The semi-annual regulatory and deregulatory agenda, also known as the Unified Agenda, was published Monday in the Federal Register. The agenda gives information about rules under development in each agency and their plans for the regulations in the upcoming year. Here is some information on how to read the UA:

• Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) is assigned by the Regulatory Information Service Center to make tracking regulations easier. You can use the RIN to search for a rule in the Federal Register as well as in the Unified Agenda.
• Each entry will give an abstract summary of the regulation, a timetable of actions associated with the regulation, as well as information about the rules significance. Rules that are "Economically Significant" have impacts on government, small business or other entities totaling at least $100 million. "Other Significant" regulations are those that are considered to have substantial impact or public interest.
• In the table of contents, for each agency's Unified Agenda, the rules are organized by sub-agency and by stage. Rules in "Prerule" stage are those that the agency is considering a given rulemaking. "Proposed" indicates that the agency is planning to propose a given regulation. "Final" indicates the agency is planning to issue a final regulation. "Long-term" indicated that the agency plans no action in the next 12 months. These terms are further defined at the Unified Agenda database site.
• "Completed" indicates the agency has completed action on a given regulation since the publication of the previous agenda. A final rule may have been issued or the rule may have been withdrawn by the agency.
• The timetable associated with each rule will indicate what actions have occurred on a given rulemaking and provide the relevant Federal Register citations.
• "Merged" indicates the regulation has been withdrawn and merged with another entry.
• "Transferred" indicates the regulation has been withdrawn and assigned a new RIN. Read our analysis of the last Unified Agenda.