Friday, White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten sent a memo to the heads of federal agencies outlining the administration's policy on rules those agencies want to finalize by the end of the Bush administration. The memo states, "Except in extraordinary circumstances, regulations to be finalized in this Administration should be proposed no later than June 1, 2008, and final regulations should be issued no later than November 1, 2008." So, agencies will have just three weeks to announce proposed rules they want to finalize by year's end. More importantly, it means agencies will have to announce final rules by November 1. The November 1 deadline ensures the i's will be dotted and the t's will be crossed on all Bush regulations, before a new presidential administration takes over. Most significant rules are published in the Federal Register shortly after the agency makes its final decision; but the Administrative Procedure Act requires agencies usually wait at least 30 days before making the rules effective. (Agencies sometimes choose to wait 45, 60, 90 days, or longer.) So what will the next five-and-a-half months bring? Here's a sampling of rules the Bush administration may push to finalize in its waning days of power, in the event a new administration disagrees with its policy positions:

• A rule revoking the 25-year-old ban on carrying loaded weapons in national parks (proposed by the National Park Service in April 2008);
• Changes to the enforcement of the Family and Medical Leave Act that would make it more difficult for employees to claim leave time in certain situations (proposed by the Department of Labor in February 2008);
• A rule to exempt farms from reporting air pollution caused by animal waste (proposed by EPA in December 2007);
• A rule to ease air pollution control requirements on industrial facilities operating near national parks (proposed by EPA in June 2007).