A court-ordered agreement between regulators and environmental groups to issue updated regulations on the waste runoff from power plants will go forward, a federal court said Tuesday.

The court rejected a request from the energy industry to overturn the consent order from 2010 that forced the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use its powers under the Clean Water Act to review rules for power plant emissions.

Federal regulations reviewed by the White House budget office between 2002 and last year yielded up to $800 billion in benefits, vastly more than their costs, according to new federal estimates.

However, the data contained in the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) draft report to Congress present an incomplete picture of the economic impact regulations have on the country, since the pros and cons of many new rules are not added up.

A federal appeals court has upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to scuttle a previously issued permit for a big mountaintop removal coal mining project in West Virginia.

Tuesday’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturns a lower court ruling that found the EPA had overstepped its bounds in yanking a mining company’s right to put waste into two streams and their tributaries.

It’s the latest — but not the last — chapter in the political and legal battle over the agency’s 2011 veto of the Clean Water Act permit for Arch Coal Inc.’s Spruce No. 1 mine, which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted in 2007.

The EPA’s 2011 action enraged Republicans and some coal-country Democrats who called the permit veto evidence of an agency run amuck, while green groups cheered the veto as a blow against mountaintop mining, a practice they call environmentally disastrous.

The 2012 federal district court ruling essentially invalidates proposed federal regulations limiting speculation on 28 commodities, including gasoline.

The U.S. Postal Service wants customers to be able to mail more live animals.

In a proposal to be published on Wednesday, the mail service is pushing to allow live birds up to 25 pounds to be sent within the country.

The agency also wants to extend required special handling service for more live animal shipments and limit the available mail classes that can be used to ship live animals.

Privacy advocates urged the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday to reject a proposed delay in rules aimed at protecting the privacy of children online.

In a letter to FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez, the groups argued that delaying the rules, as app-makers have requested, would be "unwarranted," "harmful to children" and "undermine the goals of both Congress and the FTC."

The letter was signed by the Consumers Union, the Center for Digital Democracy, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and others.

A bunch of science-minded advisory committees will hold meeting in the next few weeks, according to announcements made in Wednesday's Federal Register. Here's what's coming up:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' advisory committee of data users will meet on May 7 in Washington, D.C., to discuss the agency's outreach and different options for data presentation.

On Wednesday, the federal government is issuing a new way to calculate wages for some temporary visas, increasing fees on handling pears and issuing new rules for fossil fuel emissions. Those and more regulations are below:

Immigration:
New wage methodologies for temporary, non-agricultural H-2B employment visas are being issued by the Departments of Homeland Security and Labor.

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At least seven federal and state agencies with oversight responsibility did not recognize the dangers posed by the plant, which exploded last week, killing at least 14 people, The Huffington Post reports.

In the blast’s wake, industry groups fear an unnecessary regulatory clampdown, according to RegWatch.

Financial regulators are succeeding in their efforts to get banks to rein in executive pay and bonuses, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Transportation Safety Administration is delaying new rules allowing passengers to carry certain knives and other banned objects on planes, according to the Los Angeles Times.

As air traffic controller sequestration furloughs set in, flights are delayed at major East Coast airports, The Washington Post reports.

Republican lawmakers are warning the Obama administration against “backdoor” climate regulations, according to The Hill’s E2 Wire blog.