Browse regulations

Administrative regulation governing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's internal operations including office locations, commission composition, emergency procedures, voting mechanisms, document signing authority, classification and security protocols for national security information, information disclosure policies, and delegation of regulatory authority to agency staff.

This is purely internal agency administration codified in the CFR despite being non-substantive. The detailed procedural rules—regional office responsibilities, senior commissioner emergency powers, circulation voting, delegated disclosures, security protocols—create bureaucratic overhead without directly protecting the public. These functions could be handled through simpler internal manuals, general administrative law, or existing government-wide security standards (e.g., 32 CFR). Deleting reduces CFR bloat and forces agencies to streamline or seek Congressional approval for procedural authority, increasing accountability. Americans would not lose substantive rights or market protections, as the CFTC's statutory mandate remains. The unseen cost is regulatory ossification: these rules enable unelected staff to exercise significant delegated authority with minimal oversight, insulating the agency from direct accountability and encouraging mission creep.

The CFTC's special call authority requires futures merchants, brokers, and traders to provide detailed information about positions, account control, and beneficial interests upon demand, enabling surveillance for market manipulation, corners, and squeezes in commodity derivatives markets.

Without this authority, the CFTC could not detect or prevent manipulation that distorts prices and harms market integrity; the targeted data collection is essential for enforcing commodity futures laws and maintaining fair, transparent markets that facilitate price discovery and hedging for real economic participants.

This regulation establishes rules for denying or suspending the privilege of attorneys and accountants to appear before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It creates mechanisms for temporary/permanent suspension based on criminal convictions, professional misconduct, violations of commodity exchange laws, and ethical violations. The regulation includes procedures for hearings, reinstatement applications, and mandatory reporting of disciplinary actions.

This regulation creates unnecessary barrier to entry that protects incumbent professionals from competition while providing minimal consumer benefit. The CFTC already has enforcement powers through the Commodity Exchange Act. These additional licensing restrictions create artificial scarcity, drive up costs for consumers, and prevent qualified professionals from serving clients based on past mistakes that may have no bearing on current competence. The unseen costs include reduced market efficiency, higher transaction costs, and fewer options for consumers seeking regulatory compliance assistance.

Procedural framework for CFTC investigations covering subpoena authority, witness rights, confidentiality, and due process protections under the Commodity Exchange Act.

These rules constrain agency power and protect liberty by requiring authorization for subpoenas, guaranteeing counsel, limiting secrecy, and providing immunity safeguards. Removing them would concentrate unchecked investigative power in the CFTC, creating greater harm through arbitrary enforcement and rights violations than the compliance costs they impose.

Administrative procedures for adjudicatory proceedings before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, including filing requirements, service procedures, hearing rules, and ex parte communication prohibitions.

These regulations create an elaborate bureaucratic framework that adds compliance costs and complexity to futures trading. The extensive procedural rules, filing requirements, and administrative processes serve as barriers to entry and favor large institutions over smaller market participants. The rules also create opportunities for regulatory capture through the revolving door between the CFTC and industry players. Basic fraud and contract law could handle the legitimate concerns without this federal regulatory apparatus.

Comprehensive definitions and regulatory framework for commodity futures trading, including terms, entities, and market structures under the Commodity Exchange Act.

This extensive regulatory framework creates unnecessary complexity, imposes compliance costs exceeding $2 trillion annually, and distorts free market price discovery mechanisms. The definitions and rules effectively federalize commodity trading that should operate under state and common law principles.

Regulation sets detailed chemical, construction, and performance standards for non-firecracker fireworks to ensure safety in interstate commerce.

High compliance costs create barriers to entry for small fireworks manufacturers, protecting large incumbents while raising consumer prices. The prescriptive technical specifications stifle innovation and represent a federal overreach into an area better handled by state regulation or private safety standards, imposing a hidden tax exceeding any marginal safety benefits.

The CPSC safety standard for swimming pool slides mandates construction and performance requirements—including material specifications, structural strength, ladder and handrail designs, runway geometry, testing protocols, certification, and labeling—to reduce risks of injury such as paralysis, fractures, and falls. It applies to all slides manufactured after July 17, 1976.

