New regs for Monday: Telecommunications, endangered, public transportation

Monday’s edition of the Federal Register contains new rules for endangered species and highly-automated commercial vehicles.

Here’s what is happening:

Public transportation: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is withdrawing duplicative safety requirements for public transportation agencies.

The FTA issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking regarding public transportation agency safety plans in October 2013. But the FTA has since issued a series of similar rulemakings, so it is withdrawing the advanced notice.

The withdrawal goes into effect immediately.

Endangered: The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is reviewing the status of eight endangered species, including various birds, butterflies, snails, and mussels.

This is part of a routine 5-year status review. If the FWS determines certain species have recovered, it may loosen the protections in a future rulemaking.

The public has 60 days to comment.

Telecommunications: The Federal Communications Commission is proposing to eliminate certain telecommunications regulations.

The public has 30 days to comment.

Vehicles: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is reviewing highly-automated commercial vehicles.

The FMCSA will hold a public listening session later this month to consider the “design, development, testing, and deployment of” these automated vehicles.

The results of this session could lead to future rulemaking.

The session takes place on April 24.