New steps on nuclear safety standards, a record number of deportations, court decision on polar bear protection, and more.
- A federal judge held that the Endangered Species Act does not require the Department of Interior’s recent special rule on polar bears to address climate change, but still concluded that the rule needed to be set aside because the Department failed to conduct an environmental assessment of its decision.
- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) moved to implement a majority of the tougher nuclear safety standards proposed by its task force that was formed in response to the 2011 Japanese nuclear plant accident.
- In response to President Obama’s order to reduce burdensome regulations, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed two rules to provide hospitals more operational flexibility and otherwise reform regulations affecting a range of health care facilities.
- The Obama administration set a record for number of deportations, removing close to 400,000 undocumented immigrants in the last fiscal year, according to an announcement this week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
- The Department of Labor (DOL) provided states with $7.6 million in grants to increase unemployed workers’ access to job searches and other re-employment services.
- Without admitting any wrongdoing, a Citigroup subsidiary agreed to pay $285 million to settle charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) claiming the firm misled buyers of a complex mortgage investment.
- The Treasury Department sought public comments to help structure its planned study on modernizing the regulation of insurance and insurance companies.
- The Senate unanimously passed a bill providing for greater federal oversight of gas and oil pipelines and civil penalties for people who contribute to pipeline accidents.
- The Senate voted to block a Department of Agriculture (USDA) rule limiting schools from serving starchy vegetables such as potatoes in their cafeterias.
