The Week in Regulation: December 5-9

Regulators piled on almost 4.2 million paperwork burden hours this week and added more than $150 million to the regulatory burden.  Four Affordable Care Act regulations and a pair of Dodd-Frank proposals also headlined activity.

On the reform push, the House passed the REINS Act (H.R. 10) with overwhelming support.  In addition, the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act also garnered 268 votes for passage.  Both measures head to the Senate where an actual floor vote appears unlikely.    

Administrative agencies proposed 65 rules and implemented 63 final rules.  Federal agencies issued 21 new documents “deemed significant under [Executive Order] 12866,” bringing the yearly revised total to 781 according to the Federal Register; the federal government has issued 77,106 pages of regulations in 2011. 

Two big rules emerged this week from unheralded federal agencies, the Federal Contract Compliance Programs Office (FCCPO) and the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyard Administration (GIPSA).  The FCCPO proposed rule implements a law that “requires affirmative action on behalf of qualified individuals with disabilities.”  The proposal would impose $81 million in costs and 1.4 million annual paperwork hours.  The GIPSA final rule would impose $73 million in private-sector costs and 53,692 paperwork burden hours on the industry.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau produced two rules this week; however, neither imposed any costs or paperwork burden hours. 

Click here to view the total estimated compliance costs from Dodd-Frank; since passage the legislation has produced (in proposed and enacted rules) more than 31.4 million new paperwork burden hours.  According to estimates from the Financial Services Roundtable, Dodd-Frank regulations would require 15,929 employees just to file federal paperwork.

The Affordable Care Act produced four regulations this week.  An amended Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) requirement claims to reduce $7.2 million from an earlier rule and a MLR rule for “Non-Federal Government Plans” does not impose costs.

The Employee Benefits Security Administration also produced two Affordable Care Act proposed rules, imposing $480,000 in total costs and 292 paperwork hours. 

Since passage, the Affordable Care Act has imposed an estimated $9.1 billion in private-sector burdens, approximately $2.2 billion in costs to the states, and 30.3 million annual paperwork hours.

At the current pace, the total regulatory burden for 2011 (proposed and final) will exceed $244 billion.  Since January 1, the federal government has imposed more than 123.6 million annual paperwork burden hours and $230.2 billion in compliance costs.  Projecting a 2,000 hour work year, paperwork requirements alone would force 61,822 employees to comply with federal compliance burdens.   

Click here for our comprehensive database of regulations and rulemakings promulgated in 2011.