Lobbying

Oil-and-gas companies are concerned about reporting requirements for doing business with Burma now that the United States has established relations with the country.

Companies are lobbying the State Department on the reporting issue as the administration works to build diplomatic ties. President Obama on Monday hosted Burmese President Thein Sein at the White House in the latest sign of growing cooperation.

Oil-and gas-firms are interested in buying blocs in the resource-rich Bay of Bengal off of Burma’s western coast. Burma has offered up several plots to European Union bidders in recent auctions, and U.S. firms are also beginning to show interest.

Chief executives are urging President Obama to preserve a "wellness program" in ObamaCare that they say is critical for improving public health.

The Business Roundtable said on Friday it has been in talks with the White House since last week about an ObamaCare provision requiring workers to provide “wellness programs” for employees, in an attempt to lower overall healthcare costs.

The group – which boasts members such as the chief executives of Boeing, Dow Chemical, 3M, JPMorgan Chase, Time Warner Cable, among others – told the president it wants the rules to contain both participation and “contingent-based” wellness programs.

Cigar maker are trying to snuff out an effort by the FDA to regulate their products for the first time.

Citing safety concerns, former Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) chairman Gregory Jaczko says the nation’s 104 nuclear power reactors should be replaced with newer technology, The New York Times reports.

Jaczco’s remarks come as the current NRC members face scrutiny over the implementation of a series of safety recommendations put forth in the wake of the Fukushima meltdown in Japan.

The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has a new chief, following the Senate’s unanimous vote to confirm her as the financial regulator’s chairman, The Hill’s On The Money blog reports. 

President Obama's top climate adviser said controversial new power plant emission rules will be issued in the "not too distant future," according to The Hill's E2 Wire blog.

Tree fruit farmers have joined the debate over the Food and Drug Administration’s proposed food safety overhaul, The Washington Post reports.

They are not the only group to find fault with the proposed regulations, which will exempt several fruits and veggies -- along with almost eight in 10 U.S. farms, as reported by RegWatch earlier this year. 

Lanny Breuer, a senior Justice Department official, is returning to his old law firm.

Breuer will be vice chairman of Covington & Burling, a global law firm that has a growing K Street presence. He is rejoining the firm after spending four years at Justice as assistant attorney general of its criminal division.

Breuer was at the forefront of the Obama administration’s criminal investigations, including more enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the probe into the Libor scandal.

“Covington is a firm that continues to build upon its storied history and move forward in dynamic and important ways, and I am returning at a particularly exciting time,” Breuer said in a statement. “I look forward to my new leadership role in helping to shape the future of one of the country’s most prestigious firms.”

K Street firms expect an upturn in business after a frustrating election year.

Big refining companies and a major industry trade group are taking their case against tougher Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) vehicle emissions and fuel rules to the White House.

Representatives from Shell, Marathon Petroleum and the American Petroleum Institute met Feb. 21 with White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) aides about the EPA’s planned “Tier 3” low-sulfur gasoline rules, records show.

Industry groups contend the rules will create billions of dollars in compliance costs while providing little benefit, noting that existing standards have already required steep cuts in the sulfur content of gasoline.

The EPA sent the proposed low-sulfur gasoline regulation to OMB in late January.

University representatives met with Obama administration officials and are continuing to contest the America Invents Act, according to new records released by the White House.