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 199

#	Agency	Count
1	Department of Commerce	895
2	Securities and Exchange Commission	807
3	Department of Transportation	788
4	Department of Health and Human Services	781
5	Department of Energy	587
6	Department of the Interior	538
7	Federal Energy Regulatory Commission	521
8	Department of Homeland Security	466
9	Department of Transportation	396
10	Department of Commerce	393
11	Department of the Interior	347
12	Department of Commerce	304
13	Environmental Protection Agency	299
14	Department of Justice	251
15	Department of Health and Human Services	251
16	Department of Agriculture	247
17	Department of Homeland Security	245
18	Department of the Treasury	221
19	Department of Health and Human Services	201
20	Department of Defense	198
21	U.S. International Trade Commission	195
22	Department of Labor	174
23	Nuclear Regulatory Commission	145
24	Small Business Administration	135
25	Federal Communications Commission	124
26	Department of Education	121
27	Department of Commerce	116
28	Department of State	109
29	Federal Reserve System	93
30	Department of the Treasury	90
31	Executive Office of the President	88
32	Department of Justice	88
33	Department of Veterans Affairs	80
34	Department of Transportation	80
35	Postal Regulatory Commission	76
36	Department of Health and Human Services	74
37	Department of Health and Human Services	71
38	Department of the Interior	70
39	Department of Housing and Urban Development	68
40	Department of Transportation	65
41	Department of Homeland Security	63
42	Surface Transportation Board	62
43	Department of Transportation	61
44	Office of Personnel Management	60
45	Children and Families Administration	60
46	Department of the Treasury	57
47	Department of Justice	56
48	Department of Health and Human Services	54
49	Department of Transportation	54
50	Department of Transportation	51

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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