Browse regulations

These regulations govern who may represent parties before the U.S. Postal Service in legal proceedings, establishing qualifications for attorneys, procedures for complaints and disciplinary actions, and prohibitions on ex parte communications.

These regulations represent unnecessary federal micromanagement of legal representation qualifications. The rules duplicate state bar standards, create bureaucratic overhead without adding public benefit, and restrict who can represent clients in Postal Service matters - an area where market competition and state licensing already provide adequate safeguards.

VA loan guaranty program for manufactured homes, setting terms for eligibility, loan amounts, guaranty percentages, and lender responsibilities for veterans purchasing manufactured homes and lots

Creates market distortions by guaranteeing loans for manufactured homes, which artificially inflates prices and creates moral hazard where lenders have reduced incentive to assess creditworthiness. This subsidy transfers taxpayer risk to private lenders while potentially encouraging overinvestment in manufactured housing that wouldn't occur in a free market.

Regulation establishes a voluntary exchange program allowing owners of Series E savings bonds and Freedom Notes to exchange them for Series H bonds with tax deferral on accrued interest, creating a tax-advantaged government investment vehicle.

Creates harmful market distortion by providing preferential tax treatment for government bonds vs. private investments, representing a tax expenditure that unfairly benefits bondholders while shifting burden to other taxpayers. The exchange privilege is not essential to Treasury's debt management and violates tax neutrality principles.

Part 77 sets comprehensive mandatory safety standards for surface coal mines and surface work areas of underground mines, covering methane monitoring, ventilation, refuse pile and impoundment structure stability, access and illumination requirements, equipment operation, and training/certification of personnel.

Deleting this regulation would lead to more miner deaths and injuries, as well as catastrophic events like explosions and structural failures that endanger nearby communities. The regulation overcomes market failures — information asymmetry between miners and operators, harmful externalities, and the inability of individual workers to negotiate safety — through enforceable technical standards that would be difficult to achieve via market mechanisms alone.

Procedural rules for OSHA's rulemaking process on occupational safety and health standards, including petition filing, advisory committee consultation, notice-and-comment requirements, informal hearings with cross-examination, and final rule publication.

These rules add bureaucratic overhead that sustains a regulatory regime imposing $2 trillion in annual compliance costs. Federal workplace safety mandates violate Tenth Amendment federalism, burden small businesses disproportionately (compliance costs per employee 30% higher for small firms), and represent the kind of centralized planning that Hayek warned against. The Administrative Procedure Act provides sufficient baseline procedures; these additional requirements merely legitimize and entrench the administrative state's overreach.

Establishes administrative procedures for employers to apply for variances, limitations, variations, tolerances, or exemptions from OSHA safety and health standards. Details application requirements, employee notification procedures, hearing processes, and discovery rules for these administrative proceedings.

This procedural regulation enables an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority, allowing unelected bureaucrats to rewrite safety standards Congress enacted. The variance process itself acknowledges OSHA's one-size-fits-all mandates are unworkable in practice—creating a costly, redundant bureaucracy to fix what the market could handle better through tort law, insurance pricing, and voluntary certification. Small businesses face disproportionate compliance costs navigating this administrative maze while established players game the system. The $14,000+ hidden tax burden on households includes funding this unnecessary variance apparatus that merely softens the hammer of federal overreach rather than repealing it.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act establishes federal workplace safety standards, requiring employers to provide hazard-free workplaces, comply with safety regulations, and undergo inspections by the Department of Labor. It includes posting requirements, employee rights to request inspections, citation procedures, and penalties for violations.

This regulation creates massive federal bureaucracy that distorts market incentives for workplace safety, imposes compliance costs exceeding $2 billion annually on businesses, and undermines private contract rights between employers and employees. Workplace safety is properly a matter of state jurisdiction under the Tenth Amendment, and voluntary market mechanisms (insurance, reputation, competition) provide superior safety outcomes without federal coercion.

This regulation establishes procedures for states to develop and enforce occupational safety and health standards that are at least as effective as federal standards, including criteria for plan approval, enforcement mechanisms, and requirements for public employee coverage.

Americans would be worse off if this regulation was deleted because it ensures workplace safety standards are maintained at the state level while allowing for local adaptation. The federal framework provides essential baseline protections that states can build upon, and without it, there would be no systematic mechanism to ensure consistent occupational safety across all states.

