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 179

#	Agency	Count
1	Department of Commerce	508
2	Securities and Exchange Commission	461
3	Department of Transportation	455
4	Department of Health and Human Services	453
5	Department of the Interior	352
6	Department of Energy	335
7	Federal Energy Regulatory Commission	292
8	Department of Homeland Security	260
9	Department of Transportation	230
10	Department of the Interior	224
11	Department of Commerce	214
12	Environmental Protection Agency	174
13	Department of Commerce	166
14	Department of Homeland Security	160
15	Department of Justice	149
16	Department of Health and Human Services	149
17	Department of Defense	131
18	U.S. International Trade Commission	119
19	Department of Agriculture	117
20	Department of the Treasury	115
21	Department of Health and Human Services	113
22	Department of Labor	105
23	Department of Commerce	87
24	Department of Education	80
25	Nuclear Regulatory Commission	78
26	Small Business Administration	69
27	Federal Communications Commission	66
28	Department of State	63
29	Federal Reserve System	57
30	Department of Veterans Affairs	55
31	Department of the Interior	52
32	Department of Transportation	52
33	Department of Health and Human Services	50
34	Department of Justice	46
35	Department of the Treasury	44
36	Executive Office of the President	42
37	Postal Regulatory Commission	42
38	Department of Justice	41
39	Department of Housing and Urban Development	40
40	Office of Personnel Management	40
41	Department of Transportation	38
42	Surface Transportation Board	37
43	Children and Families Administration	37
44	Department of Health and Human Services	36
45	Department of Transportation	33
46	Department of Transportation	33
47	Department of the Treasury	31
48	Department of Homeland Security	30
49	Department of Labor	30
50	Civil Rights Commission	27

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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