The Week in Regulation: September 4-9, 2011

A short week and few new rules slowed regulatory growth for 2011.  The weekly regulatory burden was just $47.2 million, with more than 432,000 new paperwork burden hours.

Administrative agencies proposed 47 rules and implemented 68 final rules.  Federal agencies issued 10 new documents “deemed significant under [Executive Order] 12866,” bringing the yearly total to 436 according to the Federal Register; the federal government has issued 56,090 pages of regulations in 2011.  

The priciest rule of the week arrived from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).  The final rule modifies electronic prescribing, provides for an additional hardship exemption, and extends the deadline for certain hardship requests.  The total estimated burden: $24.2 million, with 418,000 paperwork burden hours.  This final rule is not directly related to the President’s health care legislation.

The Federal Communications Commission, implementing a recent Order, published the formal repeal of the controversial Fairness Doctrine.  The final rule, published today, removes any possible burden on broadcast or cable operators from complying with the Doctrine.

Dodd-Frank produced just one proposed rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  The proposal regulates treatment of asset-backed issuers and provides no cost estimate or paperwork burden.  As part of the rulemaking, SEC also withdrew a 2008 proposal to amend Rule 3a-7.

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 24.8 million new paperwork burden hours. 

There was no Affordable Care Act proposed or final rule this week.  Since passage the law has imposed an estimated $8.2 billion in private-sector burdens, approximately $2.2 billion in direct costs to states, and 27 million annual paperwork hours.

At the current pace, the total regulatory burden for 2011 (proposed and final) will exceed $100.7 billion.  Since January 1, the federal government has imposed more than 78.7 million annual paperwork burden hours and $69.7 billion in compliance costs. 

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