Late last week, the White House released its fall 2015 Unified Agenda—the semi-annual report on regulations under development or review by each federal agency. As usual, and therefore of little surprise, this latest agenda spells delay for a laundry list of critical safeguards at several agencies.
According to CPR senior analyst James Goodwin’s review of the regulatory agendas for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and several other agencies, several new protections will be delayed anywhere from two months to over a year.
A look at the Department of Labor’s regulatory agenda also signals extensive delays for some long-anticipated worker protections. Here is the status of rules under development at DOL classified as “major” or “economically significant” rules:
Agency |
Rule |
Spring 2015 |
Fall 2015 |
DOL/OSHA |
|
Pre-rulemaking: expected to initiate small business review panel by 02/2016 |
Pre-rulemaking: expected to initiate small business review panel by 08/2016 *6 month delay |
DOL/OSHA
|
Preventing Backover Injuries and Fatalities
|
Long-Term Action: expected to initiate small business review panel by 06/2016 |
Pre-rulemaking: expected to initiate small business review panel 09/2016 *3 month delay |
DOL/OSHA
|
Walking Working Surfaces and Personal Fall Protection Systems |
Final: Final rule expected 8/2015 |
Final: Final rule expected 04/2016 *8 month delay |
DOL/OSHA |
|
Long-Term Action: Proposed rule expected 12/2016 |
Long-Term Action: Proposed rule expected 12/2016 *no movement expected |
DOL/OSHA |
Long-Term Action: Next action undetermined |
Long-Term Action: Next action undetermined *no movement expected |
|
DOL/OSHA |
Update to the Hazard Communication Standard
|
Long-Term Action: Next action undetermined |
Long-Term Action: Next action undetermined *No movement expected |
DOL/OSHA |
Occupational Exposure to Beryllium
|
Proposal: Proposed rule expected 05/2015 |
Proposal: Analysis of comments on proposed rule expected 12/2015 *moving ahead
|
DOL/OSHA |
Proposal: Post-Hearing Comment Review Period expected 07/2014 |
Final: Final rule expected 02/2016 *moving ahead |
|
DOL/ETA |
Temporary Non-Agricultural Employment of H-2B Aliens in the U.S.
|
Final: Comment period on interim final rule expected completion 06/29/2015 |
Long-Term Action: Next action undetermined + indefinite delay |
DOL/ETA |
Proposal: Proposed rule expected 12/2015 |
Proposal: Proposed rule expected 04/2016 + 4 month delay |
|
DOL/ETA |
Proposal: Comment period on proposed rule expected to conclude 06/15/2015 |
Proposal: Analysis of comments on proposed rule expected 11/2015 +moving ahead
*statutory deadline for final rule is 01/18/2016 |
|
DOL/ETA |
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act; Joint Rule with the U.S. Dep’t of Education... |
Proposal: Comment period on proposed rule expected to conclude 06/15/2015 |
Proposal: Analysis of comments on proposed rule expected 11/2015 +moving ahead
*statutory deadline for final rule is 01/18/2016 |
DOL/EBSA |
Long-Term Action: Next action undetermined |
Long-Term Action: Next action undetermined +no movement expected |
|
DOL/EBSA |
Proposal: Comment period on second proposed rule expected to end 07/06/2015 |
Proposal: Analysis of comments on proposed rule expected 12/2015 +moving ahead |
|
DOL/EBSA |
Final Rules under the Affordable Care Act for Grandfathered Plans… |
No entry in Spring Agenda |
Final: Final rule expected 11/2015 +moving ahead |
DOL/WHD |
Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Contractors
|
No entry in Spring Agenda |
Proposal: Proposed rule expected 02/2016 +moving ahead
*statutory deadline for final rule is 09/30/2016 |
DOL/WHD |
Proposal: Proposed rule expected 06/2015 |
Final: Final rule expected 07/2016 +moving ahead
|
Showing 2,817 results
Katie Tracy | November 23, 2015
Late last week, the White House released its fall 2015 Unified Agenda—the semi-annual report on regulations under development or review by each federal agency. As usual, and therefore of little surprise, this latest agenda spells delay for a laundry list of critical safeguards at several agencies. According to CPR senior analyst James Goodwin’s review of the regulatory […]
James Goodwin | November 20, 2015
Opponents of safeguards are fond of decrying what they claim is a regulatory system out of control, churning out rules at a break-neck pace. It’s not difficult to refute this claim when the president releases the twice-annual regulatory agenda, which spells out all the active rulemakings that are currently pending and the expected timetables for […]
Evan Isaacson | November 18, 2015
Last week the Maryland Court of Appeals heard several hours of oral argument in back to back (to back) cases regarding whether five different municipal stormwater (“MS4”) permits issued by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) complied with the federal Clean Water Act and state water pollution laws. Although divided into separate cases due […]
Matthew Freeman | November 17, 2015
In an op-ed for The Hill, CPR Member Scholar Joel Mintz takes a look at the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and concludes that it’s insufficiently protective of the environment, the Administration’s assertions notwithstanding. In his piece, he notes that the TPP “contains no mention whatsoever of what is widely seen as the most pressing threat to the global […]
Katie Tracy | November 10, 2015
A startling new report by Oxfam America reveals just how dangerous it is to work inside a poultry processing plant. The report is packed full of alarming statistics and heart-breaking personal stories from brave workers, exposing an industry that fails to protect workers from well-known hazards and that discourages workers from reporting injuries when they […]
Matthew Freeman | November 9, 2015
Fostering informed debate about sound regulatory policy to protect health, safety, and the environment is one of the Center for Progressive Reform’s fundamental objectives. Presidential candidates, on the other hand, like to focus on the issues that get them elected, not necessarily the issues that are important. Unfortunately, the media is increasingly complicit in avoiding […]
Daniel Farber | November 4, 2015
How Law Schools Serve the Public Most people probably think of law schools, when they think of them at all, as places that train future lawyers. That’s true, and it’s important, but law schools do a lot more. Faculty scholarship makes a difference — law review articles laid the foundation for many of the ideas now guiding […]
| October 27, 2015
Here in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, polluted runoff from impervious surfaces, such as roofs, driveways, parking lots, and a vast network of roads, is a huge problem. In fact, while pollution from wastewater treatment plants has decreased significantly since EPA established the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) several years ago, and while overall […]
Daniel Farber | October 22, 2015
How to make health and safety a personal priority for industry officials. According to economists, firms have little reason to take into account the cost of externalities — that is to say, the harms their activities may impose on others. The traditional solutions are damage remedies or taxes to transfer the financial cost to the […]