Regulatory Transactions

Editor’s Note: Search the Unified Agenda here.

From: Halfwheel

By Charlie Minato

Last week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) updated its regulatory calendar, including a small update to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) planned regulations of tobacco products under the Family Smoking and Tobacco Control Act. Post update, the proposed rule now lists a date of “06/00/2015” for “Final Action.” Many have taken to accepting as a deadline on when the FDA must act regarding the proposed regulation of premium cigars, something that isn’t really true.

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Editor’s Note: OIRA’s Introduction to the Fall 2014 Unified Agenda is here. The Fall 2014 Agency Statements of Regulatory Priorities is here.

From: The Hill

By Timothy Cama

The Obama administration is pushing back its timeline for issuing major energy regulations from the Interior Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The delays, announced late Friday in the administration’s semi-annual regulatory agenda update, mean energy companies will have to wait months longer for rules on oil and gas drilling on federal land, protecting streams from mountaintop removal mining, disclosing payments to foreign governments and other actions.

From: Newsday

By EMILY NGO

Three drone sightings in recent days by commercial pilots approaching Kennedy Airport through Nassau County airspace should motivate federal agencies to strengthen their regulations of the unmanned aircraft, Sen. Charles Schumer said Sunday.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the Office of Management and Budget must speed up the release of a rule on drone use in light of the “near-misses” and because safety and privacy are at risk with the rising popularity of drones, Schumer (D-N.Y.) said.

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From: Regulatory Affairs Professional Society

By Alexander Gaffney, RAC

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is granting labelers of certain types of implantable medical devices a temporary reprieve from its upcoming requirements that all medical device products be marked with a unique device identifier (UDI) meant to make the devices safer.

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From: The National Law Review

On Nov. 17, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had entered into a settlement agreement with Ahold U.S.A., Inc., and Peapod, LLC, regarding the accessibility of www.peapod.com and its associated mobile application. This follows on the DOJ having earlier this year entered into a consent decree with H&R Block (which culminated from a lawsuit originally initiated by the National Federation of the Blind) regarding the
accessibility of its website, online tax preparation product and mobile application.

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From: Safety + Health

Washington – OSHA’s final rule on confined spaces in construction currently is being reviewed by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The review is one of the final steps required before OSHA can formally publish the rule.

OIRA, which is a branch of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, received the rule for review on Nov. 14. The office is limited to a 90-day review, but can request an extension. The rule has been in the works since at least 2003; the proposed rule was published in 2007.

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Editor’s Note: For information on the Data Quality Act which controls the quality of virtually all data disseminated by the federal government, see here.

From: FederalNewsRadio.com 1500AM

GAO: Not too early to track DATA Act progress

By Emily Kopp

At an event on the power of data analytics, speakers talked about its potential to solve some of government’s toughest challenges: stopping $150 billion in improper payments a year, collecting lost tax revenue, getting the Defense Department ready for its first full audit in 2017 and improving federal IT procurement by identifying bottlenecks in programs. The opportunities seem limitless.

From: CCMI

Posted by Andrew Regitsky

The industry response to the FCC’s trimmed down special access request is due on December 15th and ILECs are not happy. With special access responders now required to file data for 2013 only, ILECs are concerned that a single data peoint will provide a misleading picture of the special access market to the Commission. Moreover, they believe that the Commission would unlawfully use the misleading data to restrict their special access pricing flexibility and possibly even their earnings.

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From: Plane-ly Spoken

By Mark McKinnon and Lisa Ellman

Yesterday, we wrote about the endgame for the small UAS rule and recent comments that the process might take until 2018 to complete.  Today we would like to talk about the opening move, which occurred with little fanfare in the last few days.

Before the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) can be released for comment, it first must go through a review process at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which is part of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) at the White House.  Plane-ly Spoken has learned that the FAA has, in fact, sent the small UAS NRPM to OIRA for their review.  This provides a golden opportunity for stakeholders to influence the process before the regulation is publicly released.

Editor’s Note: For information on the Executive Branch’s unfinished business in ensuruing all marriages are treated equally in federal programs, see here.

From: BuzzFeed News

The Labor Department was tasked by the president this summer with devising regulations barring federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT workers.

Chris Geidner

WASHINGTON — The Labor Department has finalized a rule barring federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT workers, sending it to the Office of Management and Budget on Monday for review, BuzzFeed News has learned.