New regs for Tuesday: Pay ratio, fluorescent lights and agriculture grants

Tuesday’s edition of the Federal Register contains new rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission for publicly traded companies, additional time for the public to comment on what energy efficiency standards would look like for fluorescent light ballasts, and the withdrawal of proposed rules for a farmers’ market grant program.  

Here’s what to look for:

Pay ratio: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is finalizing a rule that will force publicly traded companies to disclose the pay gap between their top executives and employees.

The rule, which was ordered under the Dodd-Frank law, will force companies to disclose the median of total compensation for all employees, the total compensation of the CEO and a ratio between the two numbers.

SEC estimates initial compliance will cost foreign companies $714,099 and $156,444 for companies based in the U.S. With 3,571 companies impacted by the rule, that makes for a total initial compliance cost of $1.32 million.

“While we believe that the pay ratio disclosure may provide an informational benefit to shareholders in their say-on-pay voting, we are unable to quantify this benefit,” the agency said in its final rulemaking.

The rule will take effect in 60 days. 

Fluorescent lamp ballasts: The Department of Energy is giving the public more time to comment on its framework for what energy conservation standards for fluorescent lamp ballasts would look like.  

The agency unveiled the framework at a public meeting on July 17 and originally gave the public until Aug. 7 to submit comments, but has decided to reopen the comment period following a request for additional time.  

The public now has 15 additional days to submit comments.

Agriculture grants: The Agricultural Marketing Service is withdrawing the rule it proposed in 2011 to establish eligibility and application requirements for the Farmers Market Promotion Program, a competitive grant program that helps establish, expand or promote farmers’ markets, roadside stands and community-supported agriculture programs.

The rule would have established a review and approval process and administrative procedures for the grant program. The Agriculture Marketing Service, however, has decided to consolidate the procedures for all of its grant programs, including the Farmers Market Program, into one regulation.