Outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Monday that new fuel economy standards he helped usher in with President Obama are “a big deal” that will outlast both of them.

“That will be part of President Obama’s legacy. What a legacy — cleaning up the air in America, getting cleaner burning cars,” LaHood said at a news conference in which Obama tapped Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx to lead the Transportation Department (DOT).

The updated Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards require cars to get 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. They were finalized last August.

The Obama administration is pushing to protect public lands that could be used for producing renewable energy.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Tuesday will publish a regulation in the Federal Register to limit mining claims near areas that have been identified as potential sites for wind or solar energy production or that are included in pending permits.

The move will prohibit claims for mining operations on a renewable energy proposal's right-of-way lands while the BLM considers the application. The bureau has had an interim rule on the books since 2011, but the adoption of the final rule will give the government a long-term mechanism to safeguard those lands.

Stay-at-home spouses will have an easier time obtaining their own credit cards following updated rules issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

On Monday, the CFPB announced that it had updated existing regulations to ensure that spouses or partners that do not work outside the home would still be able to qualify for credit cards. The change came after new credit card regulations made it much more difficult for those people, lacking an income of their own, to obtain approval for credit cards. The change comes after a public outcry from those individuals and members of Congress.

“Stay-at-home spouses or partners who have access to resources that allow them to make payments on a credit card can now get their own cards,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Today’s final rule is an example of the Bureau’s commitment to working with consumers and financial institutions in order to ensure responsible access to credit for American families.”

The Obama administration wants to increase the amount it pays hospitals under Medicare.

In a 1,424-page proposal, set to be published in the Federal Register on May 10, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing to increase the operating rates for long-term and short-term acute care at inpatient hospitals that treat patients covered by the government healthcare program, and is laying out some new features of the Affordable Care Act.

The CMS proposes increasing payments for acute care, which include short stays for non-chronic conditions like severe injuries or brief illnesses, by 0.8 percent, or about $27 million.

The agency also wants to increase payment rates for long-term care by 1.1 percent in 2014, estimated to come out to $62 million.

The agency's proposed increases account for offsets and reductions in spending, and would take effect starting in October.

Federal regulators are coming under increasing pressure to reject a change to milk labels that is being sought by the dairy industry.

The public advocacy group SumOfUs.Org has taken out large ads to appear on buses in the Washington, D.C., region protesting a request to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take “low-calorie” labels off the front of flavored milk sweetened with artificial sugars.

"Hey, FDA, if the dairy industry gets its way, milk marketed to our kids will become more of an artificially-sweetened junk food. We don't want that!" the signs read.

Tuesday's Federal Register will list a bunch of upcoming advisory panel meetings across the country. Here they are:

On May 6, the Forest Service's advisory committee on two California counties will meet in Sonora, Calif., to discuss priorities in the wake of expected budget cuts. 

Agencies have a number of disparate rules and proposals to announce in upcoming days, from cotton markets to mortgage loan insurance. Here's what to expect:

Plants and Animals: 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is updating its rules to allow the department to collect information on cotton markets in Kansas and Virginia. 

Home nurses put more pressure on Obama administration to issue regulations allowing for better wages.  Read more...

Facing stricter guidelines, banks will have to determine if it's worth continuing to offer the products.