A year of writing this blog – and 115 … now 116 posts – warrants a traditional end-of-year review and prospective for next year. For the Federal Regulations Advisor to be useful, it must be responsive to you, its readers. Top 10 Posts: Popularity is often fickle, skewed toward longevity and against recent posts, but… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: December 2012
Monday Morning Regulatory Review – 12/24/12
Posted in Judicial Review & Remedies, Regulatory ProcessNumerous regulations moved prior to year-end annual leave, which is not as surprising as it may seem – holiday planning sometimes invigorates action. Among the highlights, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) completed review on major Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Air Act (CAA) final rules on commercial boilers and Portland cement in response… Continue Reading
4th Circuit Reinforces APA Requirements in Rejecting Alien Worker Wage Appeal
Posted in Judicial Review & Remedies, Regulatory ProcessThe United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit turned aside workers attempts to collect back wages from a time while the Obama Administration Department of Labor (DOL) had attempted to “suspend” a Bush Administration rule through a deficient Administrative Procedure Act (APA) notice and comment process. North Carolina Growers Ass’n v. United Farm… Continue Reading
OMB Releases Fall 2012 Unified Agenda & Regulatory Plan: Meaning what?
Posted in Regulatory Flexibility & Small Business, Regulatory ProcessThe Obama Administration released a Unified Agenda and Regulatory Plan overnight December 22, 2012, after being missing in action for months and finally skipping the Spring 2012 version altogether, not releasing any instructions for the development of the Fall 2012 Unified Agenda, and with no announcement of the 2012 Fall Unified Agenda whatever. OMB’s lack… Continue Reading
Rules and Ripeness: Commitment to Changing Rules During Litigation
Posted in Judicial Process, Judicial Review & RemediesThe United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, in a short order, has held the United States to its word that it will change the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act rules requiring employers to provide contraceptive services at no cost. The order in Wheaton College v. Sebelius comes after oral argument… Continue Reading
Monday Morning Regulatory Review – 12/17/12
Posted in Executive - OMB Review“Review Lite.” The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) completed review on nine proposed or final rules last week, the most significant of which were the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) particulate matter revision under court order and a reconsideration of the chemical manufacturing area sources by proposed rule. The Department of Transportation (DOT) National Highway… Continue Reading
CFTC Pool Operator Rule Upheld – Broader Lessons Need Consideration
Posted in Executive - OMB Review, Judicial Review & Remedies, Regulatory Flexibility & Small Business, Regulatory ProcessThe United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted the agency summary judgment in Investment Company Institute v. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), leaving intact the Commodity Pool Operators and Commodity Trading Advisors: Compliance Obligations final rule (as corrected) (the “pool” rule). Plaintiffs claimed that the CFTC had violated the Administrative Procedure Act… Continue Reading
Administrative Conference Approves Three New Recommendations
Posted in Legislation, Regulatory ProcessThe Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) approved three recommendations at its 57th Plenary Session on December 6 – 7, 2012: Reform of 28 U.S.C. § 1500; Third-Party Programs for Regulatory Compliance; and Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment. This blog previously posted the agenda recommendations and reports. Why Congress, the agencies, and practitioners should… Continue Reading
Monday Morning Regulatory Review – 12/10/12
Posted in Executive - OMB Review, Judicial Review & RemediesRegulatory activity continued to pick up speed last week, with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submitting three rules for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review, while OMB completed one time-sensitive review. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published an economically significant Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) proposed rule on benefit… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Argument Recap: Changing Rules During Litigation – Logging Roads & EPA Pollution Permits
Posted in Judicial Process, Judicial Review & RemediesIn an ongoing effort to prevent logging, environmentalists have woven the most complex of webs in Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center and Georgia-Pacific West, Inc. v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center, argued this morning in the Supreme Court of the United States. At bottom, Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s… Continue Reading
Monday Morning Regulatory Review – 12/3/12
Posted in Regulatory ProcessRule submission to and completions by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) began to pick up speed last week. Most significant, OMB quickly completed review of a legally significant Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) logging road final rule – a subject of oral argument this morning at the Supreme Court and about which Congress has… Continue Reading