President Barack Obama could finalize $75 billion in regulations before and after he leaves office in January 2017, The Daily Caller News Foundation reports.
The number includes $44 billion in "midnight" regulations published after Election Day, but before the end of Obama's term, according to a report by the American Action Forum, which compiled a list of 40 rules that will be published in the Federal Register.
"The $75 billion estimate contains roughly 40 monetized figures out of what will be hundreds of potential final rules," writes Sam Batkins, director of regulatory policy at American Action Forum.
"It is unlikely regulators in the Obama administration will have the opportunity to enact the full slate listed here. Still, there is a degree of uncertainty.
"The public does not know the cost of proposed rulemakings not yet published, nor the countless other rules that will be final in the coming weeks," Batkins added.
Regulations on the list include $13.3 billion for a Department of Health and Human Services rule to provide protections for human research subjects, Department of Energy regulations for home efficiency (which costs $5.5 billion), and conservation standards for boilers and ovens ($800 million each).
The Daily Caller notes its primary regulations are already in the books and agencies are working to finish the regulations before Obama leaves office.
However, President-elect Donald Trump has said he would roll back many of Obama's regulations, including those set up by the Environmental Protection Agency.
"I will cancel job-killing restrictions on the production of American energy — including shale energy and clean coal — creating many millions of high-paying jobs," Trump said in a transition team video.
Repealing some regulations could take months and experts found 150 rules that Trump could repeal through executive orders or legislation.
Anything that is not finalized could be subject to cancellation.
"Although this agenda puts the finishing touches on what was an active eight years for regulators, the fate of many of these measures lies with the next Congress and the incoming administration," Batkins wrote.
Those measures "could vanish quickly in a series of votes or executive actions in 2017."
According to The Washington Post, the Obama administration is making the moves because Republicans will have to choose which regulations are worth the time and the work it would take to reverse them.
A GOP Senate leadership aide said that each reversal could take up to 10 hours of Senate floor time, while senators have to also confirm nominees and pass a budget.
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