Regs News
Schumer tells FDA to require 'anti-abuse' features on generic painkiller (3/27/13)
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require security features on generic versions of the addictive painkiller, Oxycodone. Read more...
A Mortgage Practice Gets a Closer Look by Regulators (3/27/13)
The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the country’s two biggest mortgage guarantors, on Tuesday proposed a new rule that would prohibit insurance companies from paying sales commissions for force-placed insurance to lenders or mortgage servicers. Read more...
FDA To Track Illicit Product Trade Online (3/26/13)
FDA will monitor 10,000 sites a year to uncover illegal marketing and selling of FDA-regulated products from drugs to tobacco. Read more...
US states deciding not to look at seismic risks of drilling (3/26/13)
Nine months after a National Academy of Sciences panel said oil and gas regulators should take steps to prevent man-made earthquakes, officials in key states are ignoring quake potential as they rewrite their drilling rules. Read more...
Advocates report decline in food-borne illnesses (3/26/13)
Outbreaks from food-borne pathogens have markedly decreased in the last decade, possibly thanks to tighter food safety measures, advocates said Monday. The group warned that food-borne illnesses remain vastly under-reported and under investigated, however, and that budget cuts will strain an already incomplete system. Read more...
Documents Show OMB Weakened FDA's Food Safety Rules (3/25/13)
The White House Office of Management and Budget significantly weakened the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's draft food safety rules, documents posted on the Federal Register last week show. Read more...
Dem amendment would block regulations on power plant emissions (3/25/13)
Calling proposed power plant emissions standards unattainable, Sen. Joe Manchin is seeking to block their enactment with language in the federal budget resolution now under consideration in the upper chamber. Read more...
Cruz's ‘Bloomberg Big Gulp Amendment’ targets food size regulation (3/25/13)
They say everything is bigger in Texas, and Sen. Ted Cruz wants to keep it that way. The freshman Republican, in response to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s failed attempt to regulate the size of sugary drinks sold in the Big Apple, has filed an amendment seeking to prohibit... Read more...
FDA aims to change the way it monitors safety of defibrillators (3/25/13)
Defibrillators are supposed to save lives by shocking a patient’s heart back into a normal rhythm, but they have malfunctioned in about 45,000 cases since 2005, according to the Food and Drug Administration. So on Friday, the FDA proposed new rules aimed at insuring that the potentially life-saving devices work... Read more...
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau branches out (3/22/13)
From the coverage of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, it might look like the agency is bogged down in an endless series of fights over who should run it. But while Washington focuses on the confirmation battle of Richard Cordray, the watchdog agency is quietly moving right along — branching... Read more...
US gets tough on Arctic oil drilling (3/22/13)
Drilling for oil in the Arctic could get a lot tougher. The US is considering strict rules to protect the fragile polar environment, after a report found Shell tried to drill there while underprepared. Read more...
Sierra Club blasts new plan to improve fracking (3/22/13)
The Sierra Club and some other environmental groups are harshly criticizing a new partnership that aims to create tough new standards for fracking. Read more...
Republicans target regulations in budget ‘vote-o-rama’ (3/22/13)
Senate Republicans are taking aim at federal regulations in the budget “vote-o-rama” that could begin on Friday. Several GOP amendments to the Democratic budget resolution would place new constraints on federal regulators by requiring them to make a long list of calculations before issuing new rules. Read more...
Secretive US amendment would weaken biotech oversight (3/21/13)
Food safety advocates, environmentalists and health professionals in Washington are engaging in a last-minute campaign to highlight a controversial legislative amendment they say would gut the ability of both the judiciary and the federal government to regulate genetically-modified agricultural products. Read more...
Big banks engaging in payday lending, report says (3/21/13)
Some of the nation’s largest banks are providing short-term loans with interest rates of up to 300 percent, driving borrowers into a cycle of debt, according to a new report from the Center for Responsible Lending. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has supervisory and enforcement authority for storefront and bank... Read more...
Dem reaches out for support on regulation on dietary supplements (3/21/13)
A member of Senate Democratic leadership on Wednesday said he is courting Republican support for a bill that would mandate strict guidelines for energy drinks and dietary supplements. Read more...
Congress moves to put protections on painkiller (3/20/13)
A new bill to increase federal regulation of hydrocodone painkillers has already picked up 42 bipartisan cosponsors. Read more...
FDA's graphic cigarette labels rule goes up in smoke after U.S. abandons appeal (3/20/13)
The U.S. government won't appeal a court decision blocking it from requiring tobacco companies to put large graphic health warnings on cigarette packages, ending a lengthy legal battle. In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Attorney General Eric Holder says the Food and Drug Administration will go back to... Read more...
