Government good at piling up regulations

January 22, 2006

Valley Voices\Harry Yost

There oughta be a law! (And there probably is.) The oft-repeated refrain can be heard just about anywhere in this country when some happening comes to the public's attention. That's about as far as most people get, though, simply voicing the complaint and then going on about their own business.

However, when the very few who take advantage of the ability we have of &#8220bending the ears” of our legislators do so, there is often a flurry in the legislative halls and a new law results. (Is anyone in our legislative halls checking to see if there was a law already on the books?)

Unfortunately, it doesn't stop with a simple law. Often the law requires the formation of a bureaucracy to implement it. The bureaucracy then promulgates (that's a word favored by legislators to convey authority) pages and pages of regulations to enforce the law. The legal system in the United States is supposedly based on the premise that unless an action is specifically forbidden, it is allowed. Bureaucracies lean toward forbidding everything, if possible. There's an old joke: &#8220God gave Moses Ten Commandments to govern Israel. Since then, men have passed Ten Million Laws to enforce the Ten Commandments.”

Most laws passed by Congress authorizing a bureaucracy to make regulations do give Congress the authority to review those regulations. Usually the bureaucracy is required to publish new regulations in the Congressional Register for 45 to 90 days. If no one in Congress objects during that time, the regulation becomes law and it takes another act of Congress to eliminate or alter it. (Last I heard, the Congressional Register runs to 5,000-plus pages a week. How many members of Congress or their overworked staff actually read it?)

A brief accounting of just how a few bureaucracies well-known to Alaskans respond to their legislative mandate should give the reader a picture. I don't know, nor do I believe, anyone in Congress actually knows just how many regulations the bureaucracies have made that govern the everyday lives of the citizens of this country.

When I entered the phrase &#8220Federal Regulations” on a government Web site, it showed 414,917 hits. There is a virtual &#8220alphabet soup” of congressionally established agencies governing our lives.

A few that especially affect Alaskans are the Federal Aviation Administration - 10,000-plus regulations. (If you never board a plane, they still affect you. FAA regulations also govern the airspace over your home!)

Another agency most Alaskans are familiar with is the Internal Revenue Service - another 10,000-plus regulations. (Remember the old adage about death and taxes? Well, the IRS has definitely taken it to heart.)

Then there's the Occupational Safety and Health Administration - 20,000-plus regulations. These govern everything from a wet spot on the supermarket floor to the removal of a mountain. (Modern gold mining.)

Then there's the Food and Drug Administration, authorized by a 1906 act of Congress. Look at the labels on most products you buy at the supermarket. A new regulation, just published, requires the label to show if there are any &#8220peanut products” or other &#8220allergens” in the product. This is to alert people who are allergic to peanuts that eating the product may be injurious to their health. The label serves a two-fold purpose. It warns the consumer, and also frees the FDA and the manufacturer from liability. Let the buyer beware!

The skeptical can't be blamed if they believe many regulations are written to get someone, usually federal bureaucrats, off the hook. (As in, &#8220Don't blame us, we have a regulation covering that, and if you get hurt, it's your own fault because you violated our regulations!”)

If you have the feeling you can't do anything without violating some regulations someplace, guess what? You're right.

For information on how federal regulations affect you, go to www.fedworld.gov, and pull up the Web page for your favorite agency. (A good way to spend a cold winter afternoon!)

Palmer resident Harry Yost has been a free-lance writer and journalist for almost 40 years. His Valley Voices column appears every four weeks.