🌍Kansas EPA Proposes New Emission Fees and Compliance Rules
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve revisions to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) and Operating Permits Program and the 112(l)plan submitted by the State of Kansas on February 20, 2023. The revised Kansas rules update the Class I emission fee and emissions inventory regulations, establish a Class II fee schedule and ensure that Kansas's Operating Permits Program is adequately funded. Approval of these revisions ensures consistency between the State and federally-approved rules and does not impact air quality.
Learn More📜New Appeal Procedures for VA Recoupment of Awards and Bonuses
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing an interim final rule to implement provisions of the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 that permit current and former employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to appeal the recoupment of awards, bonuses, or relocation expenses awarded or approved for these individuals. This regulation prescribes general procedures applicable to appeals to the Director of OPM regarding an order by the Secretary of the VA, or designee, directing the employee or former employee to repay the amount, or a portion of the amount, of any award or bonus paid to the employee. This regulation also prescribes general procedures applicable to appeals regarding an order by the Secretary of the VA, or designee, directing the employee or former employee to repay the amount, or a portion of the amount, paid to or on behalf of an employee for relocation expenses.
Learn More📈OFAC Adjusts Civil Monetary Penalties for Inflation, Effective 2025
The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is issuing this final rule to adjust certain civil monetary penalties for inflation pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015.
Learn More🎓Income-Contingent Repayment Plan Changes
The Department of Education (Department) adopts as final, without changes, the interim final rule published in the Federal Register on November 15, 2024. This final rule amends the regulations governing income-contingent repayment plans available to Federal student loan borrowers to satisfy the Department's statutory obligation under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, (HEA) to offer borrowers access to an income-contingent repayment plan. The scope of this rule is narrow. It revises the last date for most borrowers to enroll in the Income-Contingent Repayment or Pay As You Earn plans from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2027. Changing the eligibility restrictions that went into effect on July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2027, allows the Department to meet its statutory obligations while it undertakes the necessary administrative changes to make its repayment plans compliant with the terms of an injunction pending appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (Eighth Circuit).
Learn More📦New Regulations for Low-Value Shipments
This document proposes amendments to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations pertaining to the entry of certain low-value shipments not exceeding $800 that are eligible for an administrative exemption from duty and tax. Specifically, CBP proposes to create a new process for entering low-value shipments, allowing CBP to target high-risk shipments more effectively, including those containing synthetic opioids such as illicit fentanyl. This document also proposes to revise the current process for entering low-value shipments to require additional data elements that would assist CBP in verifying eligibility for duty- and tax-free entry of low-value shipments and bona-fide gifts.
Learn More⚠️Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustments by Federal Energy Commission
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is issuing a final rule to amend its regulations governing the maximum civil monetary penalties assessable for violations of statutes, rules, and orders within the Commission's jurisdiction. The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended most recently by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, requires the Commission to issue this final rule.
Learn More📈Federal Maritime Commission Inflation Adjustment of Penalties 2025
The Federal Maritime Commission (Commission) is publishing this final rule to adjust for inflation the civil monetary penalties assessed or enforced by the Commission, pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (2015 Act). The 2015 Act requires that agencies adjust and publish their new civil penalties by January 15 each year.
Learn More⚖️New AMLA Regulations on Whistleblower Retaliation Procedures
This document provides the interim final text of regulations governing the anti-retaliation provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AMLA or the Act). This rule establishes procedures and timeframes for the handling of retaliation complaints under AMLA, including procedures and timeframes for complaints to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), investigations by OSHA, appeals of OSHA determinations to an administrative law judge (ALJ) for a hearing de novo, hearings by ALJs, review of ALJ decisions by the Administrative Review Board (ARB) (acting on behalf of the Secretary of Labor (Secretary)), and judicial review of the Secretary's final decision. It also sets forth the Secretary's interpretations of the AMLA anti-retaliation provision on certain matters.
Learn More⚖️Important Update on T Nonimmigrant Status Regulations for Businesses
This document corrects the August 23, 2024 correction to the final rule that published in the Federal Register on April 30, 2024. The final rule amended DHS regulations governing the requirements and procedures for victims of a severe form of trafficking in persons seeking T nonimmigrant status. This document will replace language unintentionally removed as a result of the prior correction.
Learn More📈2025 Civil Monetary Penalty Adjustments by the Surface Transportation Board
The Surface Transportation Board (Board) is issuing a final rule to implement the annual inflationary adjustment to its civil monetary penalties, pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015.
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