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 Feb. 14 through Feb. 18, the Federal Register grew by 1,286 pages for a year-to-date total of 9,424 pages.
The Federal Register hit an all-time high of 95,894 pages in 2016.
This week’s Federal Register featured the following 571 documents:
- 466 notices
- One presidential document
- 40 proposed rules
- 64 final rules
Three proposed rules, including an amendment to the Veterans Affairs Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) to revise the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders and combine it with the General Rating Formula for Eating Disorders from the Veterans Affairs Department, and two final rules, including a policy to permit indemnification of the National Endowment for the Humanities employees in certain circumstances from the National Endowment for the Humanities 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 26 significant proposed rules, 33 significant final rules, and zero significant notices as of Feb. 18.
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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