Browse regulations

Regulation S-X prescribes detailed requirements for the form, content, and preparation of financial statements filed with the SEC by public companies, investment companies, and certain oil and gas producers. It defines numerous accounting terms, mandates audits by independent accountants, sets stringent independence rules restricting financial and employment relationships between auditors and clients, and specifies disclosure formats and content for registration statements and periodic reports.

The regulation imposes enormous compliance costs that burden all public companies, with small firms facing per-employee costs 30% higher than large corporations, effectively protecting incumbents from competition. Detailed prescriptive formats create information overload while discouraging meaningful disclosure; the private-sector FASB already sets GAAP. Mandatory audit independence rules and complex definitions generate legal uncertainty and regulatory capture by large accounting firms. Existing antifraud provisions (Rule 10b-5) adequately punish misleading statements without requiring government-mandated templates, and market forces reward transparent companies with lower capital costs. The hidden tax of compliance diverts resources from productive enterprise.

This regulation establishes rules for air carriers extending credit to political candidates and their campaign staff, requiring security deposits, payment terms, and reporting to prevent improper influence through transportation services during election campaigns.

This is regulatory overreach into private business transactions that creates unnecessary compliance burdens on air carriers while addressing a non-existent problem. The assumption that transportation credit to candidates creates improper influence is unfounded - airlines already have standard credit policies and can assess risk independently. The reporting requirements and security deposit mandates add $2+ trillion in compliance costs across federal regulations without clear benefits, and this specific regulation exemplifies how federal agencies extend their reach beyond constitutional limits into areas better left to market forces and state oversight.

This regulation governs overseas military personnel charters—air transportation services for active duty military personnel, DoD civilian employees, and their immediate families stationed outside the 48 contiguous states. It requires charter operators to obtain operating authorizations, maintain surety bonds or escrow accounts ($100k minimum or percentage-based), file tariffs, restrict advertising to military-focused media, maintain financial records, and comply with anti-discrimination and consumer protection rules. The Department of Transportation oversees compliance and can suspend/revoke authorizations.

The regulation imposes substantial compliance costs—bonding, licensing, record-keeping, and tariff filing—that create barriers to entry and reduce competition, raising prices for military families. These hidden costs violate free enterprise principles. Consumer protection can be achieved through existing fraud laws, contract enforcement, and market reputation mechanisms. The unseen consequence is that fewer operators will serve this niche market, reducing supply and increasing costs for the very people the regulation purports to protect. Military families deserve the same freedom to transact voluntarily as all Americans.

Defines accounting and reporting terminology for air carriers subject to DOT regulations, including definitions for aircraft, revenue/nonrevenue passengers, flight stages, load factors, and various financial/accounting concepts used in mandatory reporting forms

Imposes substantial compliance costs on airlines (passed to consumers) through mandatory uniform accounting; market already rewards good accounting via investor/lender demands; federal micromanagement of private business records violates Tenth Amendment principles and creates barriers for small carriers; information gathering could be achieved via less burdensome alternatives if truly necessary for legitimate safety/consumer protection goals

Federal Tort Claims Act regulations for National Credit Union Administration claims, establishing procedures for filing, amending, and adjudicating claims against the U.S. government for damages caused by NCUA employees acting within their scope of employment, including evidentiary requirements and payment procedures.

Creates bureaucratic overhead for handling tort claims that could be managed through simpler statutory procedures without the 185,000+ page CFR framework, imposing compliance costs on government operations while creating a specialized claims process that adds no unique value beyond standard tort law principles.

Federal regulations prohibiting discrimination in housing and credit transactions based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, and national origin for Farm Credit institutions

These regulations ensure equal access to housing and credit, preventing discrimination that would exclude protected groups from home ownership and financial services, which are fundamental to economic mobility and social integration.

The Farm Credit Act of 1971 establishes and regulates the Farm Credit System, a government-sponsored enterprise that provides credit to agricultural borrowers through a network of banks and associations. The document consists primarily of definitions for entities (agricultural credit associations, banks for cooperatives, etc.), financial terms, and operational mechanisms within this federally-chartered lending system.

Government-sponsored enterprise distorts agricultural credit markets, creates moral hazard with implicit taxpayer guarantee, crowds out private lenders, and misallocates capital based on political rather than market signals. This violates free enterprise principles by socializing risk while privatizing gains, and perpetuates the Revolving Door regulatory capture it was meant to avoid. The system's $2 trillion in assets operates as a privileged state-favored competitor that private banks cannot match.

