It’s worth taking some time here to note the passing in January of one of the great scholars of regulation and public policy, Martha Derthick (emerita of the University of Virginia Department of Politics). Nice remembrances can be found here, here, and here . Derthick’s work roamed widely through American politics, but of particular relevance […]
The latest issue of the Yale Law Journal (and Yale Law Journal Forum) has a terrific series on the hot topic of cost-benefit analysis in financial regulation. I had planned on featuring John Coates’s important article-length contribution in the AdLaw Bridge Series, but Fabrizio Di Mascio over at the Osservatorio AIR beat me to the punch […]
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) seeks input from the public to provide guidance regarding enhancing patent quality. The USPTO is making efforts to improve patent operations and procedures to provide the best work products, to enhancecustomer experience, and to improve existing quality metrics. Thus, the USPTO is introducing a comprehensive and enhanced […]
When issuing rules, agencies usually avoid the Reg Flex Act (RFA), which requires consideration of regulatory impacts on small businesses and other small entities. My forthcoming article in theAdministrative Law Review explains why and how agencies have avoided providing Reg Flex analyses for over 92 percent of rules. The House recently passed a bill that […]
I’ve been exploring a few issues in energy regulation that Congress is likely to take up this term. Up today: FERC’s efforts to promote demand response in wholesale electricity markets. What is “demand response”? It’s the umbrella term for programs that urge customers to turn off the lights when demand for electricity is extremely high. […]
It’s nice to have a level-headed debate on the legal arguments at play in the FCC’s upcoming reclassification of broadband ISPs, an issue that often generates more heat than light. And for what it’s worth, I think Gus Hurwitz and I agree on a lot. In particular, I agree with him that a skeptical court […]
Daniel Deacon’s recent Notice & Comment post does a nice job of laying out the legal basis that will likely be used by FCC Chairman Wheeler’s proposed Open Internet (a/k/a net neutrality) rules. And his analysis of this legal basis reflects conventional wisdom. He is right that it is reasonably likely that the courts will […]
I’ve previously blogged about the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) here and here, and I’m a big fan of ACUS’s role in bridging the gap between the theory and practice of administrative law and improving administrative governance in the United States. Yesterday ACUS announced that it is looking to hire a new attorney advisor. […]
Last fall I featured Mila Sohoni’s then-forthcoming University of Pennsylvania Law Review article, “The Power to Privilege,” in this Administrative Law Bridge Series. My post is here, and the article was published last month and can be downloaded here. In this article, Professor Sohoni explores a recent legislative development—from the Affordable Care Act—where Congress has delegated […]
It’s an exciting time for communications law. Later this month, the FCC is expected to reclassify broadband ISPs like Comcast and Verizon as “telecommunications carriers” subject to the requirements contained in Title II of the federal Communications Act. This action follows on the heels of President Obama’s November plea for reclassification. Supporters of the FCC’s […]
One of the strangest things about King v. Burwell is the challengers’ claim that the ACA clearly withholds tax credits from states that refused to set up exchanges. When asked why on earth Congress would do such a thing, the challengers insist that Congress badly wanted the states to establish their own exchanges. The tax […]
A hot topic in administrative law is how to deal with congressional delegation of lawmaking authority to multiple agencies—with Jody Freeman and Jim Rossi’s terrific 2012 article coming immediately to mind. Most of this inquiry has focused on agency rulemaking and the role of the President (via the OMB/OIRA) in coordinating multi-agency regulatory efforts. So […]
This week the House passed a bill (H.R. 50) to amend the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, which requires agencies to assess the impact of their rules on state, local, and tribal governments. The bill would expand the Act in a number of important respects and has prompted a White House veto threat over concern that it […]
On February 3, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Request for Information (RFI) on “how the Department can increase the effectiveness of its significant regulations while minimizing the burden on regulated entities.” The RFI is a continuation of the agency’s efforts to comply with President Obama’s Executive Order 13563, which requires agencies […]
On December 15th, the Ninth Circuit heard en banc oral arguments in a contentious copyright case:Garcia v. Google. The core questions in the case are interesting enough: whether performer Cindy Lee Garcia can claim copyright protection for her five-second performance in the film Innocence of Muslims, and whether Google should consequently be enjoined from showing […]