Real Fur, Masquerading as Faux (3/20/13)
In a forehead-slapping development, Neiman Marcus and two other retailers, DrJays.com and Eminent, on Tuesday settled federal claims that they had marketed real fur as fake fur. The supposedly fake stuff was actually rabbit, raccoon and, possibly, dyed mink. Read more...
Doctors Urge F.D.A. to Restrict Caffeine in Energy Drinks (3/20/13)
A group of 18 doctors, researchers and public health experts jointly urged the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday to take action on energy drinks to protect adolescents and children from the possible risks of consuming high amounts of caffeine. Read more...
Oregon could ban genetically engineered fish, require labeling of genetically modified foods (3/20/13)
Oregon could become the first state in the nation to require the labeling of foods with genetically modified ingredients under several bills in the Legislature. Read more...
Lesson of JPMorgan's Whale Trade: Nothing Was Learned (3/20/13)
A devastating Senate report on JPMorgan's London Whale trading debacle reveals that banks and regulators have learned few, if any, lessons from the financial crisis. Read more...
Bloomberg’s Plan Would Make Stores Conceal Cigarettes (3/19/13)
Under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s proposal, New York would become the first city in the nation to require stores to keep tobacco products out of sight. Read more...
Why the EPA might delay its carbon rules for power plants (3/19/13)
But now it looks like the EPA will miss its April 13 deadline for finalizing those rules, and my colleague Juliet Eilperin reported last week that the administration was even “leaning toward revising its landmark proposal to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants.” So what’s going on? Experts... Read more...
Unions hope Labor pick will spur action on worker rules (3/19/13)
Monday’s nomination of Thomas E. Perez to serve as Labor Secretary bodes well for long-stalled worker protection rules, unions and consumer advocates said, praising President Obama’s choice for the post. Read more...
New regulations limit waiting periods for employer health plans (3/19/13)
Employers can't make workers wait more than 90 days to use their healthcare coverage, the Obama administration said in new regulations Monday. Read more...
White House Returns Proposed Rule On Refineries to EPA for More Analysis (3/18/13)
The White House Office of Management and Budget has sent back to the Environmental Protection Agency a proposed rule to revise air pollution standards for petroleum refineries, BNA has learned. The proposed rule, which would affect about 150 refineries, was intended to address residual risk and technological developments related to... Read more...
JPMorgan bullied bank regulators, report says (3/18/13)
When bank regulators wanted daily profit and loss statements from JPMorgan Chase’s investment division, the bank initially refused. When examiners issued recommendations the bank didn’t like, executives yelled and called the federal officials “stupid.” Read more...
FDA Cracks Down on 'Latex-Free' Claims (3/18/13)
The claim "latex-free" is impossible to guarantee and should not be used on labeling of medical products, according to new guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Read more...
Groups gather in Louisville to plan water quality fights (3/15/13)
Environmental advocates from throughout the Mississippi Basin are meeting in Louisville this week to plot ways to push states and the federal government toward making the Clean Water Act live up to its promise. Read more...
‘Anti-Bloomberg Bill’ in Mississippi Bars Local Restrictions on Food and Drink (3/15/13)
Lawmakers governing the state with the highest rate of obesity in the nation said any law that might limit what Mississippians eat or drink has to go through them — barring federal regulations. Read more...
Consumer bureau sets sights on student loan servicers (3/15/13)
“The student loan market has grown rapidly in the last decade, and servicers are now facing the stress of an increasing number of delinquent borrowers,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Our rule would bring new oversight to the student loan market and help ensure that tens of millions of borrowers... Read more...
Government watchdog under fire for allegedly backing corporate interests (3/15/13)
Government officials charged with advocating on behalf of small businesses have come under fire for allegedly shifting their attention to the interests of large corporations. Rena Steinzor, a law professor at the University of Maryland and president of the Center for Progressive Reform, a nonprofit research and advocacy group, suggested... Read more...
Wave of "Ag Gag" Bills Threaten Food Safety and Freedom of the Press (3/14/13)
In the modern era, effective enforcement of food safety and the humane treatment of animals has long relied on undercover video investigations by reporters and citizens. The footage and images gained can serve as proof of criminal wrongdoing or lay ugly practices bare. Such images can vindicate whistleblowers who otherwise... Read more...
