New regs for Wednesday: Privacy, animals, hazardous materials

Wednesday’s edition of the Federal Register contains new privacy rules for car dealers, hazardous materials acquisitions regulations, and animal research requirements.

Here’s what is happening:

Car dealers: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing to loosen the privacy rules for car dealers.

Car dealers are required to provide customers with an annual disclosure of their privacy policies, either by hand delivery, mail, or email. But the FTC is proposing to allow these companies to post the notices on their websites, instead of delivering them individually, to customers who give their consent.

These privacy policies are intended to safeguard customers’ financial information.

The public has until Aug. 31 to comment.

Hazardous materials: The General Services Administration (GSA) is moving forward with new acquisitions regulations for packaged items containing hazardous materials.

The new acquisitions rules will affect hazardous materials identification and material safety data, the agency noted.

The changes go into effect immediately.

Animal research: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is considering new requirements for animal research facilities.

APHIS is considering a petition to require companies to disclose information about the use of animals in their annual report to the agency.

The public has 60 days to comment.