This regulation (12 CFR Part 611) governs elections of directors for Farm Credit Institutions, government-sponsored agricultural lenders. It defines terms, mandates annual meetings, sets director qualifications and training requirements, establishes nominating committee procedures, regulates campaign conduct, specifies ballot security and voting protocols, implements 'one member one vote' principles, limits director compensation, and outlines transfer of authorities procedures between institutions.

These are private, member-owned cooperatives; they should be free to determine their own governance without federal micromanagement. The regulation creates substantial compliance costs while protecting incumbents (e.g., complex nomination rules, mandatory 'outside director' requirements that create barriers). It violates Tenth Amendment federalism—internal governance of cooperatives is a state, not federal, concern. The extensive rules distort incentives, reduce institutional flexibility, and assume Congress has authority under the Commerce Clause to regulate the internal affairs of these cooperatives, an expansive reading that erodes constitutional federalism.member-owned agricultural cooperatives are not interstate commerce requiring federal oversight.

Defines terms and procedures for poultry inspection under the Poultry Products Inspection Act, establishing standards for adulteration, misbranding, and inspection requirements in commercial establishments.

Americans would be worse off if deleted because it prevents foodborne illness outbreaks, ensures product safety, and maintains consumer confidence in poultry products through standardized inspection protocols that protect public health.

The National Potato Promotion Board (NPPB) is a federal commodity checkoff program that levies assessments on potato producers and importers to fund research, development, advertising, and promotion of potatoes and potato products. The Board is governed by producers, importers, and a public member, with funding collected at 3 cents per hundredweight on domestic production and imports, excluding small producers (under 5 acres).

This regulation creates a mandatory government-sponsored cartel that forces producers and importers to fund generic advertising and promotion, distorting market signals and raising prices for consumers. Small producers are exempted, creating unfair competition. The Board's activities duplicate what private industry could accomplish voluntarily, and the regulatory burden on compliance and reporting is excessive for a market that functions without such intervention.

These regulations govern conduct on the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) federal property in Maryland. They cover access restrictions, property protection, order and safety (prohibiting disorderly conduct, drug/alcohol use, weapons, gambling), commercial activities, photography, pets, vehicle/traffic rules, non-discrimination, and penalties up to $50 and/or 30 days imprisonment. Authority is delegated from GSA to USDA to Agricultural Research Service.

Americans would be worse off without these rules because BARC houses valuable federal research assets and experimental plants/animals requiring specific protections beyond general criminal law. The rules are narrowly tailored to federal property, impose no public compliance costs, and serve legitimate government interests in securing research integrity, maintaining order, and ensuring safety. Deleting them would create a governance vacuum on federal land.

Rules governing conduct, access, and activities on the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center property to ensure safety, security, order, and proper functioning of the federal research facility.

Deletion would compromise the safety, security, and operational integrity of a federal research facility that conducts valuable agricultural science. These reasonable internal property rules prevent disruptions, hazards, and interference with the Center's congressionally authorized mission, with minimal burden limited to those voluntarily entering federal enclaves.

This regulation establishes formatting and citation requirements for federal agency notices and proposed rules, including document structure, agency identification, docket numbers, subject titles, authority citations, and public rulemaking information.

This is purely procedural bureaucracy that creates compliance costs without protecting anyone. It forces agencies to follow complex formatting rules that waste time and resources on paperwork rather than substantive policy work, while providing no benefit to citizens or businesses. The costs of maintaining this regulatory infrastructure far exceed any minimal benefits from standardized document formatting.

This regulation establishes comprehensive procedural requirements for how federal agencies must draft, organize, and publish regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), including structural formatting, citation standards, and amendment procedures to ensure consistency and accessibility across all federal regulatory documents.

This regulation creates bureaucratic overhead that serves no public safety purpose - it's purely administrative overhead that increases compliance costs for agencies without improving regulatory outcomes. The complex formatting requirements, citation rules, and structural mandates create unnecessary red tape that diverts resources from actual regulatory work. Small agencies with limited resources bear disproportionate burden from these procedural requirements, while the public gains no meaningful benefit from standardized CFR formatting over simpler publication methods.

Establishes procedures for maintaining the U.S. Government Manual, requiring agencies to appoint liaison officers, submit organizational information, and comply with formatting and submission deadlines to ensure the public has timely access to government information.

Provides essential transparency about government structure and operations that would be costly to replicate through other means, ensuring citizens can understand and navigate their government.