Federal Register weekly update: 250 significant documents added so far in 2021


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The Federal Register is a daily journal of federal government activity that includes presidential documents, proposed and final rules, and public notices. It is a common measure of an administration’s regulatory activity, accounting for both regulatory and deregulatory actions.

From Nov. 29 through Dec. 3, the Federal Register grew by 1,226 pages for a year-to-date total of 68,874 pages.

The Federal Register hit an all-time high of 95,894 pages in 2016.

This week’s Federal Register featured the following 458 documents:

  1. 357 notices
  2. Five presidential documents
  3. 29 proposed rules
  4. 67 final rules

Three proposed rules, including a proposal to revise the methodology to determine Adverse Effect Wage Rates for temporary employment of workers in H-2A nonimmigrant status from the Employment and Training Administration, and five final rules, including an amendment to regulations governing conditions for the importation of sheep, goats, and other ruminants from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service were deemed significant under E.O. 12866—defined by the potential to have large impacts on the economy, environment, public health, or state or local governments. Significant actions may also conflict with presidential priorities or other agency rules. The Biden administration has issued 104 significant proposed rules, 132 significant final rules, and four significant notices as of Dec. 3.

Ballotpedia maintains page counts and other information about the Federal Register as part of its Administrative State Project. The project is a neutral, nonpartisan encyclopedic resource that defines and analyzes the administrative state, including its philosophical origins, legal and judicial precedents, and scholarly examinations of its consequences. The project also monitors and reports on measures of federal government activity.

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