New regs for Friday: Model airplanes, security, pay

Friday’s edition of the Federal Register contains new rules for model airplanes, security requirements for oil and gas production facilities and protections for employees who disclose how much money they make with their colleagues.

Here’s what is happening:

Pay secrecy: The Department of Labor is issuing new regulations to protect federal contractor employees who talk about how much money they make.

The pay secrecy rules from the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs would prohibit government contractors from firing or disciplining workers because they inquire about other employees’ pay or disclose their own.

It stems from President Obama’s April 2014 executive order. 

The public has 120 days to comment.

Oil and gas: The Interior Department is delaying new security standards for oil and gas facilities in the U.S. 

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management proposed the security standards for oil and gas facilities on federal and Indian lands in July, but is extending the comment period by 28 days to give the public more time to comment.

“It includes provisions intended to ensure that oil and gas produced from Federal and Indian oil and gas leases are properly and securely handled, to ensure accurate measurement, production accountability, and royalty payments, and to prevent theft and loss,” the agency wrote.

The public has until Oct. 9 to comment.

Model airplanes: The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will exempt model airplanes from notification requirements for drones.

Drones are required to notify the NTSB about certain accidents, but the agency is exempting model airplanes from this requirement.

The rules go into effect immediately.