Compliance imposes hidden costs on manufacturers and consumers, disproportionately harms small businesses with per-employee costs ~30% higher, stifles innovation through prescriptive mandates, and represents federal overreach into a local recreational activity better addressed by state law and market forces. Risks can be mitigated via liability and voluntary standards without the economic distortions of regulation.

CPSC's implementing regulations for advisory committees under FACA, establishing procedures for committee creation, membership (including mandatory diversity quotas by geography, age, sex, and race), meetings, public access, conflicts of interest, compensation, and reporting requirements.

Enforces discriminatory diversity quotas over merit-based selection, institutionalizes regulatory capture by formalizing industry access channels, and creates unnecessary administrative bloat. Advisory committees often serve as legitimacy theater for predetermined agency decisions rather than genuine deliberative bodies, imposing costs on taxpayers while providing minimal accountability benefits.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent federal agency established in 1915 to enforce antitrust and consumer protection laws. It has five presidentially-appointed commissioners, regional offices across the US, and jurisdiction over unfair/deceptive practices and anticompetitive behavior. The FTC enforces over 70 federal statutes through investigation, litigation, and rulemaking.

Americans would be worse off without FTC enforcement of consumer protection and antitrust laws. The agency prevents monopolistic practices that raise prices, stops deceptive advertising that harms consumers, and maintains competitive markets that drive innovation and keep costs down. Its regional presence ensures nationwide enforcement and its economic analysis provides expertise that would be difficult to replicate through private litigation alone.

This regulation requires reporting of weather modification activities (cloud seeding, hail suppression, etc.) to NOAA. It mandates pre-activity reports, interim annual reports, final reports, and detailed daily logs. It applies to anyone conducting such activities in the U.S. but exempts purely local activities (e.g., frost prevention) and religious ceremonies.

Without federal reporting, activities that alter atmospheric conditions would occur in a vacuum despite potentially significant interstate externalities—cloud seeding in one state can reduce precipitation downstream, create conflicts over water resources, and impact agriculture across state lines. The reporting burden is modest relative to the value of maintaining a centralized database to track cumulative effects, mediate disputes, and monitor scientific and environmental impacts of a technology that inherently does not respect political boundaries.

Outlines ordering procedures for NIST Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) - physical calibration standards sold by NIST. Includes catalog references (SP 260), ordering format, pricing (subject to change), payment terms (net 30), and shipping policies.

Not a regulation imposing obligations or costs; it's a commercial price list and ordering guide for voluntary transactions. NIST can sell SRMs without CFR codification. Deleting reduces regulatory volume with zero impact on liberty or commerce.

Prohibits federal contractors from making political contributions or expenditures to federal candidates, parties, or committees during contract negotiations and performance period, with exceptions for state/local elections and personal contributions by partners/employees/stockholders.

Imposes First Amendment restrictions on political speech based on government contracting status, creating a two-tiered system where contractors have fewer political rights than other citizens. The regulation's costs include chilling political participation, reducing competition by deterring qualified firms from federal contracts, and creating arbitrary distinctions between federal and state/local political activity that don't reflect any legitimate governmental interest.

This regulation establishes procedures for individuals to access and correct personal records maintained by the Federal Election Commission under the Privacy Act of 1974. It defines rights to know what records exist, request copies, correct inaccuracies, and appeal denials, while exempting certain investigative and audit materials from disclosure.

This regulation creates bureaucratic overhead without meaningful protection - individuals already have constitutional due process rights and FOIA access. The exemption clauses for audits and investigations render the 'privacy' protections largely illusory while creating compliance costs for the FEC that ultimately burden taxpayers and campaign participants. Private sector entities handle data privacy through market mechanisms and contract law without federal mandates.

Regulates traffic safety and control on Nevada Test Site streets, establishing rules for vehicles, pedestrians, parking, and emergency vehicles with enforcement mechanisms and penalties up to $50 or 30 days imprisonment.

Traffic safety on federal property can be handled by existing state laws and general federal safety protocols. This regulation creates unnecessary bureaucratic overhead and duplicates what state traffic laws already cover, while imposing criminal penalties for minor infractions that burden individuals without clear public benefit.