Federal agencies published 4,518 final rules and 2,701 proposed rules in the Federal Register from Jan. 1, 2025, through Oct. 31, 2026, according to Federal Register records analyzed by the Tribune. The records show which agencies issued the most rules, what kinds of rules they were, and how long key steps in the process took. The figures give readers a way to place any single rule in the news within the wider flow of federal rulemaking.

What the counts include

The Federal Register is the government publication maintained by the Office of the Federal Register. A proposed rule is a draft that an agency publishes with a deadline for public comments. A final rule is the version that takes effect on its effective date.

Together, the final and proposed rules in the period total 7,219, from 158 agencies, according to Federal Register records analyzed by the Tribune. Each rule is counted under the most specific agency named on it. The dates used are Federal Register publication dates.

The Federal Register marks some documents as significant under Executive Order 12866. It gave that label to 280 final rules, or 6.2% of all final rules, and to 253 proposed rules, or 9.4% of all proposed rules. The counts leave out 690 follow-up documents that change an earlier rule, such as corrections, withdrawals, extensions or reopenings of comment periods, delays of effective dates and technical amendments.

In 2025, agencies published 2,206 final rules and 1,328 proposed rules. The 2026 figures run only through Oct. 31, 2026: 2,312 final rules and 1,373 proposed rules in that span. Monthly counts of final rules ranged from 95 in October 2025 to 326 in June 2026.

Which agencies issued the most

The Federal Aviation Administration published 990 final rules and 700 proposed rules, more final rules than any other agency, according to Federal Register records analyzed by the Tribune. The Coast Guard followed with 561 final rules and 115 proposed rules. The Environmental Protection Agency published 501 final rules and 409 proposed rules.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published 369 final rules, and the Food and Drug Administration published 164. The Federal Communications Commission published 132 final rules and 130 proposed rules. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration published 109 final rules.

The Foreign Assets Control Office published 77 final rules and one proposed rule. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Railroad Administration each published 60 final rules. These 10 agencies published the most final rules in the period.

Official titles show what kinds of rules make up much of the total. The Tribune grouped final rules by the words before the first colon or semicolon in their titles. The most common beginning was “Airworthiness Directives,” with 598 final rules, followed by “Safety Zone” with 256 and “Air Plan Approval” with 193.

Other common title beginnings were “Medical Devices,” with 117, and “Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska,” with 110. Titles beginning “Standard Instrument Approach Procedures, and Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures” numbered 88. “Pipeline Safety” accounted for 87 and “Special Local Regulation” for 79.

How long the process took

A comment period is the time between a proposed rule’s publication and its comment deadline. Of 2,519 proposed rules with a comment deadline, the median comment period was 45 days, according to Federal Register records analyzed by the Tribune. The median is the middle value, so half of the periods were shorter or equal and half were longer or equal.

Most comment periods, 1,758, ran 30 to 59 days. Another 667 ran 60 days or more, and 94 ran under 30 days.

Of 4,075 final rules with an effective date, the median rule took effect 26 days after publication. For 1,587 final rules, the effective date fell on or before the publication date. Another 474 took effect one to 29 days later, 1,340 took effect 30 to 59 days later, and 674 took effect 60 days or more later.

Tracking a proposal to its final rule relies on the Regulation Identifier Number, an identifying number listed on rulemaking documents. Some agencies use one number for a whole category of routine rules, so the Tribune left out 10 such numbers. It counted only proposed rules published in 2025 whose number appears on no more than six documents.

Of the 489 proposed rules that met those conditions, a final rule carrying the same number appeared for 272 of them, or 55.6%, by Oct. 31, 2026. For those rules, the median time from proposal to final rule was 265 days. The figure covers only rules that reached the final stage within the period.

Before publication, some rules go through review at the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. As of Nov. 7, 2026, the office’s list on Reginfo.gov showed 165 regulatory actions under review, including proposed and final rules, notices and others. By the stage names Reginfo uses, 81 were at the Proposed Rule stage, 53 at the Final Rule stage, 23 were notices and six were interim final rules. One was listed as Final Rule No Material Change and one as Prerule.