Browse regulations

EPA emission standards for nonroad compression-ignition engines (model year 1996+) originally under this part have been migrated to 40 CFR part 1039, with testing/compliance provisions in parts 1065 and 1068.

Obsolete regulation superseded by relocation to part 1039; original standards impose costly centralized control, heavy compliance burdens on small businesses, and distort markets—flaws unchanged by mere renumbering.

The regulation aligns Clean Fuel Fleet Program standards with current EPA emission standards, automatically deeming vehicles meeting modern requirements as qualifying for clean-fuel vehicle credits. It specifies that current vehicle standards exceed the older Clean Fuel Fleet thresholds, thus vehicles compliant with parts 86 or 1036 qualify as Ultra Low-Emission or Inherently Low-Emission Vehicles, with additional provisions for Zero Emission Vehicles.

Deleting this rule would impose unnecessary administrative burdens on states and businesses, requiring separate certification for obsolete standards that are already exceeded by modern vehicles, while providing no meaningful reduction in compliance costs or expansion of liberty.

Implements cap-and-trade for hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, phasing down production/consumption through a federal allowance system with strict limits, reporting, labeling, and enforcement mechanisms.

Imposes massive compliance costs on businesses—disproportionately harming small firms—while creating a centrally-planned allocation system vulnerable to regulatory capture. The federal government lacks constitutional authority to regulate greenhouse gases, violating Tenth Amendment federalism. Unseen costs include stifled innovation, higher consumer prices, and bureaucratic expansion. Market-based solutions through property rights and tort law would address any legitimate harms more effectively without sacrificing liberty.

Regulation establishes procedural requirements for submitting compromise offers to the Postal Service, mandating written submissions, unconditional deposits with designated accounting officials, and delivery to the demanding office while rejecting conditional 'settlement in full' checks unless accompanied by a waiver.

This regulation imposes unnecessary bureaucratic complexity on citizens and businesses seeking to settle debts with the Postal Service. It creates a compliance burden requiring precise knowledge of procedural rules that can derail legitimate compromise attempts. The Postal Service—as a government entity operating with monopoly power—should handle compromise offers through standard business practices without forcing the public to navigate arcane deposit requirements and endorsement restrictions. The administrative overhead of processing these deposits, tracking them, and returning rejected ones represents wasted resources, while the 'unconditional tender' requirement protects agency interests at the expense of fair negotiation. Such procedural minutiae belong in internal agency guidance, not the Code of Federal Regulations.

39 CFR Part 320 creates narrow suspensions of the Private Express Statutes, allowing private carriage of letters for data processing, university internal mail, ocean documents, extremely urgent letters, ads with merchandise, and foreign-bound letters, subject to conditions like time limits, notifications, record-keeping, and markings.

The regulation entrenches the USPS monopoly by providing limited exceptions, imposing compliance costs that hurt small carriers, distort markets, and legitimize government-granted privilege. It siphons resources into enforcement and stifles political pressure for full repeal.

This regulation (39 CFR 259) authorizes USPS to provide nonpostal services to federal agencies and the Red Cross, including specialized data collection like Housing Vacancy Surveys for the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. It establishes reimbursement procedures, coordination requirements, and restrictions on data disclosure, while also formalizing disaster relief cooperation with the Red Cross involving change-of-address information sharing.

USPS is being improperly used as a subordinate data collection agency for other federal functions. The Housing Vacancy Surveys represent a clear mission creep beyond constitutional postal authority—turning postal employees into federal Census Bureau workers. The reimbursement mechanism creates shadow spending that bypasses congressional appropriations transparency. Even the Red Cross cooperation, while benign, sets precedent for expanding USPS's role beyond core postal services. This violates constitutional federalism, creates unfair advantages for federal agencies over private survey firms, and erodes the principle that government agencies should have clear statutory authorization for their core functions. The unseen cost is perpetual mission creep that transforms USPS into a general-purpose government service provider, crowding out private alternatives and undermining limited government.

USPS internal operational rules covering facility management, public access, lost property, service of process, and display prohibitions.

Deletion would reduce public convenience (locked restrooms, unclear hours, inadequate letter drops), impair administrative efficiency (lost property handling, service of process), and allow wasteful spending on political displays. These low-cost, uniform standards ensure consistent public service across thousands of facilities.

USPS emergency preparedness and military liaison: Chief Inspector serves as Emergency Coordinator and military liaison; establishes succession planning; requires postmasters to comply with civil preparedness plans and participate in local emergency training.

Ensures continuity of essential postal services during emergencies, critical for delivery of medicines, government communications, and supplies; without coordinated planning, disruptions would be more severe and response fragmented.

This regulation implements the Copyright Claims Board's requirement that claimants must have a registered copyright (or pay for expedited registration) before asserting infringement claims. It creates a small claims expedited registration process with additional fees for parties in proceedings held in abeyance due to pending registration applications.

The mandatory registration requirement creates a pay-to-play barrier to justice, forcing creators to pay the Copyright Office before they can assert their rights. The expedited process adds yet another fee on top of regular registration, multiplying costs for small creators. This violates the principle that laws should be accessible to all, not just those who can afford government fees. The unseen consequence is that many legitimate small claims will be abandoned entirely because creators cannot afford the registration costs, effectively protecting infringers who can outlast unregistered creators' resources. The expanded federal bureaucracy of the Copyright Claims Board itself represents unnecessary government overreach into dispute resolution that private arbitration or state courts could handle more efficiently without these mandated financial hurdles.

