🐻New Grizzly Bear Listing
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or FWS), propose to revise the listing of the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) in the lower-48 States under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act or ESA). After a review of the best scientific and commercial data available, we affirm that the currently listed grizzly bear population meets our requirements for consideration as a distinct population segment (DPS) under the Act and that the population remains likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future. However, we find that clarification of the geographic areas included within the DPS is warranted. Therefore, we propose to revise the listing by defining the boundaries of the contiguous U.S. grizzly bear DPS. The revised entity would include all geographic portions of the currently listed lower-48 entity that contain suitable habitat and where grizzly bears are currently found or are likely to be found in the future as populations recover. This area includes all of Washington and portions of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. The contiguous U.S. grizzly bear DPS would retain threatened species status. This proposed rule would promote conservation of the grizzly bear by ensuring that the listing under the Act explicitly reflects the areas where grizzly bears currently occur and are likely to occur in the future. Clarifying that the listing does not include areas outside of the grizzly bear's historical range will assist as recovery proceeds. We are also proposing to revise protective regulations for the grizzly bear issued under section 4(d) of the Act.
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🏗️New Buy America Regulations for Manufactured Products Effective 2025
This final rule amends FHWA's Buy America regulation to terminate FHWA's general waiver for manufactured products and establish Buy America requirements for manufactured products with respect to Federal-aid highway projects. The standards for applying Buy America to manufactured products are generally consistent with the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) guidance implementing the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)).
Learn More💼2025 Annual Adjustment of Civil Monetary Penalties by AmeriCorps
The Corporation for National and Community Service, which operates as AmeriCorps, is updating its regulations to reflect required annual inflation-related increases to the civil monetary penalties under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Act) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance.
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💼IRS Proposes Automatic Enrollment for Retirement Plans under SECURE 2.0
This document sets forth proposed regulations that would provide guidance with respect to the automatic enrollment requirements that apply to certain retirement plans. The proposed regulations reflect statutory changes made by the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 requiring that certain cash or deferred arrangements and salary reduction agreements be eligible automatic contribution arrangements that satisfy additional specified requirements. The proposed regulations would affect participants in, beneficiaries of, employers maintaining, and administrators of certain retirement plans that include cash or deferred arrangements or annuity contracts purchased under salary reduction agreements and other retirement plans that include eligible automatic contribution arrangements. This document also provides notice of a public hearing.
Learn More⚖️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.
Learn More🚗Proposed Regulations for Section 45W Credit on Clean Vehicles
This document contains proposed regulations that would provide guidance on the qualified commercial clean vehicle credit enacted by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. These proposed regulations would affect eligible taxpayers that place a qualified commercial clean vehicle in service during a taxable year. These proposed regulations would also affect manufacturers of qualified commercial clean vehicles.
Learn More📜New IRS Regulations on Digital Content and Cloud Transactions
This document contains final regulations modifying the rules for classifying transactions involving computer programs, including by applying the rules to transfers of digital content. These final regulations also provide rules for the classification of cloud transactions. These rules apply for purposes of the international provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and generally affect taxpayers engaging in transactions involving digital content or cloud transactions.
Learn More🐋New Regulations for Florida and Antillean Manatees
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the two subspecies of the West Indian manatee, the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) and the Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus), under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We have conducted status reviews for the two subspecies, and, as a result, we are proposing to list the Florida manatee as a threatened species with protective regulations under section 4(d) of the Act ("4(d) rule"), and the Antillean manatee as an endangered species, under the Act. These two listings would replace the current threatened species listing of the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus). This determination also serves as our 12-month findings on two petitions and as our completed 5-year review of the West Indian manatee. If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would remove the West Indian manatee from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife (List), add the Florida manatee and Antillean manatee to the List, and extend the Act's protections to the Florida manatee and Antillean manatee.
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