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May 16, 2013
SEC Chairman White Disses GOP Cost-Benefit Bill
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Jo White told U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers Thursday she opposes a GOP-sponsored bill that would force the agency to more closely scrutinize the costs and benefits of its rules.
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May 16, 2013
EPA Nominee Moves Ahead On Narrow Party-Line Vote
The White House's pick to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency moved a step closer to confirmation Thursday after a Senate committee advanced Gina McCarthy's nomination with a 10-8 vote, but Republicans still are holding out the threat of a filibuster to block full Senate consideration.
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May 16, 2013
Grid Operators Should Prepare For Solar Flares, FERC Says
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday finalized a rule to protect the nation’s bulk power system from geomagnetic disturbances like solar flares, as it looks to fill regulatory gaps that leave the grid vulnerable to disruptions.
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May 16, 2013
FDA Details Appeals Process For Rejected Medical Devices
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday described how it would handle appeals of the agency denying approval of new medical devices, generally declining to back off its expectation that manufacturers work through the chain of command when contesting outcomes.
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May 16, 2013
Contractors Ask DC Circ. To Lift Political Donation Ban
Three individual federal contractors pushed a D.C. Circuit panel Thursday to nix a statute preventing them from donating to political candidates and parties, saying the Federal Election Commission's anti-corruption rule is antiquated and poorly executed.
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May 16, 2013
3rd Circ. Finds NLRB Recess Appointment Of Becker Invalid
Agreeing with the D.C. Circuit that recess appointments can be made only during the intersession break between Senate sessions, the Third Circuit ruled Thursday that the president's intrasession recess appointment of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board was invalid, putting the validity of even more labor board decisions into doubt.
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May 16, 2013
Labor Nominee Moves Toward Senate Vote Despite GOP Gripes
A Senate committee voted along party lines Thursday to send U.S. Department of Justice civil rights division chief Thomas Perez's nomination to serve as secretary of labor to the full Senate for a vote, despite Republican concerns that Perez leaked information about a $335 million settlement to a reporter.
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May 16, 2013
GSA Will Give Contractors Unpaid Minimums, House Says
The U.S. General Services Administration will repay more than a thousand small businesses about $3 million it owes them in guaranteed minimums it never paid, a U.S. House of Representatives committee said Thursday.
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May 15, 2013
Holder Bashes Lawmakers For Harsh Questioning Of DOJ
U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Wednesday admonished House lawmakers including Rep. Darrel Issa, R-Calif., for disrespecting him in their questioning over the government's seizure of Associated Press reporters' telephone records, its decision to not intervene in False Claims Act litigation and other issues.
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May 15, 2013
IRS Chief Resigns Amid Scandal Over Targeted Tax Scrutiny
Acting Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Steven Miller has resigned from his post in response to the controversy over the agency’s targeting of conservative groups in relation to applications for tax-exempt status, President Barack Obama announced Wednesday.
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May 15, 2013
Sequester Cuts Will Cause Long-Term Pain, House Dems Say
House Democrats said Wednesday that the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration are a counterproductive way to reduce budget deficits, arguing short-term austerity creates a drag on economic growth and plays havoc with funding for defense and other government programs.
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May 15, 2013
Panel Sends Drug-Tracking Bill To House Floor
The House Energy & Commerce Committee on Wednesday approved its version of a drug supply chain tracking system, known as track-and-trace, sending the bill to the House floor and moving the industry-supported legislation a step closer to enactment.
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May 15, 2013
FDA Needs To Revamp Benefit-Risk Analysis, Drugmakers Say
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s new process for analyzing a drug’s benefits and risks needs to be drastically expanded, patient groups and drug companies have argued, saying if the agency did a benefit-risk calculation at every stage of the drug review process rather than as a final step, it could get more drugs to market, and faster.
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May 15, 2013
NHTSA Head Defends Agency's Readiness For Driverless Cars
The head of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration insisted Wednesday that the agency had the staffing and expertise necessary to regulate driverless cars and other burgeoning automobile technology, after a Democratic lawmaker questioned its readiness.
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May 15, 2013
Obama's 1st Term Rulemaking Rate Soars By Bush's Mark
President Barack Obama has pushed through a significantly higher number of major rules over the last four years than former President George W. Bush did during his own first term, according to a report by the research arm of Congress.
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May 15, 2013
Lawmakers Forge Ahead On Drug Compounder Oversight Bill
A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Wednesday that would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration clear authority to regulate certain compounding pharmacies, a measure meant to boost safety in response to a fungal meningitis outbreak last year that claimed more than 50 lives.
