Browse regulations

This regulation defines the United States' financial interest in subsidized merchant vessels and establishes insurance requirements for those vessels, covering construction-differential subsidies and operating-differential subsidies under various maritime acts.

This is an obsolete relic from mid-20th century maritime subsidies that no longer serves a purpose - the subsidy programs have ended and the regulation creates unnecessary bureaucratic overhead for a private industry that should self-manage insurance without federal involvement.

Establishes procedures for state submission of federal grant plans to governors and the Family Support Administration, and creates an appeals process for grant recipients facing adverse determinations. Requires integrated service delivery for certain programs and sets formatting/timing requirements for plan submissions.

Imposes federal administrative micro-management on states, increasing compliance costs and undermining state sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment. The procedural requirements create bureaucratic overhead without clear benefits that cannot be achieved through voluntary state-federal agreements or existing judicial review. The centralized appeals process adds another layer of bureaucracy rather than allowing market-based or contractual dispute resolution.

Regulations governing the sale of specific classes of public lands under three federal reclamation statutes (1920, 1930, 1950), establishing eligibility requirements, sale procedures, pricing, payment terms, and administrative processes for disposing of lands no longer needed for irrigation projects or too small for agricultural use.

These regulations represent federal overreach into land disposition that should be handled by states or private parties. The complex eligibility requirements, acreage restrictions, and bureaucratic procedures create artificial barriers to land ownership and distort free market transactions. The administrative costs and compliance burdens far exceed any purported benefits, while the regulations prevent efficient reallocation of land to its highest-value uses.

Authorizes the Coast Guard Commandant to sell aids to navigation equipment to foreign governments, state/municipal entities, private parties maintaining private aids, contractors, and others where public interest is served. Sales are conditional: equipment must not be reported as excess to GSA and must not be readily available on the open market. Pricing is cost plus 25% overhead, with proceeds deposited to the Coast Guard operating appropriation. Also covers disposal of condemned supplies under GSA regulations.

Americans would be worse off without this regulation because it provides a structured, revenue-generating method for disposing of surplus Coast Guard equipment while protecting private markets from unfair government competition. The requirement that equipment not be readily available on the open market is a critical safeguard that prevents the federal government from entering and distorting private-sector markets for navigation aids. Deleting it could lead to either wasteful destruction of usable assets or unfettered government sales that crowd out legitimate private dealers, while also forfeiting modest cost recoveries for taxpayers. The overhead markup appropriately covers administrative expenses without subsidization.

This regulation establishes criminal and civil penalties for interfering with navigational aids maintained by the Coast Guard or private entities, including obstruction, defacement, destruction, or unauthorized use of buoys, lighthouses, and other maritime safety devices. It includes escalating fines ($500-$25,000 per day), potential imprisonment, and vessel forfeiture for violations.

Americans would be worse off if deleted because navigational aids prevent maritime accidents, protect lives, and ensure safe commerce. Without these protections, ships would risk collisions, groundings, and loss of life, while commercial shipping and fishing would face increased costs and dangers. The regulation creates essential property rights for government-maintained safety infrastructure that private entities depend on.

This regulation defines 'bona fide profit-sharing plan or trust' under the Fair Labor Standards Act, specifying requirements for plans that exclude profit-sharing payments from the regular rate calculation for minimum wage and overtime purposes. It establishes criteria for plan structure, eligibility, profit calculation, and payment methods while prohibiting fixed-sum or attendance-based formulas.

This regulation provides important clarity for legitimate profit-sharing arrangements that benefit both employers and employees. Without it, businesses couldn't structure genuine profit-sharing programs without triggering complex overtime calculations, effectively making such incentive compensation prohibitively expensive. The regulation ensures that when companies share actual profits with employees, those payments aren't treated as wages subject to minimum wage and overtime rules, preserving a valuable compensation tool that aligns employee interests with company success.

An administrative schedule setting effective dates (2003-2004) for various provisions of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) of 2003, including fraud alerts, identity theft protections, credit score disclosures, and consumer reporting requirements.

This regulation is entirely obsolete; all effective dates have long since passed. It serves no current regulatory function but adds unnecessary complexity to the Code of Federal Regulations. Removing this dead letter would simplify the regulatory landscape without affecting any actual rights, obligations, or enforcement, as its sole purpose was to establish historical timelines for statutory implementation.

Establishes the International Organizations Employees Loyalty Board to review loyalty of US citizens employed by or applying to UN/international organizations. The Board conducts investigations and hearings, applying a 'reasonable doubt' standard for disloyalty based on activities like espionage, treason, or membership in designated subversive organizations.

Cold War relic imposing guilt-by-association standards that chill legitimate American participation in international organizations, violates First Amendment rights of association, creates unnecessary bureaucratic overhead, and duplicates existing security clearance functions. The chilling effect on qualified Americans serving globally far outweighs any marginal security benefit in the post-Soviet era.