FTC places new rules on celebrity tweeters (3/14/13)
The agency released the rules yesterday (PDF), and outlined how celebrities who want to promote a product on Twitter should do so. To illustrate its point, the FTC used a fictional celebrity it called Juli Starz. The original tweet shows her endorsing a "Fat-away" pill that helped her lose 30... Read more...
Regulator Sides With Big Banks on Avoiding Break-Up Votes (3/14/13)
Regulators have agreed with four of the country's biggest banks that they will not have to hold shareholder votes at upcoming annual meetings over whether the institutions are too big. The Securities and Exchange Commission rendered its decision in nearly identical letters to JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America... Read more...
After a Powerful Lobbyist Intervenes, EPA Reverses Stance on Polluting Texas County’s Water (3/14/13)
The plan appeared to be dead on arrival until late 2011, when Uranium Energy hired Heather Podesta, a lobbyist and prolific Democratic fundraiser whose pull with the Obama administration prompted The Washington Post to name her the Capitol's latest "It girl." Read more...
“Ag-Gag” Bills Getting Hearings Today in Nebraska, Arkansas and Tennessee (3/13/13)
Nebraska, Arkansas, and Tennessee today are holding legislative hearings on bills that supporters say protect farms and opponents say prevent people from being effective whistleblowers when collecting evidence of animal abuse. Abuse is a food safety concern because studies have shown that animals that are stressed or treated cruelly are... Read more...
A Bumpy Road to a Soda Ban (3/13/13)
Many public health experts support efforts to ban the sale of large sugary drinks but note that, as with efforts to curb tobacco or require seat belt use, the process will take some time. Read more...
Regulatory Chiefs Who Join Corporate Boards (3/13/13)
While some move into legal or professorial positions, it is not uncommon for some of the top regulatory talent to offer their services to the corporate sector after their terms are up. According to former SEC Commissioner Harvey J. Goldschmid, who served under George W. Bush and is now a... Read more...
Industry self-regulation permits junk food ads in programming popular with children (3/13/13)
Loopholes in industry self-regulation allow food companies to continue to reach large numbers of children with advertising for unhealthy products—such as fast food, candy, and cookies—during "tween" programs and popular children's holiday specials. The study by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity is published in the American... Read more...
F.D.A. Toughens Heart Warning on a Common Antibiotic (3/13/13)
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday toughened a warning it made last year about the potential risks of azithromycin, a commonly used antibiotic that can cause changes in the electrical activity of the heart that may lead to a fatal irregular heart rhythm in some patients. Read more...
Judge blocks New York City large-soda ban, Mayor Bloomberg vows fight (3/12/13)
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg vowed on Monday to appeal a judge's ruling that struck down his pioneering ban on large sugary drinks sold by the city's restaurants, movie theaters and other food service businesses just a day before it was to take effect. Read more...
FDA investigative chief eyes manufacturing practices (3/12/13)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to intensify its focus on whether companies are adhering to good manufacturing practices in the wake of a meningitis outbreak last year linked to a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy, the agency's criminal investigative chief said. Read more...
SEC nominee vows 'unrelenting' Wall Street enforcement (3/12/13)
President Obama's nominee to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will vow "bold and unrelenting" enforcement of Wall Street before Congress Tuesday. Read more...
Preparation and Vows of Defiance as Big Sugary Drink Ban Is Set to Start in NYC (3/11/13)
Businesses are preparing revamped menus but with a pending legal challenge to the new ban, some owners are taking a wait-and-see approach in the hope that the beverage industry will win out. Read more...
Watchdog decries 'systematic exploitation' in poultry plants (3/11/13)
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) released a report on Thursday that lambasts federal regulators for proposed changes to poultry inspection systems. While focusing on the industry in Alabama, the third-largest producer of poultry products in the nation, the study also mentions the lack of safety oversight for the end product... Read more...
EPA fails to revise key lead-poisoning hazard standards (3/11/13)
EPA hasn't revised its hazard standards for dust and soil since 2001 The Environmental Protection Agency has no current plans to revise key hazard standards that protect children from lead poisoning, despite calls for action from the agency's scientific advisers. Read more...
New FTC chief vows online privacy push (3/11/13)
Edith Ramirez, the newly named chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission, promised on Friday to continue her agency's focus on protecting the privacy of Internet users. But on one of the most controversial current privacy issues, the question of whether users should have the right to opt-out of online... Read more...
Government Takes Legal Action Over Phone Spam (3/8/13)
The Federal Trade Commission said on Thursday that it had recently filed eight lawsuits in federal courts around the country against companies it accused of ordering or engineering the sending of hundreds of millions of spam text messages to mobile phone users. Read more...