Welcome to Overnight Regulation, your daily rundown of news from Capitol Hill, the federal agencies, and beyond. It’s Tuesday evening here in Washington.
Here’s the latest.
THE BIG STORY
The Obama administration is picking a new fight with the oil and gas industry.
The Interior Department released new methane regulations on Tuesday. The agency says the rules will protect the environment, but industry officials fear it will clamp down on their drilling.
The Hill’s Devin Henry has the full story:
Regulators have finalized a rule cracking down on methane leaks at natural gas drilling sites on federal land.
The rule, released Tuesday by the Interior Department, updates 30-year-old regulations on methane venting, flaring and leaks for drillers. Flaring is the process of burning off excess gas.
The rule will be implemented in phases, but in its full iteration it will require oil and gas companies to use new technologies to cut flaring in half, inspect their sites for leaks and replace old equipment that officials say releases too much methane into the air.
Under the rule, officials also have the power to require royalty payments on excess gas that producers flare off at drilling sites.
“This rule will benefit the American public and the environment,” Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Janice Schneider said in a statement.
Obama aims to issue regulations cutting methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by up to 45 percent by 2025.
Methane is the primary component in natural gas. But it’s also a potent greenhouse gas, with 25 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide. This new rule, the Interior Department said Tuesday, could cut public land emissions by up to 35 percent.
Republicans have raised objections to rules that they say could hamper oil and gas production, which they hope to expand on federal land with Donald Trump in the White House.
The new rule is also likely to run into Republican opposition and it falls into a 60-day window for the incoming GOP Congress to issue a resolution of disapproval. With Trump’s signature, that could halt the rule.
Green groups hailed the rule, but some industry groups have already filed suit to block it.
Click here to read more: http://bit.ly/2gdGjpF
ON TAP FOR WEDNESDAY
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will mark up a bill to allow U.S. Secret Service agents to earn overtime pay during a presidential election year. http://bit.ly/2eCVJD3
{mosads}The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance will hold a hearing to examine the housing appraisal industry and the impact of Dodd-Frank. http://bit.ly/2fVb3ul
The House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Information and Technology will hold a hearing to discuss the data breach at the Office of Personnel Management and whether the agency has learned any lessons. http://bit.ly/2gemxd5
The House Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing to discuss how to improve access to food through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP. http://bit.ly/2geoG8L
TOMORROW’S REGS TODAY
The Obama administration will publish 153 new regulations, proposed rules, notices and other administrative actions in Wednesday’s edition of the Federal Register.
Here’s what is happening:
–The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will delay protections for Hawaiian spinner dolphins.
The NMFS proposed tourism restrictions in August that would prevent people from swimming with these dolphins, but the agency is now reopening the comment period to give the public more time to consider the changes.
The public will have an additional 15 days to comment. http://bit.ly/2fdAiVc
–The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will issue new debt collection rules.
The FCC will permit a limited number of debt servicing calls to ensure that federal regulations do not “thwart important calls that can help consumers avoid debt troubles while preserving consumers’ ultimate right to determine what calls they wish to receive,” the agency says.
The order is already in effect. http://bit.ly/2fuLtvv
–The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will propose changes to the renewable fuels standard.
The EPA’s renewable fuels standards promotes the use of ethanol fuels made from corn, but the agency says it would like to incorporate the use of cellulosic and other advanced biofuels into the regulation.
The public has 60 days to comment. http://bit.ly/2fCLSKc
NEWS RIGHT NOW
Supreme Court now in Trump’s hands http://bit.ly/2eCGTMH
Clemency advocates deliver petition with 2M signatures to DOJ http://bit.ly/2fe1tPv
IRS chief urges Trump team to consider replacement soon http://bit.ly/2fSh4FD
UN chief hopeful on Trump’s climate position http://bit.ly/2fShbkw
Volkswagen reaches settlement covering 80K more vehicles http://bit.ly/2fe8Bvp
ND pipeline company asks court to force approval http://bit.ly/2fDgV8J
House panel readying tax bill for next year http://bit.ly/2f1USdq
National highway chief: ‘Fully self-driving cars’ decades away http://bit.ly/2eXR4qc
Washington high court hears case of florist who refused to serve gay wedding – NPR http://n.pr/2fVamkT
CEOs ponder a new game, with Trump’s rules – The New York Times http://nyti.ms/2eXw0QV
BY THE NUMBERS
2M: Signatures on a petition urging President Obama to ramp up his offers of clemency.
944: Number of prisoners whose sentences Obama has already commuted — more than the last 11 presidents combined.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“[With] the passing of the torch from President Obama to Trump, I feel more like I’m at a funeral and that the death is going to be clemency,” said Jason Hernandez, one of the first inmates granted clemency by Obama in 2013.
Family members of incarcerated individuals and supporters delivered more than 2 million signatures to the Department of Justice on Tuesday urging President Obama and his administration to accelerate his rate of clemencies and bring more people home in time for the holidays. http://bit.ly/2fTPsPh