New regs for Monday: Gray wolf rule delayed

New regulations touching endangered species, banks and truckers will come out next week.

Here’s what to look forward to after the weekend.

Protected animals:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is further extending the public comment period for its proposals to take the gray wolf off the endangered species, list except for a subspecies of Mexican wolf.

{mosads}The move, which was announced this summer, was supported by Western states with large wolf populations.

But the wildlife management agency said that the 16-day government shutdown earlier this month prevented it from holding public hearings about the proposals.

Extending the comment period until Dec. 17 will allow it to hold four events in California, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona in coming weeks.

Additionally, the Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to add a population of sage-grouse to a list of protected threatened species and protect its critical habitat in Nevada and California.

The Commerce Department is also reopening its comment period for a proposal to change the boundary of a marine sanctuary in Michigan. 

Food:
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing sweeping new regulations for plants that make, pack and process animal food.

The move comes as part of its larger effort to revamp food safety.

“FDA is taking this action to provide greater assurance that animal food is safe and will not cause illness or injury to animals or humans and is intended to build an animal food safety system for the future that makes modern, science and risk-based preventive controls the norm across all sectors of the animal food system,” the agency said in its draft regulation.

Along with the proposal, the FDA is also publishing an analysis of which activities, when performed around or with animal food, are low risk. 

Separately, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is notifying the public that the White House’s budget office has approved its intention to collect information for a rule on certifying homeless, migrant and runaway children who are eligible for free school meals. 

ObamaCare:
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are releasing 236 pages of new rules to implement the Affordable Care Act. 

The regulations set out oversight and financial standards for new marketplaces for people to buy health insurance, known as exchanges. They also outline measures for small businesses looking to provide coverage for their employees. 

Truckers:
The Transportation Department is removing a requirement that truckers take occasional 30-minute breaks for drivers that do short distances and don’t need to report their daily status.

The exemption was necessary due to a recent decision in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. 

Finance:
The U.S. Agency for International Development is issuing procedures and conditions for loan guarantees the government makes to Jordan. 

Additionally, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is adopting an amendment to its rules on derivatives trading. 

The agency, which is the country’s main derivatives regulator, said the new rule is necessary to make sure that swaps dealers and participants are not barred from associating with people employed in “a clerical or ministerial capacity.”

Also, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is issuing guidance for developing stress tests for banks with assets larger than $10 billion. 

Finally, the Department of Homeland Security wants to change its rules to allow the Treasury Department to set the interest rate for deposits securing cash bonds. 

Energy:
The Department of Energy wants to change its test procedure for measuring the energy consumption of commercial refrigerators. 

Communications:
The Federal Communications Commission has received a petition about rules for wireless service. 

Fishing:
Commercial fishers can once again catch gray triggerfish in a zone of the south Atlantic, according to a new regulation from the National Marine Fisheries Service. 

The zone was closed to gray triggerfish fishing earlier this year, when the agency thought that the limit had been reached. New analysis, however, made regulators realize that the catch limit had in fact not yet been reached.

The fishing agency is also announcing that New Jersey is transferring a portion of its allotted quota for bluefish to New York. 

Taxes:
The IRS is amending a proposal for some taxpayers who take part in mixed straddles.