Two temporary HEERF program regulations from COVID-19 relief: (1) treats institutions with <$1M endowment as having $1M for allocation calculations; (2) defines 'student' as anyone enrolled on or after March 13, 2020.

Obsolete emergency measures from a pandemic that has ended. Keeping these temporary regulations creates unnecessary regulatory clutter and risks permanent expansion of emergency powers beyond their intended scope and duration.

This regulation establishes a comprehensive control regime for Army heraldic items (military decorations, medals, badges, insignia). It creates a certification program for manufacturers requiring government approval, assigns hallmarks, mandates quality control inspections, and regulates commercial use through a trademark licensing program. The stated purpose is ensuring quality, preventing fraud, and protecting Army symbols.

The regulation creates an unnecessary licensing monopoly that restricts commerce, raises barriers to entry, and increases costs without clear benefit. It exemplifies regulatory capture by protecting incumbent manufacturers through government-mandated certification. The legitimate goals—preventing fraud and protecting military honors—could be achieved through existing criminal statutes (18 U.S.C. 704, 701) and trademark law. The quality control bureaucracy imposes overhead that the market would handle more efficiently through reputation and military procurement specifications.

Establishes an administrative claims process for military personnel to seek compensation for medical malpractice by DoD healthcare providers, including eligibility rules, filing requirements, standards of care, causation, and damage calculations with specific limitations (no punitive damages, caps on non-economic damages, offsets for other benefits).

Without this process, service members would have no remedy for medical malpractice due to the Feres doctrine barring tort claims against the government for service-related injuries. The regulation provides essential accountability for government-provided healthcare while controlling liability through national standards, damage caps, and offsets—a balanced approach that would be difficult to replicate in regular courts given unique military contexts.

This regulation implements sanctions against Hong Kong-related persons and entities under Executive Order 13936. It blocks all property and interests in property of designated individuals/entities, prohibits all transactions with them, and requires U.S. persons to hold blocked funds in interest-bearing accounts. The prohibitions apply to anyone on OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List with the 'HK-E.O.' identifier, plus any future designations under the declared national emergency.

Sanctions represent an extreme delegation of legislative power to the executive branch, bypassing Congress's constitutional authority over commerce and foreign policy. These Hong Kong sanctions harm American businesses and financial institutions by blocking them from engaging in voluntary, mutually beneficial transactions with designated parties, while doing nothing to roll back China's actual policies in Hong Kong. The compliance burden—requiring U.S. persons to screen lists, block assets, and navigate licensing—imposes hidden costs that fall disproportionately on smaller banks and businesses. These regulations destroy property rights without due process, rely on guilt-by-association (50% ownership rules), and create a permanent surveillance state for the financial sector. The foreign policy benefits are dubious while the economic costs to American liberty and prosperity are concrete and ongoing.

Regulation blocks all property of persons designated by OFAC for threatening Somalia's peace and stability, including pirates, warlords, arms traffickers, and charcoal smugglers. It prohibits U.S. persons from any dealings with blocked property and requires financial institutions to hold blocked funds in interest-bearing accounts, implementing sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

This sanction violates property rights by allowing executive deprivation without just compensation or adequate due process, imposes heavy compliance costs on financial institutions, and inflicts severe humanitarian harm on innocent Somalis by blocking remittances families depend on for survival. The unseen consequence is that economic strangulation often strengthens warlords by creating scarcity and empowering black markets, while more targeted criminal enforcement could address genuine threats without collective punishment.

This regulation implements the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program from the American Rescue Plan Act, distributing approximately $350 billion to states, territories, Tribal governments, and local governments. It establishes complex rules for how recipients can use these funds, including: responding to COVID-19 public health impacts; addressing negative economic impacts; providing premium pay to essential workers (up to $13/hour, $25,000 max); covering lost revenue (with restrictions); and funding water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure. The regulation includes 87 detailed definitions, extensive eligibility criteria, reporting requirements, and restrictions on tax cuts (the 'funding restriction' or 'condition precedent' that sparked significant constitutional controversy). Funds must be obligated by December 31, 2024, with expenditure deadlines extending to 2026.

This regulation represents the worst of federal overreach: massive wealth redistribution with strings attached, creating a $2 trillion nationwide slush fund that bypasses Congress's power of the purse. The 'tax cut trap' provision (requiring states to maintain certain spending levels or forfeit funds) directly commandeers state budgets and violates constitutional federalism. The 185,000-page regulatory state metastasizes further with 87 new definitions and labyrinthine eligible use criteria—exactly the ' foxes designing the henhouse' scenario von Mises warned about. The regulation creates enormous compliance costs (estimated at 5-10% of award value) while distorting incentives: states game the system rather than cut taxes; local bureaucracies expand; and resources flow to politically connected projects rather than market-driven priorities. The 'presumptions' of impact create a presumption of guilt—governments must prove they aren't overusing funds. This temporary emergency program, with a covered period ending after the pandemic, should have expired. Its lingering obligations and reporting requirements continue to burden taxpayers while doing nothing to address the original crisis. Delete it entirely.