Obama’s final regulatory slate contains 17 new rules

The final edition of the Federal Register compiled under President Obama contains 17 final rules, representing the final regulatory actions of his tenure in office.

The rules, published Monday, include guidelines for automated vehicles, efficiency standards for federal buildings, and a delay to cybersecurity standards for banks.

The rules were sent to the Federal Register for publication on Friday, before President Trump’s chief of staff, Reince Priebus, issued a regulatory moratorium blocking federal agencies from issuing new rules. The edition also contains two proposed rules, which are not final.

In the coming weeks, the flow of regulations published in the Federal Register is expected to slow to a trickle — with the exception of emergency rules Trump will allow — while midnight regulations like these issued during the final days of the Obama administration could be withdrawn or delayed.

Here are the biggest regulations published Friday.

Banks: Wall Street regulators are delaying new cybersecurity standards for banks.

In October, the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Comptroller of the Currency floated the idea of strengthening the cybersecurity requirements for the nation’s largest banks. But the financial regulators are now reopening the comment period to give the public more time to consider the changes.

The public now has until Feb. 17 to comment.

Efficiency: The Department of Energy (DOE) is moving forward with new efficiency standards for federal buildings.

The Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy issued a final environmental assessment Monday, which clears the way for new efficiency standards for federal buildings that are under construction.

The DOE determined an environmental impact statement is not necessary before strengthening the efficiency standards for federal buildings.

“The DOE is required to establish the building energy efficiency standards for all new federal buildings,” the agency wrote. “In turn, each federal agency and the Architect of the Capitol must adopt procedures to ensure that new federal buildings will meet or exceed these federal building energy efficiency standards.”

Cars: The Department of Transportation (DOT) is pushing new guidelines for automated vehicles.

The Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will hold a public meeting on Feb. 13 to review an “initial regulatory framework for highly automated vehicles.”

The public meeting will inform the DOT as it develops safety guidelines for the “design, development, testing, and deployment” of automated vehicles.