Uniform minimum safety and accommodation requirements for civilian nautical school vessels, including crew quarters, medical facilities, ventilation, lighting, and sanitation standards.

Creates unnecessary compliance burden on maritime education programs while overlapping with existing vessel safety regulations; small schools cannot afford specialized compliance staff and the costs reduce maritime training capacity.

Regulation allows graduates from a specific list of state and federal maritime academies to substitute their education for sea service requirements when obtaining merchant mariner credentials (able seaman, qualified member of engine department, lifeboatman). Approved schools must adhere to Coast Guard-prescribed curricula covering seamanship, navigation, engineering, discipline, sanitation, and safety drills.

Maintaining a closed list of approved schools creates regulatory capture, restricting competition and raising barriers to entry for maritime training providers. This artificially limits the supply of qualified mariners, inflates costs for shipping companies, and ultimately burdens consumers with higher freight rates. The unseen effect is stifled innovation in training methods and protection of incumbent institutions at the expense of free enterprise.

This regulation implements the U.S.-Ireland tax treaty, establishing reduced withholding rates on cross-border investment income (dividends, interest, royalties) and providing procedures for claiming treaty benefits. It creates administrative mechanisms for tax refunds and information exchange between U.S. and Irish tax authorities.

This regulation imposes complex compliance burdens on U.S. businesses and individuals dealing with Irish investors, creating administrative costs that exceed any revenue benefits. The treaty provisions distort capital markets by creating artificial tax advantages for Irish-based entities, effectively subsidizing foreign investment at American taxpayers' expense while adding thousands of pages to the regulatory code.

Natural Gas Act Part 157 regulations governing certificate applications for natural gas facilities, including procedural requirements, environmental reporting, landowner notification, and public participation processes.

These regulations create excessive bureaucratic barriers to energy infrastructure development, impose disproportionate compliance costs on small businesses, and expand federal authority beyond constitutional limits into areas better managed by states and localities.

The Fur Products Labeling Act regulations mandate comprehensive disclosure requirements for all fur products, including specific animal names from a government-issued Name Guide, country of origin, color treatment status (natural/dyed/artificial), and material composition. The rules prescribe exact labeling formats, durability standards, color-coded stamping systems for pelts (black/yellow/white), extensive record-keeping, and advertising requirements, with narrow exemptions for small-scale trappers/hunters.

The regulations impose substantial compliance costs on fur industry participants, particularly small businesses, through prescriptive labeling, stamping, and record-keeping requirements. These costs ultimately raise prices for consumers and reduce market participation without sufficient justification beyond what general fraud laws and state consumer protection statutes already provide. The detailed, one-size-fits-all approach violates principles of limited government and free enterprise by dictating exact marketing terminology and methods, creating barriers to entry that protect established firms at the expense of competition and consumer choice. The high-value nature of fur products already creates strong market incentives for honest dealing among reputable dealers.

Regulation H (12 CFR Part 208) governs state-chartered banks that are Federal Reserve members, covering membership eligibility, capital requirements, dividend restrictions, branching approvals (including interstate), investment limitations in bank premises, and compliance with Community Reinvestment Act and loan-to-deposit ratio requirements under the Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking Act.

This regulation imposes massive compliance costs, especially on small community banks, while distorting essential market decisions. Capital adequacy and dividend restrictions prevent efficient capital allocation by shareholders. Branching approval processes create barriers to entry and protect incumbent banks from competition. CRA and loan-to-deposit requirements force banks to allocate credit based on political criteria rather than economic merit, violating Hayek's knowledge problem—regulators cannot determine optimal lending or branching decisions for thousands of diverse institutions. The dual federal-state regulatory burden increases overhead without corresponding benefits that private markets (deposit insurance, credit ratings) could provide more efficiently. Unseen consequences include reduced competition, higher banking fees, misallocated credit, and constrained innovation—all antithetical to free enterprise and constitutional federalism.

This regulation establishes visa and passport requirements for nonimmigrant aliens entering the United States, with numerous exceptions and waivers for specific nationalities (Canadians, Caribbean residents, Mexicans, etc.), geographic regions, and special programs (Visa Waiver Pilot, Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver, etc.). It also covers requirements for those with prior deportations and the process for waivers.

This regulation creates a discriminatory, arbitrary system that imposes massive administrative costs while providing no security benefit. The labyrinth of nationality-based exceptions violates equal protection and creates perverse incentives. The compliance burden on legitimate travelers and businesses is enormous, yet the system achieves nothing that couldn't be done with simple, uniform entry requirements applied equally to all. The unseen costs include economic distortions from restricted cross-border commerce, constitutional violations through unequal treatment, and the erosion of rule of law through bureaucratic complexity. This regulation should be repealed in its entirety.