Regulatory Transactions

From: Investment News

DOL seeks to delay fiduciary rule until July 2019

Battle intensifies as Labor Department seeks to push off implementation until July 2019

By Mark Schoeff Jr

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In a brief filed in a Minnesota lawsuit Wednesday, the DOL indicated it had submitted to the Office of Management and Budget a proposal to delay the remaining parts of the rule from Jan. 1, 2018, until July 1, 2019. The OMB must review and approve the proposal before it can go into effect. The delay itself could require its own rulemaking process.

From: PlanAdvisor

Beyond the ongoing fiduciary rule RFI process, the DOL also has slated for this month an interim final rule about an amendment to its Abandoned Plan Program.

By Rebecca Moore

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As for the Department of Labor’s (DOL)’s regulatory agenda for 2017, it lists its Request for Information (RFI) on Fiduciary Rule and Prohibited Transaction Exemptions. The RFI has been issued and the first comment period about delaying the implementation of the rule has ended. The second comment period seeking information regarding potential new and amended administrative class exemptions from the prohibited transaction provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) will end soon.

From: McGuire Woods

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• Lipnic noted that, having said this, she sent a memorandum to the new head of the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), Neomi Rao, stressing that “time is of the essence” if the EEO-1 pay reporting requirement is to be suspended pending further administration review. As a practical matter, employers and the EEOC need to make changes to their systems now to be compliant in March 2018.
• Thus, Lipnic said she advised OIRA that an answer on the status of the new EEO-1 requirement is needed by the end of August 2017.

Editor’s Note: What comes next? See, A Regulatory Antidote for Carbon Capture and Storage.

From: Power Magazine

Scott Segal

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What Comes Next?

One way to consider how to make the removal of the CPP a more durable change to GHG policy as it affects baseload power production is to answer the question, “What comes next?” Pure repeal of the CPP certainly addresses President Trump’s campaign promise, but leaving something in place of the CPP may have some virtues. First, doing so reinforces preemption of federal common law, other tort actions, and perhaps even certain state actions. Politically speaking, a regulatory program in the area deprives those that would mischaracterize the significance of the CPP an important argument.

From: Farmington Daily Times

Cuts may lessen paperwork burden for outdoorsmen, fish restoration programs and Native American tribes, among others

Josh Boak, The Associated Press

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“It’s really the beginning of a kind of fundamental regulatory reform,” Neomi Rao, head of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, said Wednesday. A report on the regulatory actions was being released Thursday.

Federal agencies expect to complete 1,732 regulations this year, roughly a 20 percent reduction compared to the fall of 2016.

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Editor’s Note: Cross-posted from the Counterfeit Cigarette Enforcement Forum.

In a long-expected announcement, the FDA Center for Tobacco Products announced plans to consider (1) “lowering nicotine levels in combustible cigarettes to non-addictive levels,” i.e. banning nicotine (2) regulating flavors—including menthol—in all tobacco products including e-cigarettes (3)  and “foundational rules to make the product review process more efficient, predictable, and transparent” for all stakeholders. The complete FDA News Release is found here. Below are excerpts.

From: Aviation News Today

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The DOT list includes a rulemaking that “would have required certificated airports to complete a wildlife hazard assessment (WHA) and a wildlife hazard management plan (WHMP) to identify and mitigate wildlife hazards.” The FAA had previously determined that a separate rulemaking involving Safety Management Systems “should accomplish the same goal.”

AAAE and ACI-NA have been working together to urge the Administration to reduce red tape and eliminate unnecessary federal regulations that hamper airports around the country. Earlier this year, the two organizations shared a long list of specific airport regulatory relief proposals with White House officials.

From: Inside Health Policy

David Lim

FDA is stopping work on several key rules including those regulating compounding, direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising, child-focused tobacco sales, dietary supplement manufacturing practices and food safety testing, according to a list published Friday (July 21) by the White House Office of Management and Budget. The newly released inactive list of the Unified Agenda is the Trump administration’s first time identifying rules that federal agencies are not actively working to release.

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From: Bloomberg/BNA

By Laura D. Francis

The Department of Homeland Security is going forward with its plan to increase the number of low-skilled, seasonal visas available in fiscal year 2017.

The agency July 3 submitted a final rule for review by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. The DHS is exercising the authority granted by Congress to increase the number of H-2B visas available this fiscal year, up to the total amount issued during prior years when the annual cap was temporarily raised, the proposed rule says.

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From: JDSupra

Yesterday, the DOL’s Wage & Hour Division (WHD) sent its anticipated Request for Information (RFI) on the overtime rule to the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). Review of the RFI by OIRA is one of the final steps before publication in the Federal Register.

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