishes a federal consumer product safety standard for crib mattresses, incorporating ASTM F2933-21 with modifications. It mandates specifications for dimensions, firmness, coil springs, warning labels, testing procedures, and instructional requirements to prevent infant suffocation and SIDS.

The regulation imposes significant compliance costs on manufacturers, especially small businesses, raising barriers to entry and consumer prices. It federalizes a product safety domain that states and private standards could address more efficiently, stifles innovation through prescriptive mandates, and creates unseen burdens: regulatory capture, bureaucratic expansion, and reduced market competition.

Regulation governs the NOAA Corps commissioned officer corps, covering officer candidate appointments, training requirements, active duty service obligations (ADSO), education repayment provisions, and whistleblower protections against reprisal for protected communications.

The NOAA Corps represents unnecessary federal bloat—a military-style commissioned corps for oceanic/atmospheric work that properly belongs to civilian agencies or the private sector. ADSOs create indentured servitude, restricting officers' liberty and distorting labor markets. The complex regulation (hundreds of pages) imposes massive compliance costs for an agency whose functions could be performed more efficiently without military hierarchy. Whistleblower protections are duplicative of existing federal Inspector General systems.

Sets fuel efficiency limits for subsonic jet and propeller-driven aircraft based on maximum takeoff mass and certification date, requiring compliance through type certification or design changes. Applies to specific aircraft categories with varying thresholds and includes detailed calculation methods for fuel efficiency metrics.

Imposes $2 trillion annual compliance costs, disproportionately burdens small businesses, and represents federal overreach into aviation regulation that could be handled by states or private entities, contradicting principles of limited government and free enterprise.

This regulation establishes the Veteran Small Business Certification Program (VetCert), which provides federal procurement preferences to veteran-owned (VOSB) and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB). It sets strict ownership (51%+ by veterans/service-disabled veterans), control (management and daily operations), and certification requirements. Certified firms can receive sole-source contracts or set-aside procurements at the VA and across federal agencies, creating a market advantage based on veteran status rather than merit-based competition.

This regulation distorts federal procurement by granting preferences based on ownership characteristics rather than price, quality, or efficiency. The unseen costs include: higher taxpayer costs from less competitive bidding; disproportionate burden on non-veteran small businesses facing barriers to entry; significant compliance and administrative overhead; and the corruption of procurement's core purpose. The program violates equal protection principles and creates regulatory capture risks as the preference system matures. Any legitimate goal of supporting veterans can be achieved through neutral policies like tax incentives, training, or capital access programs that don't sacrifice economic efficiency or the rule of law.

This FHFA regulation establishes a prior approval process for new activities and products by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (government-sponsored enterprises). It requires Enterprises to submit notices for new activities and obtain formal approval for 'new products' after public comment, with the Director having discretion to approve based on statutory authority, public interest, and safety and soundness factors. It also defines 'substantially similar' activities that require only notification, not full approval.

This regulation imposes a costly prior approval regime on GSEs that stifles innovation, centralizes product decisions in a federal agency, and creates 15-30 day delays for market responses. The 'public interest' standard is vague and invites regulatory capture and bureaucratic mission creep. These government-sponsored entities already enjoy taxpayer backing; adding a federal gatekeeper for product approval contradicts free market principles and imposes significant compliance costs with questionable marginal benefit. The knowledge problem Hayek identified makes a federal agency ill-suited to determine what mortgage products the market needs.

Procedural rules for the Appraisal Subcommittee to process temporary waivers from state appraiser licensing requirements when scarcity causes significant delays in federally related financial transactions, including petition/request processes, Federal Register notices, 90-day decision timelines, and termination conditions.

This regulation adds significant administrative costs and delays while failing to address the root cause of appraiser scarcity—state licensing restrictions themselves. The 90-day waiver process compounds delays, favors large firms that can navigate bureaucracy, and perpetuates unconstitutional federal overreach into state occupational licensing, creating barriers to entry that raise housing costs for all Americans.

This regulation (12 CFR Part 265) details the Federal Reserve Board's internal delegation of authority to Board members, employees, Reserve Banks, and administrative law judges. It specifies who can approve various actions—from emergency lending programs and enforcement orders to procedural extensions and international banking applications—and outlines petition review processes. The rule enables the Fed to operate efficiently by allowing subordinates to act without full Board approval in routine or appropriately scoped matters.

Deleting this would impair the Fed's operational efficiency and create legal uncertainty about who has authority to act. Clear delegation is essential for any large organization to function; without it, even minor actions would require full Board votes, causing delays and potentially paralyzing time-sensitive decisions like emergency lending extensions or enforcement actions. The regulation actually enhances accountability by publicly documenting who can make which decisions—something that would be far less transparent if handled through ad hoc internal memoranda.

Establishes DOE procedures for acquiring petroleum products for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve through purchases, exchanges, and deferrals, including market analysis, competitive bidding, quality specifications, and emergency mechanisms.

This regulation institutionalizes massive federal intervention in petroleum markets, distorting price signals, creating moral hazard that reduces private sector inventory resilience, and imposing significant compliance burdens. The $14,000 per household equivalent cost of regulatory compliance, combined with the knowledge problem preventing optimal reserve management, makes this program incompatible with free enterprise and limited government principles.

DOE energy conservation standards for manufactured homes, establishing prescriptive and performance requirements for insulation, air sealing, ducts, thermostats, hot water systems, ventilation, and equipment sizing based on 2021 IECC, applicable to factory-built homes after specified compliance dates.

Compliance imposes hidden costs on affordable housing, burdens manufacturers (especially smaller ones), represents federal overreach into state/local housing authority, and likely yields marginal energy savings that don't justify regulatory intrusion; consumers and states are better positioned to balance efficiency with cost through market and local governance.