Regulatory Transactions

From: Investment News

The regulation, which offers states a route to avoid liability under ERISA, took its final step toward finalization

By Greg Iacurci

A Labor Department rule governing state-based retirement plans for the private sector has taken its final step toward finalization, after the regulatory agency sent the measure to the Office of Management and Budget for review.

The OMB, which received the measure last week, reviews all proposed and final rules, looking particularly at economic consequences. It has up to 90 days to review the rule, but the assessment will likely take around half that time, said Judy Miller, director of retirement policy at the American Retirement Association.

From: Ballard Spahr | CFPB Monitor

By Barbara S. Mishkin

The American Bankers Association and the Consumer Bankers Association (the Associations) have sent a letter to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) (part of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)) urging OIRA to update its existing guidance on information collections to ensure that the CFPB or other agencies do not improperly use the generic clearance process.

From: NAHBNow

Good news for builders who want increased scrutiny of the changes being made to the Environmental Protection Agency’s existing 2012 Construction General Permit (CGP):

EPA officials recently confirmed they will submit the agency’s 2017 CGP to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review this fall. OMB’s review will examine the potential impact of EPA’s proposal and provide NAHB with the opportunity to discuss the cost to small businesses of implementing the changes.

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From: Wired

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But there’s a problem: Even if the car companies do, they don’t. Or at least, no one has any way to know if they do. Because the EPA’s test to make sure automakers are hitting their CAFE numbers—the sole federal, legal requirement that cars get more efficient—probably doesn’t work. At all.

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Meanwhile, the EPA doesn’t know exactly how its CAFE testing correlates with actual results, because it has never done a comprehensive study of real-world fuel economy. Nor does anyone else. The best available data comes from consumers who report it to the DOT—hardly a scientific sampling.

Editor’s Note: All labeling proposals are subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act and Data Quality Act.

From: Politico

By Jenny Hopkinson

Over the next two years, the Department of Agriculture will be the new battleground in the GMO-labeling war as it implements the nationwide labeling requirements. Every organization from the Grocery Manufacturers Association to the Environmental Working Group is now homing its sights on the department, looking to influence its decisions on what the symbol on the package denoting GMO ingredients should look like, the amount of genetically engineered contents a product must contain to trigger that and other labeling, and other related regulations.