Federal Register weekly update: Highest weekly document total of 2023


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 Sept. 25, 2023, through Sept. 29, 2023, the Federal Register grew by 2,036 pages for a year-to-date total of 67,616 pages.

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

This week’s Federal Register featured the following 924 documents:

  • 786 notices
  • Nine presidential documents
  • 59 proposed rules
  • 70 final rules

Nine proposed rules, including proposed amendments to adjudication regulations relating to burial benefits from the Veterans Affairs Department; 11 final rules, including amended energy conservation standards for dedicated purpose pool pump motors from the Energy Department; and one notice, including an extension of the compliance date for the National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) final rule for Housing Choice Voucher and Project Based Voucher programs from the Housing and Urban Development Department, were deemed significant under E.O. 12866, as amended by E.O. 14094—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 in 2023 has issued 274 significant proposed rules, 205 significant final rules, and nine significant notices as of Sept. 29.

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

Additional reading:

  • Click here to find more information about weekly additions to the Federal Register in 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017:Changes to the Federal Register