EPA delays proposed greenhouse gas limits on refineries, public interest groups ask FCC to lift sports blackout rule, federal commission postpones decision on fracking, and more.
- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it will not meet a mid-December deadline for proposing greenhouse gas emissions limits on oil refineries.
- The Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Julius Genachowski announced the FCC would review the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile USA, prompting the companies to withdraw their merger application to the agency.
- The Office of the Comptroller (OCC) extended the comment period on approval of Capital One’s proposed purchase of HSBC’s credit card business.
- The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program shut down ads for bogus mortgage modification deals placed on Bing, Yahoo, and Google in an initiative designed to protect consumers.
- The Media Access Project, Public Knowledge, and other advocacy groups called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to lift the sports blackout rule, which keeps coverage of a sporting event off television in local markets unless the game sells out.
- The Delaware River Basin Commission postponed a vote on whether to open up parts of the basin for hydraulic fracturing (fracking).
- The Department of Justice stated that Merck will plead guilty to a misdemeanor and pay $950 million in civil and criminal fines for marketing Vioxx as a rheumatoid arthritis drug in advance of FDA approval for that use.
- A symposium held at the University of Pennsylvania Law School examined the implementation of the Dodd-Frank financial regulation law.
