Regulations: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) began review on three more Small Business Administration (SBA) planned system of adjustments to the Small Business Size Standards, which generally increase the scope of regulatory flexibility analyses and the pool of businesses that are eligible for small business contracts. OMB completed review of SBA final rules… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: April 2012
Labor Enjoined from Regulating Temporary Worker Visas: No Statutory Delegated Authority
Posted in Judicial Process, Judicial Review & RemediesThe United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida has preliminarily enjoined the Department of Labor (DOL) from enforcing its Temporary Non-Agricultural Employment of H–2B Aliens in the United States rule published last February and that was scheduled to become effective today. Bayou Lawn & Landscape Services v. Solis, N.D. Fla. No. 3:12-cv-00183-rv-CJK…. Continue Reading
Home Concrete: Supreme Court Not Rethinking Changing Regulations II
Posted in Judicial Review & RemediesThe Supreme Court of the United States today decided United States v. Home Concrete & Supply, LLC, in a narrow 5-4 ruling that: a provision of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, interpreted in the Supreme Court’s decision in Colony, Inc. v. Commissioner, 357 U. S. 28 (1958), was not changed by amendments to the… Continue Reading
Monday Morning Regulatory Review – 4/23/12
Posted in Executive - OMB Review, Judicial Review & Remedies, Regulatory Flexibility & Small Business, Regulatory ProcessLast Week: Inadequate economic analysis at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and delay in rulemaking by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) were the focus of Congressional hearings. Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued new rules and proposals with both economic analysis and delay issues. This Week: United States District Court decisions… Continue Reading
NLRB Posting Rule III: Posting Rule Enforcement Enjoined
Posted in Judicial Review & RemediesSeth Borden, McKenna Long & Aldridge, at Labor Relations Today, reported that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today enjoined enforcement of the NLRB Posting Rule. This blog previously discussed the NLRB Posting Rule litigation when the District Court for the District of Columbia invalidated the enforcement provisions of the rule and… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Argument: Interpreting Regulations During Litigation II
Posted in Judicial Process, Judicial Review & RemediesThe United States Supreme Court heard argument this morning in Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham Corporation on the issue of the proper interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) outside sales representative exception to overtime, and, more importantly from this blog’s perspective, whether courts should defer to agency interpretations that appear only in amicus curiae… Continue Reading
Monday Morning Regulatory Review – 4/16/12
Posted in Executive - OMB Review, Judicial Review & Remedies, LegislationLast Week: The post-Easter week was as quiet as the pre-Easter week, but significant new developments are expected. OMB does not appear to have completed review of any “significant” rules, but one rule that OMB cleared illustrates a flaw in the transparency of the review process. EPA finally published its proposed rule limiting “new” coal-fired… Continue Reading
NLRB Posting Rule II: Posting Rule Exceeded Authority under NLRA
Posted in Judicial Process, Judicial Review & RemediesIn a second blow to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Posting Rule, the United States District Court for South Carolina has held that the NLRB violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) when it promulgated a rule without statutory authority requiring employers to display an NLRB-created poster. Chamber of Commerce v. NLRB. As previously discussed… Continue Reading
Regulatory Right to Know: OMB Requests Comments on Draft Report
Posted in Executive - OMB Review, Regulatory Flexibility & Small Business, Regulatory ProcessThe Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requested public comments on its Draft 2012 Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations and Unfunded Mandates on State, Local and Tribal Entities in today’s Federal Register. OMB’s draft report, required by the “Regulatory Right-to-Know Act,” presents OMB’s view of the benefits and costs… Continue Reading
IRS violated APA, Must Propose Rule, in Phone Service Excise Tax Refund Case
Posted in Judicial Review & RemediesThe U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia today finally held that an IRS published “notice” (setting out the requirements for taxpayers to claim credit for illegally levied telephone excise taxes) should have been issued through Administrative Procedure Act (APA) “notice and comment” rulemaking. In Re Long-Distance Telephone Service Federal Excise Tax Refund Litigation. … Continue Reading
Monday Morning Regulatory Review – 4/9/12
Posted in Executive - OMB Review, Judicial Review & Remedies, Regulatory ProcessLast week was exceptionally quiet, quieter than expected. OMB’s docket remained almost static, with a few additional rules being held for extended review. Two interesting cases were decided in D.C. – the U.S. Court of Appeals strictly enforced a deadline on OSHA, and the District Court denied an injunction against an Interior rule (something not… Continue Reading
Cost-Benefit Analysis & Political Salience: A Concurring Opinion
Posted in Regulatory ProcessA recent post by Stuart Shapiro and John Morall in the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Program on Regulation, Regblog, highlights the important relationship between the results of economic cost-benefit analysis and the political salience of rules. Disappointingly to us … agencies do not appear to make better decisions, at least from an economic perspective, when… Continue Reading
Monday Morning Regulatory Review – 4/2/12: A New Feature
Posted in Executive - OMB Review, Judicial Review & Remedies, LegislationThis blog focuses on the large issues presented in Federal rulemaking. Colleagues have suggested that I review interesting regulatory and administrative law events that, while significant, don’t warrant a separate post. To accommodate that interest, the Federal Regulations Advisor offers this first Monday Morning Regulatory Review summarizing OMB completion of review and agency publication in… Continue Reading