Browse regulations

This regulation governs wildlife management on federal wildlife refuges. It mandates population censuses and habitat evaluations to identify surplus wildlife, which may then be disposed via donation, sale, commercial harvest, hunting, fishing, or trapping, with permits and compliance with federal and state laws. Trapping requires a federal permit specifying terms and pelts division, and pelts from trapping programs are sold via auction unless used officially.

It imposes duplicative federal trapping permits with price controls, raising compliance costs and distorting markets. Centralized 'surplus' determinations risk overharvest and revenue-driven mission creep. Unseen costs include erosion of state sovereignty over wildlife and crowding out of private conservation solutions. State management and market mechanisms can achieve better outcomes with less bureaucracy.

This regulation governs the authorization of economic uses and rights-of-way on National Wildlife Refuge System lands, requiring compatibility determinations to ensure activities do not interfere with refuge purposes. It establishes permit processes, application procedures, and cost recovery mechanisms for various uses including grazing, resource extraction, and infrastructure development.

This regulation creates a bureaucratic maze that delays infrastructure projects, increases costs through mandatory permits and fees, and grants excessive discretionary power to federal agencies over state and private lands. The compatibility determination requirement and extensive application process effectively block legitimate economic activity on federal lands while providing no clear constitutional basis for federal control over these resources.

Prohibits discrimination based on race, color, creed, or national origin in any program receiving federal financial assistance from the Service, in public accommodations on Service-controlled land, and in employment practices of entities using Service land via agreements. Implements Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related executive orders.

Eliminating this regulation would allow recipients of federal funds and operators on public lands to discriminate, undermining equal opportunity and the public purpose of these programs. The rule is clear, knowable, and imposes minimal compliance costs relative to the profound moral and social benefits of ensuring non-discrimination in government-supported activities.

This regulation defines key terms used throughout the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's regulatory framework, establishing consistent meanings for terms like 'authorized representative,' 'Service,' 'Director,' 'Officer in Charge,' 'Person,' 'Regional director,' and 'Secretary.'

Without these definitions, the entire regulatory framework would be ambiguous and unenforceable. Terms like 'authorized representative' and 'Officer in Charge' are essential for determining who has authority to make decisions, issue permits, and enforce regulations. Deleting these definitions would create legal uncertainty, make enforcement impossible, and effectively paralyze the Fish and Wildlife Service's ability to protect endangered species, manage wildlife refuges, and carry out its statutory duties.

This regulation establishes comprehensive safety requirements for transporting liquefied flammable gases by vessel, covering cargo tank design, pressure vessel standards, secondary barriers, insulation, refrigeration systems, piping, valves, and operational procedures to prevent leaks, fires, and explosions during maritime transport.

The regulation creates massive compliance costs and bureaucratic complexity that disproportionately burdens small businesses while providing minimal safety benefit beyond what market forces would naturally establish through insurance and liability. The 185,000+ page CFR already contains overlapping safety requirements, and this specific regulation adds redundant engineering standards that could be handled through voluntary industry certification or state-level oversight under the Tenth Amendment.

This regulation establishes the Department of the Interior's administrative process for reviewing roadless areas and islands (5,000+ contiguous acres) in National Parks and Wildlife Refuges to determine suitability for wilderness designation under the Wilderness Act. It mandates public hearings, coordination with other agencies, acceptance of private gifts, and procedures to preserve wilderness character.

The regulation entrenches unconstitutional federal overreach by centralizing control over vast western lands, violating Tenth Amendment federalism. It locks millions of acres away from productive uses—grazing, mining, logging, energy development—creating massive unseen opportunity costs that raise prices for energy, materials, and housing. The administrative process invites regulatory capture by environmental special interests while providing no genuine benefit that couldn't be achieved through state management or market conservation. Americans are worse off because these restrictions reduce supply, stifle economic opportunity, and transfer power from local communities to distant bureaucrats.

Internal policy for the Departments of Interior and Army governing land acquisition for reservoir projects, establishing when fee title versus easements must be obtained and restricting development on acquired lands.

Represents federal overreach into private property rights with vague standards ('optimum values,' 'best interests') that enable expansive land seizures beyond what's necessary for water projects. Mandates full fee title acquisition for present and future recreation/wildlife needs—an open-ended commitment that inflates government land ownership, reduces private economic opportunity, and violates the principle that government should minimize takings. Prohibits human occupancy on reservoir lands, restricting private use and local control. Easement exceptions are narrow and require meeting multiple conditions, creating a bias toward acquisition. This bureaucratic mission creep appropriates private land for federal purposes that properly belong to states and localities under the Tenth Amendment.

Federal regulations governing Public Health Service fellowships, including regular fellowships for research/training and service fellowships requiring work for PHS, with detailed eligibility requirements, benefits, termination procedures, and compliance conditions.

