New regs for Thursday: Drones, diving, lead emissions

Thursday’s edition of the Federal Register contains new rules for drones used by the Coast Guard in search and rescue missions, commercial diving off of deepwater ports, mortgage disclosures and lead emissions reporting requirements.

Here’s what is happening:

Diving: The Coast Guard is proposing new commercial diving regulations at deepwater ports.

Commercial divers at these offshore drilling facilities would be subject to new safety requirements, the Coast Guard said Wednesday.

The public has 90 days to comment.

Lead: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is strengthening lead emissions reporting requirements.

The EPA announced Wednesday it is lowering the threshold at which communities are required to report lead emissions. However, the agency is also eliminating a requirement for communities to report emissions from wildfires.

The rule goes into effect immediately.

Water: The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing changes to regulations from the Clean Water Act.

The proposed rules would change the pollutant analysis method that industries and communities use to determine the components of wastewater.

The public has 60 days to comment.

Mortgage: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is moving forward with new mortgage disclosure rules under the Dodd-Frank financial reform laws.

The rule addresses disclosures provided to consumers when they lock in a rate after the loan estimate is provided.

The changes go into effect on Aug. 1, 2015.

Drones: The Coast Guard is evaluating whether to use small unmanned aircraft systems as a first responder in cases of search and rescue, law enforcement and environmental response.

The Coast Guard said Wednesday it is conducting flight testing of drones in “real-world maritime operational scenarios” to determine how effective they can be in these situations.

The public has 30 days to comment.