Federal Register

Agencies by rulemaking volume

Agencies ranked by the number of Federal Register documents (rules, notices, etc.) issued (as collected).

An organization of public government data, not an official U.S. government site. Aggregates cover collected data, and rankings are based on name-level aggregation.

What the data shows

The most prolific issuers are departments that broadly regulate industry and daily life — Commerce, Transportation, and Health and Human Services. Fields such as safety standards, trade, environment, and health require frequent rule updates. Volume is a rough gauge of how granularly an agency governs society.

Top 50 of 205

#	Agency	Count
1	Department of Commerce	1,045
2	Securities and Exchange Commission	933
3	Department of Transportation	903
4	Department of Health and Human Services	893
5	Department of Energy	649
6	Department of the Interior	604
7	Federal Energy Regulatory Commission	576
8	Department of Homeland Security	518
9	Department of Transportation	463
10	Department of Commerce	456
11	Department of the Interior	391
12	Department of Commerce	348
13	Environmental Protection Agency	336
14	Department of Justice	304
15	Department of the Treasury	283
16	Department of Health and Human Services	282
17	Department of Agriculture	274
18	Department of Homeland Security	267
19	Department of Defense	248
20	Department of Health and Human Services	234
21	U.S. International Trade Commission	222
22	Department of Labor	193
23	Nuclear Regulatory Commission	170
24	Small Business Administration	157
25	Federal Communications Commission	152
26	Department of Commerce	140
27	Department of Education	133
28	Department of State	124
29	Federal Reserve System	116
30	Department of the Treasury	110
31	Department of Justice	109
32	Executive Office of the President	101
33	Department of Transportation	95
34	Department of Veterans Affairs	91
35	Department of Housing and Urban Development	88
36	Department of Health and Human Services	87
37	Postal Regulatory Commission	85
38	Department of the Treasury	84
39	Department of Health and Human Services	81
40	Department of the Interior	76
41	Department of Transportation	73
42	Department of Homeland Security	72
43	Surface Transportation Board	70
44	Children and Families Administration	66
45	Department of Health and Human Services	64
46	Department of Transportation	63
47	Department of Transportation	62
48	Office of Personnel Management	61
49	Department of Justice	56
50	National Aeronautics and Space Administration	54

Aggregates cover each source's collected data. Names use the original data as-is.

FAQ

What does this ranking show?

Agencies that issue the most Federal Register documents (rules, notices), ordered by document count.

Why look at rule-making volume?

A high volume signals which areas of the economy and society an agency actively regulates.

What is the source?

Federal Register documents aggregated per issuing agency.

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