🎣New Regulation on Pacific Halibut Charter Fishing Stamps
This final rule authorizes fee collection for the Recreational Quota Entity (RQE) Program. A charter halibut stamp (stamp) is required under this final rule for every charter vessel angler, 18 years of age or older, for each charter vessel fishing trip in a given calendar day, or each calendar day during a charter vessel fishing trip that spans multiple days, who intends to catch and retain halibut on a charter vessel in International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) regulatory areas 2C in Southeast Alaska and 3A in South Central Alaska. Persons who hold charter halibut permits (CHPs) must purchase electronic stamps from NMFS. Charter vessel guides are required to validate a stamp for each adult charter vessel angler intending to catch and retain halibut on a charter vessel fishing trip. This final rule is necessary to promote stability and economic viability in the charter halibut fishery and is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982 (Halibut Act), and other applicable laws.
Learn More📄Removal of Obsolete Regulations on Federal Grants and Contracts
This DFR removes obsolete grant and contract regulations in the Department of Labor's regulations. These grant and contract regulations were superseded by the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB's) Guidance for Grants and Agreements, codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which the Department of Labor adopted and gave regulatory effect to in 2014.
Learn More📈Rescission of Workforce Investment Act Regulations and Business Impact
The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (Department) is removing the regulations that implemented and governed the Title I Workforce Investment Act (WIA) programs at the national, State, and local levels and provided program requirements applicable to all WIA formula and competitive funds. Title I of WIA was repealed by Congress with the enactment of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) on June 22, 2014, and all remaining grant funding under Title I has been closed out by the Department. Accordingly, these regulations are no longer necessary, and the Department is taking this action to remove regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) for programs that are no longer operative.
Learn More🐻New Regs for Polar Bear Protection Affecting Oil and Gas Operations
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are revising a portion of our regulations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act pertaining to incidental take of marine mammals. These regulations, codified at 50 CFR part 18, subpart J, authorize the nonlethal, incidental, unintentional take by harassment of small numbers of polar bears from the Southern Beaufort Sea stock and Pacific walruses during year-round oil and gas industry activities in the Beaufort Sea (Alaska and the Outer Continental Shelf) and adjacent northern coast of Alaska. Such take may result from oil and gas exploration, development, production, and transportation activities occurring through August 5, 2026. The revisions made by this final rule authorize incidental Level A harassment of polar bears in addition to the incidental Level B harassment of polar bears and Pacific walruses already authorized. No lethal take is authorized under this rule.
Learn More🐬NOAA Issues Regulations for Incidental Taking of Marine Mammals
NMFS, upon request from the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC), hereby issues regulations to govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to rocky intertidal monitoring surveys along the Oregon and California coasts over the course of 5 years (2025-2030). These regulations, which allow for the issuance of a Letter of Authorization (LOA) for the incidental take of marine mammals during the described activities and specified timeframes, prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species or stocks and their habitat, as well as requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.
Learn More🎣2025 Management Measures for Pacific Halibut Commercial Fishery
NMFS is implementing annual management measures for the 2025 non-Tribal directed commercial Pacific halibut fishery that operates south of Point Chehalis, WA, (lat. 46[deg]53.30' N) in the International Pacific Halibut Commission's (IPHC) regulatory Area 2A off Washington, Oregon, and California. Annual management measures include fishing periods and fishing period limits. NMFS is also implementing modified permit deadlines for all Area 2A non-Tribal commercial fisheries and is modifying inseason action announcement procedures for the Area 2A non-Tribal directed commercial fishery. These actions are intended to conserve Pacific halibut and provide fishing opportunity where available.
Learn More🏥Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Regulations Overview
This final rule revises standards relating to denial of coverage for failure to pay past-due premium; excludes Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients from the definition of "lawfully present;" establishes the evidentiary standard HHS uses to assess an agent's, broker's, or web-broker's potential noncompliance; revises the Exchange automatic reenrollment hierarchy; revises standards related to the annual open enrollment period and special enrollment periods; revises standards relating to failure to file and reconcile, income eligibility verifications for premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions, annual eligibility redeterminations, de minimis thresholds for the actuarial value for plans subject to essential health benefits (EHB) requirements, and income-based cost-sharing reduction plan variations. This final rule also revises the premium adjustment percentage methodology and prohibits issuers of coverage subject to EHB requirements from providing coverage for specified sex-trait modification procedures as an EHB.
Learn More🦦New Regulations for Sea Otter Protection in Marine Construction
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in response to a request under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended, from the U.S. Coast Guard, propose to issue regulations for the nonlethal, incidental, unintentional take by harassment of small numbers of Southcentral Alaska, Southeast Alaska, and Southwest Alaska stocks of northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) during pile driving and marine construction activities in Seward, Sitka, and Kodiak, Alaska. Incidental take of northern sea otters may result from in-water noise generated during pile driving and marine construction activities occurring for a period up to 5 years. This proposed rule would authorize take by harassment only, and no lethal take would be authorized. If this rule is finalized, we will issue letters of authorization for the incidental take of northern sea otters, upon request, for specific activities in accordance with the final rule for a period up to 5 years. We request comments on these proposed regulations.
Learn More💼Annual Civil Penalty Adjustments Impacting Tribal Businesses
This rule provides for annual adjustments to the level of civil monetary penalties contained in Bureau of Indian Affairs (Bureau) regulations to account for inflation under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance.
Learn More📉Treasury Direct Final Rule on Eliminating Unnecessary Regulations
Pursuant to an Executive order, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) is conducting a review of existing regulations, with the goal of reducing regulatory burden by revoking or revising existing regulations that meet the criteria set forth in the Executive order. In support of that objective, this direct final rule streamlines titles 12 and 31 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) by removing regulations that are no longer necessary or no longer have any current or future applicability.
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