Regulatory Transactions

From: Lexology

Matthew J. Clark and Lisa Ellman |Hogan Lovells

From: Notice & Comment, A blog by the Yale Journal on Regulation  and the ABA Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice

by Jeff Weiss

On April 6, 2016, a Request for Comment on “The Benefits, Challenges, and Potential Roles for the Government in Fostering the Advancement of the Internet of Things” was published in the Federal Register. As noted in the preamble to the Notice, which was initiated by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce:

From: Federal Communications Commissions MB Docket No. 16-42

In October 2012, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee issued a joint statement warning American companies that were doing business with the large Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE to “use another vendor.”

The bipartisan statement cited the Intelligence Committee’s Report that

“highlights the interconnectivity of U.S. critical infrastructure systems and warns of the heightened threat of cyber espionage and predatory disruption or destruction of U.S. networks if telecommunications networks are built by companies with known ties to the Chinese state, a country known to aggressively steal valuable trade secrets and other sensitive data from American companies.”

From: Overdrive

Matt Cole

The projected publication dates of two looming trucking regulations have been delayed again, according to the Department of Transportation’s monthly regulatory update. The delayed rules include a proposal to require speed limiters and one to develop a database of truckers who have failed a drug or alcohol test.

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From: The Horse

By Pat Raia

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has developed a new rule intended to strengthen the Horse Protection Act (HPA), which prohibits soring (the deliberate injury to a horses’ feet and legs to achieve an exaggerated, high-stepping gait) and places USDA-APHIS in charge of enforcing the law.

Tanya Espinoza, APHIS spokeswoman, declined to reveal the specific language of the proposed rule because it remains under study by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB, which reviews the procedures of federal agencies to see if they comply with presidential policy). She did say the proposed rule would make certain changes to existing HPA regulations with the aim of decreasing the rate of noncompliance, and would allow the agency to focus investigative resources on other important cases.

From: The Wall Street Journal

Burst of rule-making comes in an election season that has already been tough on corporate interests

By Nick Timiraos

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Planned moves—across labor, health, finance and the environment—range from overtime pay for white-collar workers to more obscure matters such as requiring food makers to disclose added sugar on cartons of flavored milk.

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In his first seven years, Mr. Obama issued 392 regulations deemed “major,” meaning each carries an expected economic effect exceeding $100 million annually. Forty-seven more sat on the drawing board for this year. The tally issued already tops the totals during the eight-year tenures of George W. Bush, at 358, and Bill Clinton, at 361, according to an analysis by George Washington University’s Regulatory Studies Center.

From: Shopfloor | National Association of Manufacturers

By Ryan Ong

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The NAM on Friday joined 37 other organizations on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border in a letter urging the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to halt efforts to impose these new rules. Our collective organizations represent companies that supporting millions of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity – working for industries in nearly every area of bilateral trade, from aerospace to retail, from autos to food and beverages, and from heavy equipment to cosmetics.