Regulatory Transactions

From: CCB Bart Group

Since I had a chance to write an associate today about updated 508 Refresh timing I thought I would share an update on the current track:

The Access Board recently submitted to Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) the Draft NPRM for Section 508.  That submission occurred on February 23rd, 2014.   OIRA has 90 days to review the proposed regulation and then approve or reject it.  While possible, we deem it highly unlikely that OIRA will reject the NPRM at this stage of definition and after two ANPRM drafts. That means OIRA has until May 24th, 2014 to approve or reject the NPRM draft.

From: Overdrive

 James Jaillet

The driver coercion prevention rule bouncing around the regulatory circuit could be published this month, according to a Department of Transportation rulemaking update released this week. 

The DOT projected the rule to clear the White House’s Office of Management and Budget April 14, but the rule is still being reviewed by the OMB. 

 The DOT projects in its report the rule will be published April 23, but given the delay in OMB clearance, it likely will be delayed slightly. 

From: Bloomberg/BNA

from Occupational Safety & Health Reporter™

By Robert Iafolla  

In an apparent effort to kickstart agency action on updating permissible exposure limits for hundreds of chemicals, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration asked the White House April 15 to approve a request to gather information on ways to address chemical exposure.

OSHA cited widespread agreement that the majority of the agency’s exposure limits are decades out-of-date and need revising. But agency attempts have gone nowhere since a 1992 appeals court decision scuttled a blanket measure on exposure limits for nearly 400 chemicals.

From: National Law Review

Article By: Emily J. Cook, David S. Ivill/McDermott Will & Emery

Earlier this week, the much-anticipated 340B Drug Pricing Program (340B Program) proposed rule arrived at the Office of Management and Budget for review.  Publication of this proposed rule is expected in June and will likely cover patient eligibility and contract pharmacy requirements, among other issues.  In a separate release this week, the Health Resources and Services Administration of the Office of Pharmacy Affairs released updated guidance on 340B Program hospital registration that includes a requirement to separately register each service at off-site outpatient locations.

Editor’s Note: Before making any plans for the planned rule’s “toughness,” EPA needs to make sure that it complies with OMB’s binding peer review and other data quality requirements. For more information on EPA’s peer review responsibilities, see here.

From: Reuters

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s chief said on Monday that new carbon pollution standards due in June will be flexible enough for all states to meet but will be environmentally stringent and federally enforceable.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy gave her first remarks since the agency sent its proposed rule, which aims to curb carbon emissions from more than 1,000 existing power plants in the United States, to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget for review.

From: Credit Union National Administration

The National Credit Union Administration’s definition of “complex credit union,” as set forth in its proposed risk-based capital (RBC) regulation, “casts a regulatory net that is far too wide” and would create lasting burdens for credit unions, the Credit Union National Association said in a Wednesday letter.

The letter was sent to the Office of Management and Budget in response to that agency’s request for public assessments of the paperwork burden any new rule would create.

From: CSPnet.com

By Thomas A. Briant, Executive Director

Last October, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a set of proposed “deeming” regulations that likely included regulations on cigars, pipe tobacco, electronic cigarettes and hookah tobacco.

While the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) currently regulates cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco and smokeless tobacco, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act which authorized the FDA to regulate tobacco products also grants the agency the authority to extend tobacco regulations to other products deemed to be tobacco products. For this reason, the FDA has submitted proposed regulations that are currently under review by the OMB.

From: Reuters

The Environmental Protection Agency’s rule to cut greenhouse gas emissions from existing U.S. power plants has arrived at the White House for review, Office of Management and Budget records showed on Tuesday, moving the plan closer to a public unveiling.

The plan, the centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s climate change strategy, would set emission standards for the nation’s more than 1,000 power plants, most of which burn coal.

“Greenhouse gases pose a threat to the public health and welfare,” the EPA said in a summary of its rule. “Electric generating units are one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions.”

From: CCJ

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s latest attempt at an electronic logging device mandate has been published in the Federal Register as a Supplemental Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking, and the agency will accept public comment on the proposed rule for 60 days.

FMCSA announced the rule March 13 and released the 250-page document. Click here to see CCJ’s prior coverage for an in-depth look at what’s included in the rule.

The rule, when made final, will require all truck drivers who currently must keep records of duty status to use an electronic logging device, formerly known as electronic onboard recorders.

From: ECT.coop

By Cathy Cash | ECT Staff Writer

In a move that would hurt electric cooperatives’ operations and their bottom lines, a draft proposed rule could subject nearly all bodies of water to Clean Water Act requirements, according to NRECA.

NRECA is advocating that the Obama administration turn back the proposal.

“Such an expansion of Clean Water Act rules would have significant impacts on co-ops by increasing the number and costs of permits needed for distribution and transportation corridor construction and maintenance and substations,” said Kirk Johnson, NRECA senior vice president, government relations.