These regulations create a costly federal bureaucracy for medical research fellowships that should be handled by states/private institutions. The complex eligibility requirements, loyalty oaths, and extensive administrative procedures represent regulatory overreach beyond federal constitutional authority, while imposing compliance burdens on academic institutions and researchers.

VA Core Values and Characteristics establish ethical guidelines, data principles, and employee conduct standards for the Department of Veterans Affairs, defining organizational culture, data handling practices, and professional behavior expectations for employees interacting with veterans and beneficiaries.

These internal guidelines ensure consistent, ethical treatment of veterans and protect sensitive data. Without them, VA employees would lack clear standards for integrity, advocacy, and data privacy, potentially harming veterans' trust and wellbeing.

Regulation governing commercial activities in national parks, requiring permits for advertising, alcohol sales, transportation, filming, vehicle use, construction, lodging, food establishments, and prohibiting mining. Contains complex definitions, fees, and broad superintendent discretion.

Creates high compliance costs and barriers to entry that disproportionately harm small businesses, duplicates state/local authority over alcohol, health, and anti-discrimination, violates federalism by federalizing local matters, and invites regulatory capture through broad discretionary standards. The unseen effects include reduced entrepreneurship, higher consumer prices, and less competitive park tourism markets, while benefits can be achieved through simpler rules and existing state laws.

This regulation establishes the Office of Professional Responsibility and defines the authority, duties, and disciplinary framework for attorneys, certified public accountants, enrolled agents, enrolled retirement plan agents, and registered tax return preparers who represent taxpayers before the IRS. It sets enrollment requirements, continuing education standards, and professional conduct rules.

This regulation creates a federal licensing bureaucracy that restricts free market entry and imposes costly compliance burdens on tax professionals. It centralizes control over who can represent taxpayers, effectively creating a government-protected cartel that raises prices and limits consumer choice. The continuing education requirements and disciplinary procedures represent unnecessary federal overreach into what should be private contractual relationships between taxpayers and their chosen representatives.

Regulations establish certification requirements for methane-monitoring systems used in underground mining operations, covering design specifications, testing procedures, and safety standards to detect and respond to dangerous methane gas levels.

These regulations prevent catastrophic explosions in underground mines that could kill dozens or hundreds of workers. The certification system ensures equipment reliability and proper response to methane detection, creating a market for safe mining technology while protecting workers' lives through scientifically-validated safety standards.

Public Law 89-456 implementing regulations establish procedures for forming and operating 'PL Boards'—special adjustment boards for resolving disputes between railroads and employee representatives. The rules govern: (a) appointment of party members by the parties or by the National Mediation Board (NMB) if a party fails to act; (b) appointment of neutrals by the NMB to resolve procedural/jurisdictional disputes when board members deadlock; (c) appointment of neutrals to decide merits when parties cannot agree within 10 days. The NMB dockets agreements, issues certificates of appointment, compensates neutrals, and maintains records with the National Railroad Adjustment Board. The system is voluntary but government-administered, serving as a default arbitration mechanism under the Railway Labor Act.

It institutionalizes federal involvement in private labor disputes, wasting taxpayer funds on an unnecessary administrative apparatus. The regulation perpetuates the Railway Labor Act's distortion of labor markets, creating a government-facilitated alternative to purely private arbitration that undermines contractual freedom and federalism. Even if voluntary, its existence channels parties toward state-administered justice, crowding out market-based dispute resolution and entrenching the regulatory state's role in industrial relations.

This regulation requires surety companies that issue bonds under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) or ERISA to file annual reports (Form S-1) with the Office of Labor-Management Standards within 150 days after fiscal year-end. It defines reporting periods, officer responsibilities, recordkeeping requirements (5 years), and provides that OMB has approved the collection. The requirement stems from a statutory extension from 90 to 150 days due to practical reporting constraints.

This serves a legitimate, narrowly-tailored oversight function for bonds that protect union members' assets under federal labor law. The reporting burden is minimal and specific to a federal program; state regulation would be impractical given the interstate nature of surety operations and need for centralized monitoring of bonds required by federal statute. Eliminating it would reduce transparency and OLMS's ability to verify sureties' financial responsibility, potentially exposing union members to greater risk with little offsetting benefit.

These procedures govern the nomination of arbitrators by the Secretary of Labor to resolve disputes about federal employee union representation, including unit appropriateness and majority status determinations through advisory decisions or elections.

This regulation creates a federal arbitration system for federal employee union disputes, expanding federal control over labor relations that should be handled internally by agencies or through existing legal channels. It imposes unnecessary compliance costs and bureaucratic procedures on federal agencies while federal employee labor relations should be governed by direct negotiations between agencies and employees without third-party arbitrators.