New regs for Wednesday: Seat belts, turtles, adoption

Wednesday’s edition of the Federal Register contains new seat belt requirements on buses, protections for green sea turtles, and adoption and foster care rules.

Here’s what is happening:

Adoption: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is proposing new rules for adoption and foster care.

The Administration for Children and Families, a division of HHS, originally proposed the rules in February 2015, but is now revising the proposal.

The agency is looking to establish new reporting requirements for “children in out-of-home care and who were adopted.”

The public has 30 days to comment.

Seat belts: The Department of Transportation (DOT) is moving forward with seat belt rules for buses.

The Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) denied petitions Tuesday that would have weakened or even removed the seat belt requirements on certain buses.

The decision goes into effect immediately.

Turtles: The Obama administration is moving to protect endangered turtles.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced Tuesday they are listing three species of green sea turtles as endangered, and another eight as threatened.

The agencies will establish a critical habitat for these green sea turtles in a future rulemaking, they said.

The protections go into effect in 30 days.