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May 15, 2013
CMS Sued Over Medicare Prosthetics Payment Rule
The American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association on Monday sued the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Washington federal court, accusing the agency of implementing rules denying Medicare claims for prosthetic devices lacking supporting documentation from doctors without legal authority or a proper rulemaking process.
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May 15, 2013
HHS Wins Challenge To Styrene's Listing In Cancer Report
A Washington federal judge Wednesday upheld a decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to include styrene on a list of cancer-causing substances, rejecting a challenge by producers of the chemical.
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May 15, 2013
EEOC Updates Guidance On Cancer, Other Disabilities
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Wednesday updated its informal guidance for employers on how the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to job applicants and employees with cancer, diabetes, epilepsy and intellectual disabilities to reflect the broadening of the law's definition of a disability.
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May 15, 2013
Senate Overwhelmingly Confirms First CMS Chief Since 2006
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted resoundingly to make Marilyn Tavenner the first confirmed chief of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in seven years, a rare instance of bipartisan accord on health care that underscored the nominee’s apolitical style.
Expert Analysis
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A Significant Impact On Private Investment Funds
U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., recently reintroduced the Inclusive Prosperity Act of 2013, a financial transaction tax that, according to its supporters, would provide the federal government between $150 billion and $340 billion of revenue per year. The bill is, essentially, a sales tax on large Wall Street banks — however, its provisions seem to impact hedge funds and private equity funds, says David Sussman of Duane Morris LLP.
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FTC And SEC Are Schizoid On Social Media
The Federal Trade Commission's recent guidance on digital advertising disclaimers and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new policy on corporate financial disclosures were presented by the agencies as ways to enable use of social media by corporations — but instead just make things much harder, if not totally impracticable, says Glenn Manishin of Troutman Sanders LLP.
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National Ocean Plan Affects A Sea Of Users
Recently, the National Ocean Council released its final national ocean policy implementation plan, identifying specific actions for federal agencies to undertake to bolster the nation's ocean economy and improve ocean health. These actions could broadly impact a wide range of ocean uses, including offshore energy development, shipping, recreation, fishing and aquaculture, say attorneys with Van Ness Feldman LLP.
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Export Controls Reform: Understanding The 600 Series
The introduction of the "600 series" is changing the rules applicable to companies that have items that were listed on the U.S. Munitions List. The intent of these changes is to reduce the restrictions on exporting U.S. products and reduce the administrative burden on companies, but manufacturers and exporters face a steep learning curve in mastering these new rules, say attorneys with Nixon Peabody LLP.
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How HIPAA Marketing And Sale Provisions May Apply To You
In light of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's new requirements on the use of personal health information for marketing and sale purposes, it is important to note that not just covered entities but also advertisers, data aggregators, market researchers and others who want access to PHI will be impacted, say attorneys with Duane Morris LLP.
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A Material Milestone For Vapor Intrusion
While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's long-waited proposed vapor intrusion guidance documents provide more certainty as to how to investigate and assess vapor intrusion, the guidelines could also significantly increase remediation costs, add more uncertainty to business transactions and cause regulators to reopen sites, say attorneys with McGuireWoods LLP.
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SEC Tees Up Private Equity Enforcement Issues
Recent remarks by Bruce Karpati, chief of the Asset Management Unit of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as recent enforcement cases by the SEC, demonstrate an increased focus on the private equity sector — in particular, on aggressive fundraising disclosures, conflicts of interest and “zombie funds,” among other things, say Scott Naidech and Garrett Lynam of Chadbourne & Parke LLP.
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FTC’s New Children’s Privacy Guidance: 4 Traps To Avoid
The long-awaited guidance on the Federal Trade Commission's revised children’s privacy rule identifies some traps that easily could be missed by a company struggling to implement the changes before the July 1, 2013, deadline, say Matthew DelNero and Lindsey Tonsager of Covington & Burling LLP.
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Companies Should Proceed With Caution In Myanmar
Although U.S. persons may now engage in certain transactions with Myanmar, caution should still be exercised, as many restrictions against the government of Myanmar and leaders of the military junta remain in place, say attorneys with King & Spalding LLP.
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E-Commerce Taxation Bill Might Be Unconstitutional
Recent decisions from the federal courts suggest that the constitutionality of the proposed Marketplace Fairness Act, which would permit states to require out-of-state businesses to collect and remit sales taxes on goods sold over the Internet, is open to serious debate, says Michael Abate of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP.