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📜CFPB Proposes Rule to Ban Unfair Contract Terms in Financial Services

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is proposing to prohibit certain contractual provisions in agreements for consumer financial products or services. The proposal would prohibit covered persons from including in their contracts any provisions purporting to waive substantive consumer legal rights and protections (or their remedies) granted by State or Federal law. The proposal would also prohibit contract terms that limit free expression, including with threats of account closure, fines, or breach of contract claims, as well as other contract terms. The proposal would also codify certain longstanding prohibitions under the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Credit Practices Rule.

📄Copyright Royalty Board Audit Notice for Webcasters 2021-2023

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce receipt from SoundExchange, Inc., of notices of intent to audit the 2021, 2022, and 2023 statements of account submitted by commercial webcasters Beasley Mezzanine Holdings, LLC, Hubbard Broadcasting Inc., iHeartMedia, and Midwest Communications, Inc. and non-commercial webcaster Family Stations, Inc. concerning royalty payments they made pursuant to two statutory licenses.

⚖️EPA Proposes Regulation for C.I. Pigment

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is proposing to address the unreasonable risk of injury to human health presented by C.I. Pigment Violet 29 (CASRN 81-33-4, also known as PV29), under its conditions of use as documented in EPA's January 2021 Risk Evaluation for PV29 and the September 2022 Revised Risk Determination for PV29 prepared under TSCA. TSCA requires that EPA address by rule any unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment identified in a TSCA risk evaluation and apply requirements to the extent necessary so the chemical no longer presents unreasonable risk. To address the identified unreasonable risk, EPA is proposing requirements to protect workers from the unreasonable risk of PV29 during manufacturing and processing, certain industrial and commercial uses of the chemical, and disposal, while also allowing for a reasonable transition period prior to enforcement of said requirements.

⚡FERC Notice

📈USPTO Finalizes Trademark Fee Adjustments for FY 2025

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is correcting nonsubstantive errors in the preamble and regulatory text of a final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on November 18, 2024. That final rule set or adjusted trademark fees as authorized by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), as amended by the Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success Act of 2018 (SUCCESS Act). This action is necessary to address potential confusion for impacted entities that could result if these errors are not corrected. These corrections do not result in any substantive changes to the final rule.

⚡Analysis of Energy Rate Filings

🌊Corps of Engineers

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) ACF is correcting a final rule (FR) that was published in the Federal Register on December 19, 2024, with an effective date of January 17, 2025. This rule establishes Agency Specific Procedures (ASPs) for the Corps to implement the Principles, Requirements, and Guidelines (PR&G) for Federal water resources investments. It provides a framework to govern how the Corps would evaluate proposed water resources investments, subject to the PR&G. The rule incorporates recommendations from interested parties. This correction ensures that this final rule will be effective 30 days after its publication on December 19, 2024, which is January 18, 2025.

✈️FAA Notice on Petition for Exemption

This notice contains a summary of a petition seeking relief from specified requirements of Federal Aviation Regulations. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, the FAA's exemption process. Neither publication of this notice nor the inclusion nor omission of information in the summary is intended to affect the legal status of the petition or its final disposition.

🛂REAL ID Compliance

This rule ensures that Federal agencies have appropriate flexibility to implement the card-based enforcement provisions of the REAL ID regulations after the May 7, 2025, enforcement deadline by explicitly permitting agencies to implement these provisions in phases. Under this rule, agencies may implement the card-based enforcement provisions through a phased enforcement plan if they determine it is appropriate upon consideration of relevant factors including security, operational feasibility, and public impact. The rule also requires agencies to coordinate their plans with DHS, make the plans publicly available, and achieve full enforcement by May 5, 2027.

⚛️Business Implications of DOE’s HALEU Record of Decision

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) announces the Record of Decision (ROD) for the "Final Environmental Impact Statement for Department of Energy Activities in Support of Commercial Production of High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU)" (Final HALEU EIS) (DOE/EIS-0559). DOE prepared the Final HALEU EIS in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of activities associated with DOE's Proposed Action to acquire, through procurement from commercial sources, HALEU enriched to at least 19.75 and less than 20 weight percent uranium-235 (U-235) over a 10-year period of performance, and to facilitate the establishment of commercial HALEU fuel production. The Proposed Action addresses the Energy Act of 2020 ("the Energy Act of 2020" or in context, "the Energy Act"), for the acquisition of HALEU produced by a commercial entity using enrichment technology and making it available for commercial use or demonstration projects. DOE also evaluated the No Action Alternative. DOE has decided to implement the Proposed Action, its Preferred Alternative, as described in the Final HALEU EIS.