Both things can be true. I’m sure there are ways to streamline the bureaucracy. But if you ignore Chesterton’s fence you get Superfund sites dotting the landscape. The rules exist for reasons.
Unless there is a lower incidence of workplace accidents and environmental contamination at US facilities as compared to equivalent Japanese facilities then the additional rules are pure dead weight loss. And I have not seen any evidence that our factories are any safer or cleaner than Japan's.
No, that’s merely a reflection of your anarchistic and misanthropic worldview. Most people would not agree at all that “most rules” serve only to justify gatekeepers.
You are free to jump the fence and fall into the gorilla exhibit if you want but there is still a very good reason the rule exists. And the fact that you apparently see such rules as a “minority” speaks more to you than anything.