Regulation interprets Fair Labor Standards Act exemption for transportation workers, defining which employees are exempt from overtime based on their involvement in interstate motor vehicle operations and safety duties.

This regulation provides clear legal guidance on a complex exemption that balances worker protections with transportation industry operational needs. Without it, employers would face costly litigation uncertainty about overtime obligations for drivers and safety personnel, potentially disrupting interstate commerce.

Establishes procedural rules for the Administrative Review Board (ARB), an appellate body within the Department of Labor that reviews appeals from wage determinations under the Davis-Bacon Act and related statutes, debarment cases, and prevailing wage controversies. Defines jurisdiction, filing requirements, service rules, intervention, consolidation, oral argument, public access, and motion procedures.

This regulation codifies the appellate machinery for enforcing the Davis-Bacon Act—a federal wage control program that inflates construction costs, distorts labor markets, disadvantages small contractors, and exceeds constitutional authority under the Tenth Amendment. The ARB's procedural complexity imposes significant compliance burdens on contractors, laborers, and agencies while sustaining a regime that transfers wealth from taxpayers to politically-connected unions. The unseen costs include reduced competitive bidding, higher infrastructure expenses passed to citizens, and barriers to entry that protect incumbent firms. The entire framework violates the rule of law by creating a labyrinth only large firms can navigate, and perpetuates regulatory capture where the 'foxes design the henhouse.'

Regulation governs importation, manufacture, and dealing in machine guns, destructive devices, and certain firearms under the National Firearms Act, establishing definitions, registration requirements, and tax obligations.

Creates a complex regulatory regime that restricts Second Amendment rights, imposes $200 tax stamps and extensive paperwork, disproportionately burdens law-abiding citizens while criminals ignore such requirements. The regulatory burden exceeds constitutional limits and has minimal impact on crime while criminalizing technical violations.

This regulation establishes requirements for federal mortgage insurance for group practice facilities under Title XI of the National Housing Act. The Commissioner may only insure mortgages if state/local licensing agencies provide assurances of compliance with applicable standards. It incorporates by reference various provisions from Part 207 (mortgages insured under Section 207) and applies definitions from §244.1, modifying references to fit Title XI.

Federal mortgage insurance for specific facility types distorts capital allocation, creates moral hazard, and imposes compliance burdens that ultimately raise costs for all Americans. This represents unjustified federal intervention in private financing decisions that private lenders and investors can handle without government backing. The 'assurances' requirement adds bureaucratic overhead while doing nothing to address the fundamental problem: the government should not be in the business of picking winners in the healthcare facility market. Such programs benefit established players who navigate the regulatory maze while raising barriers to entry for smaller practices, contrary to free enterprise principles.

This regulation establishes requirements for HUD-insured energy savings improvement loans for multifamily housing projects (5+ units). It covers application procedures, fees, firm commitments, loan terms, insurance requirements, compliance with labor standards and non-discrimination, rent restrictions, and cost certification processes. The government insures 90% of losses on these loans.

This regulation represents federal intrusion into private lending decisions, creates moral hazard through government loan guarantees, distorts market incentives by favoring specific 'energy efficiency' improvements, imposes extensive compliance burdens, and violates principles of federalism by federalizing what should be local housing matters. Private lenders can assess and price energy efficiency risks without government insurance, and rent/operation controls undermine property rights. The administrative costs and market distortions outweigh any speculative benefits.

This regulation establishes comprehensive relocation assistance requirements for federally-assisted housing projects, mandating tenant protections, reimbursement for temporary relocations, and compliance with Uniform Relocation Assistance Act standards when displacement occurs during rehabilitation or acquisition.

This regulation imposes significant compliance costs on housing projects while creating bureaucratic barriers to rehabilitation. The federal micromanagement of tenant relocation exceeds constitutional limits on federal authority over housing, distorts local housing markets, and raises barriers to entry for smaller developers who cannot absorb these regulatory costs. The stated goal of protecting tenants could be achieved through simpler contractual mechanisms without federal intervention.

Federal Housing Administration regulations for insuring mortgages on condominium units, establishing eligibility requirements, approval processes, and coverage terms for one-family units in multifamily projects with blanket mortgages under section 234 of the National Housing Act.

This regulation creates artificial demand for condominium units through government insurance, distorting market pricing and encouraging speculative development. It forces taxpayers to subsidize housing purchases that private markets would not support, while creating moral hazard through government guarantees that remove price discovery mechanisms and risk assessment from lending decisions.