The bill would tax all tobacco products at the same rate and hike taxes by 93 percent.

A proposed mine near Alaska’s coast that’s garnered Capitol Hill attention would harm a habitat that houses nearly half the world’s sockeye salmon, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Friday.

The EPA’s revised draft assessment of the Pebble Mine project’s potential impact on the aquatic ecosystem in Bristol Bay, Alaska determined the mine would destroy 90 miles of streams and up to 4,800 acres of wetland salmon habitat.

A federal appeals court on Friday overturned rulings from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in a case alleging mistreatment of workers at an Arizona hospital.

In a case between the employer watchdog and the Arizona facility, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia overturned two of the board's charges for alleged retaliations against employees' union activities.

The NLRB ruled in 2011 that the hospital, the Flagstaff Medical Center, had violated portions of the National Labor Relations Act, which prohibits employers from interfering with their employees' right to unionize, by threatening and retaliating against some workers in 2007.

New Senate legislation to implement a U.S.-Mexico energy accord omits House language that exempts oil companies operating under the pact from controversial regulations that force them to disclose payments to foreign governments.

The bipartisan leadership of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee introduced legislation Thursday to enable the Interior Department to implement the Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement.

The accord, which U.S. and Mexican officials signed in 2012, is designed to enable cooperation in development of oil-and-gas along a maritime boundary in the Gulf of Mexico.

Federal regulators acted fairly when denying drugmaker AstraZeneca an extension to the exclusive rights to make an antischizophrenic drug, an appeals court said Friday.

Meetings of advisory panels of all shapes, sizes and locations will be announced in Monday's Federal Register. Here are the upcoming listings:

The technology advisory committee of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is meeting April 30 at the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C. 

There aren't too many new rules coming out in Monday's Federal Register, but the ones that will be published have a lot to do with plants and animals, plus an ozone rule and a modification to an experimental radio program. Here they are: 

Food, Farms and Fishing
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is lowering the fees it charges for the handling of California dates, Washington potatoes and California olives.

Howard Shelanski, the president’s nominee for administrator of the influential Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, is an economist and lawyer with a background in antitrust issues, RegWatch reports. Obama had been under pressure to fill the position, which has been vacant since Cass Sunstein departed in August.

Regulators warned banks on direct-deposit loans, proposing new standards to help consumers avoid “debt traps,” according to NPR. Consumer groups praised the proposed guidelines, RegWatch reports.

Few firms are taking advantage of newly clarified rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allowing them to use social media to disclose financial information, The New York Times reports.

Rep. Maxine Waters (R-Calif.) is calling on regulators to weigh in on the merit of legislation that would modify the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, according to The Hill's On The Money blog.

U.S. regulators claimed progress Thursday toward shoring up weaknesses in the financial system, but warned that major threats remain. 

The said the housing sector, market vulnerabilities and threats, ranging from cyber attacks to natural disasters, would demand scrutiny from federal agencies in the coming year.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) issued its third annual report since the body’s inception in 2010. Created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law, the council is largely made up of the heads of financial regulatory agencies and is tasked with tracking both regulatory progress and threats to the U.S. economy.

“The financial system is much more resilient than it was five years ago, and members of this Council have made a great deal of progress in building a safer system, including much progress over the last year,” said Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who chairs the council.