Half of the major, regulations proposed between 2008 & 2013 were accompanied by no significant evidence of a problem

See Congress: Hold the REINS until you get the facts by Jerry Ellig of Mercatus.

"The Mercatus Center's Regulatory Report Card project evaluated all non-budget regulations with annual economic impacts exceeding $100 million annually that were proposed between 2008 and 2013. Half of the 130 major regulations evaluated in this project were accompanied by no significant evidence demonstrating the existence, size, or cause of the problem the regulation sought to solve. Less than one-fourth of the regulations were accompanied by reasonably strong evidence that the regulation would actually achieve the benefits the agency sought to achieve.

For example, one Department of Agriculture regulation requires inspection of catfish processing plants, even though there was just one salmonella outbreak possibly linked to catfish in the 20 years before the regulation was proposed. The Senate voted in May to block that regulation."

"In December 2015, for example, Congress had to extend the deadline for railroads to implement automated systems that would stop trains to prevent collisions, known as positive train control. Congress imposed this $12.5 billion mandate in 2008 in response to several high-profile train accidents. The committees that wrote the legislation did not seriously consider the extent of the problem, evaluate alternative methods of improving rail safety, or compare benefits with costs. Congress must have a means of getting impartial analysis before creating new regulations."