💰USDA Updates Civil Monetary Penalties for 2025
This final rule amends the U.S. Department of Agriculture's civil monetary penalty regulations by making inflation adjustments as mandated by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015.
Learn More🌍Congressional Review Act Revocation of Waste Emissions Charge
Congress has passed and the President has signed a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) final rule titled, "Waste Emissions Charge for Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems: Procedures for Facilitating Compliance, Including Netting and Exemptions" (2024 WEC Final Rule). The 2024 WEC Final Rule implemented and facilitated compliance with the requirements of the Waste Emissions Charge in the Clean Air Act's (CAA) Methane Emissions Reduction Program. Under the joint resolution and by operation of the CRA, the 2024 WEC Final Rule now has no legal force or effect. Because the rule has been nullified, the EPA is removing it from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). This action is exempt from notice-and-comment rulemaking because it is ministerial in nature.
Learn More💰Proposed Rule on Curing Missed Loan Payments by FRTIB
The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) proposes to update its regulations regarding the methods available to participants to cure missed loan payments. The proposed change will also clarify the number of missed payments which must be brought back into compliance by the last day of the quarter following the quarter in which the payment was missed to avoid triggering a deemed distribution.
Learn More📈Proposed Rule for Correcting Errors in Retired Lifecycle Funds
The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) is proposing to amend its regulation regarding the method for correcting errors involving Lifecycle Funds that no longer exist. Specifically, it is reverting to the use of a constructed share price to calculate breakage and the value of negative adjustments for errors involving Lifecycle Funds that no longer exist as of June 1, 2022.
Learn More📊OPM Proposes Regulation Changes for Senior Executive Performance Management
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing to remove the prohibition of a forced distribution of performance rating levels within the Senior Executive Service (SES) as well as eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) language within SES performance management regulations. Currently, agencies are prohibited from establishing quotas or limits on the number or proportion of the various rating levels assigned, meaning that each senior executive potentially can receive any rating based on their performance, irrespective of how other senior executives perform within the agency. However, governmentwide SES ratings data have consistently shown that virtually all SES receive the highest rating levels (i.e., levels 4 and 5) despite documented reports of SES failings. Removing the prohibition on forced distribution would allow agencies to establish and enforce limits on the highest SES rating levels, thereby increasing rigor in the SES appraisal process and leading to a more normalized distribution of SES ratings across the Federal Government.
Learn More📜Technical Amendment to Federal Employee Complaint Regulation
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel is issuing this technical amendment to correct a statutory citation in its regulation governing the filing of complaints of prohibited personnel practices and other prohibited activities.
Learn More🔍Proposed Rule on Federal Employee Accountability and Performance
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing a rule to increase career employee accountability. Agency supervisors report great difficulty removing employees for poor performance or misconduct. The proposed rule lets policy-influencing positions be moved into Schedule Policy/Career. These positions will remain career jobs filled on a nonpartisan basis. Yet they will be at-will positions excepted from adverse action procedures or appeals. This will allow agencies to quickly remove employees from critical positions who engage in misconduct, perform poorly, or undermine the democratic process by intentionally subverting Presidential directives.
Learn More📊Proposed Changes to TSP Loan Reamortization Procedures
The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) proposes to amend a loan reamorization rule that requires payment of all accrued interest prior to allowing payments on the principal and current interest. Under the proposed rule, the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) record keeper would combine the accrued interest with the outstanding principal when reamortizing a loan.
Learn More💰Final Rule on Late Contributions
The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) adopts as final, without changes, the proposed rule permitting the TSP record keeper to calculate gains and losses on late contributions, makeup contributions, loan payments even when the total amount on a late payment record or total agency contributions on a current payment record is less than $1.00.
Learn More💼New Methodology for Calculating Earnings on Court-Ordered TSP Payments
The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) adopts as final, without changes, a proposed rule concerning the methodology used to calculate earnings and losses in connection with court-ordered payments to spouses, former spouses, children, or dependents (i.e., payees) of Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) participants.
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