New regs for Tuesday: Cars, ethics, alcohol

Tuesday’s edition of the Federal Register contains new safety standards for cars, ethics rules for government employees and alcohol labeling penalties.

Here’s what is happening:

Cars: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is proposing new safety standards for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications that are intended to prevent crashes.

This would standardize V2V communications among automakers.

The NHTSA says this technology could “revolutionize motor vehicle safety,” by preventing “hundreds of thousands of crashes” each year.

“By providing drivers with timely warnings of impending crash situations, V2V-based safety applications could potentially reduce the number and severity of motor vehicle crashes,” the agency said.

The public has 90 days to comment.

Ethics: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is proposing new ethics rules for the agency’s employees.

The ethics rules, developed in conjunction with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), apply to certain CFPB employees who are seeking outside employment, own stock, or renegotiating their debt. They also include “disqualification requirements based on existing credit or indebtedness.”

The public has 30 days to comment.

Alcohol: The Department of the Treasury is moving forward with new penalties for companies that sell alcohol.

The Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau said Monday it is raising the fine for companies that violate the alcohol labeling laws to $20,111. But companies that follow the labeling provisions will not be affected.

The new penalty goes into effect immediately.