From: Inside EPA
EPA has sent for White House review what appears to be a revised version of its earlier proposed rule outlining potential first-time limits on the greenhouse gas (GHG) methane from new landfills that is due for release by July, as well as a related proposal on whether to regulate methane from existing landfills that is due in August.
From: Chemical Facility Security News
Yesterday the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had received a copy of a new notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) from DOD on the subject of the detection and avoidance of counterfeit electronic parts. Apparently this is an additional part of the implementation of the Congressional mandate on this subject in the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act.
The initial final rule on this subject was issued last year followed quickly by a DOD meeting on what additional measures needed to be addressed. This rule has not been mentioned in the Unified Agenda so there are no publicly available details about what might be included.
Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from “Visiting With Lawrence Kogan, Esq: An Initial Consultation.” The complete hyperlinked article is attached here.
The Water Compact (Treaty) entered into by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT), the State of Montana, and the U.S. Department of Interior is a complex first-of-its-kind agreement that will seriously impair citizen rights. The Compact also will reshape, for the worse, future water compacts currently being contemplated by other U.S. states and regions (including in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Oklahoma, the Midwest and the East).
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From: The Cap Times
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The EEOC’s proposed corporate wellness program regulations are in the middle of the usual regulatory process. Currently they are being evaluated by the Office of Management and Budget, after which the regulations will be released for public comment. While many members of Congress have expressed strong support for corporate wellness programs in the wake of the EEOC’s new regulations (and a previous lawsuit), this support will need to continue in the months ahead to make sure the OMB and the Obama administration know the facts.
Editor’s Note: For the regulatory antidote to CCS plans, see here.
From: The Wall Street Journal
By Amy Harder
The Obama administration is planning a series of actions this summer to rein in greenhouse-gas emissions from wide swaths of the economy, including trucks, airplanes and power plants, kicking into high gear an ambitious climate agenda that the president sees as key to his legacy.
From: The Hill
By Lisa Gilbert, contributor, and Greg Colvin
Nonprofits of many stripes have spent time reading the tea leaves in the year-plus that the Treasury Department and the IRS have been revising a rule that will guide them in conducting political activity. At last, they may have something solid to rely on.
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From: FederalNewsRadio.com 1500AM
Locality pay will increase at 13 new cities next January, Beth Cobert, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, told members of a federal employee union Friday.
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The Office of Personnel Management submitted its rulemaking proposal on May 5, to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, according to an OMB official. OIRA will soon publish the proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register to solicit public comment.
From: Lexology
Alexander J. Bandza | Jenner & Block
Last week, the EPA-specific listing on the website of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs was updated with timelines on the EPA’s regulatory efforts. Of potential interest, in chronological order of expected release, are the following rules:
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Editor’s Note: The GAO report, Federal Motor Carrier Safety: Modifying the Compliance, Safety, Accountability Program Would Improve the Ability to Identify High Risk Carriers, is available here.
From: Overdrive
The lack of crash accountability or crash weighting in the DOT’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program is unfair to carriers, said one of the FMCSA’s top dogs at Overdrive sister publication CCJ’s Spring Symposium this week in Birmingham, Ala.
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The looming Safety Fitness Determination rule also includes an adjudication process similar to CSA’s already exisiting DataQs system. The rule is currently under review by the Office of the Secretary of Transportation, he said. “Hopefully it will go on to the OMB very, very soon,” he said.
Editor’s Note: Cross-Posted from OIRA Watch. Emphasis added.
From: Reuters
WASHINGTON, May 22, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Inside EPA reports that it is likely that CCS is not in the New Source Performance Standard (NSPS) rule sent by EPA to OMB for interagency review. In response to this information some stakeholder groups are rallying their supporters to meet with OMB to reverse the decision.
It should be noted that all parties interested in a viable climate change program cannot afford to have EPA reversed in court on a rule which is predicate to the issuance of subsequent climate change rules. The elimination of CCS from the rule will make it virtually litigation proof; litigants will be mining for fools gold.