New regs for Thursday: Journalists, drugs, beef imports

Thursday’s edition of the Federal Register contains new rules for journalists, beef imports, energy efficiency, and certain drugs.

Here’s what is happening:

Journalists: The Department of Justice is changing a controversial rule that critics said targeted journalists. The new rule will amend the agency’s policies for obtaining information from and keeping records of members of the news media.

The new rule would establish changes in the Justice Department’s policies for how the agency can question, arrest, or charge journalists, as well as use of subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants to collect information from them.

This comes after the Justice Department got into hot water for tracking the phone records of the Associated Press last year, in what critics said was a violation of the First Amendment which grants freedom of the press.

The rule goes into effect immediately.

Drugs: The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is considering placing more restrictions on hydrocodone combination drugs such as Vicodin.

The DEA proposed Wednesday to reschedule drugs that combine hyrdocodone with less addictive painkillers into Schedule II, which includes tougher regulations than Schedule III, where has been listed.

Pure hydrocodone is already listed in the more restrictive Schedule II.

This comes as the FDA has drawn criticism for approving a prescription drug that uses pure hydrocodone for consumer use.

Beef: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is delaying a rule that would allow companies to import some beef products from Brazil. The proposed rule was published in December, but the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced it is reopening the comment period through April 22 to give the public more time to respond.

The rule would allow companies to import chilled or frozen beef from a region of Brazil under certain conditions. 

Energy efficiency: The Department of Energy (DOE) is considering new energy efficiency rules for commercial water heaters, unfired hot water storage tanks, and hot water supply boilers.

The DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy put out a request for information Wednesday, as it considers changes to the agency’s current test procedures.

The Energy Department is looking for information about whether and how to update industry test standards that are already used by most recent versions of these products. The agency is also looking at alternative methods of testing for the efficiency of unfired storage tanks.

Animal drugs: The Food and Drug Administration is making changes to certain animal drug regulations. The new rule reflects the approval of new animal drugs.

The rule goes into effect immediately.