The FCC Wireline Bureau extended through April 30 its COVID-19 pandemic waiver of Lifeline recertification and reverification requirements for subscribers residing on tribal lands, said an order Monday in docket 11-42 (see 2301170051). The bureau also extended the waiver to tribal households participating in the affordable connectivity program, noting such subscribers "may have been required to respond to ACP recertification outreach during the waiver period."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) sought a court order Thursday granting the state immediate possession of property owned by Crown Castle and other entities in Galveston County for a highway improvement project, said his petition (docket CV-0091156) in Galveston County Court. The state made a “bona fide” offer to acquire the property under Texas’ property code, but plaintiff and defendants have been unable to agree on the value of the real estate “to be condemned” or the damages resulting from the state’s acquisition, Paxton said. He asked that special commissioners be appointed, as provided by law, to assess the owners’ damages and to grant the state immediate possession -- pending the results of further litigation -- upon its deposit of the amount of damages awarded and costs awarded to property owners, with the court subject to the order of the property owners. Crown Castle didn't comment

A Texas appeals court should affirm a lower court’s ruling that a 2017 small-cells law is constitutional, urged Texas this month. Houston and other cities asked the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals to instead uphold the lower court’s other finding that a 2019 right-of-way (ROW) law was unconstitutional. In Jan. 20 briefs in case 03-22-00524-CV, they disagreed with each other’s November briefs in which Texas urged the court to reverse on the 2019 law while cities sought reversal of the decision on the 2017 statute (see 2211230015). Texas and cities agreed there should be oral argument.

Importer High Life and the U.S. settled a False Claims Act case in which the company was charged with knowingly underreporting the value of apparel entries, leading it to avoid duty payments. According to a stipulation and order of settlement filed Jan. 25 at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, High Life will pay the government $1.3 million, $650,000 of which counts as restitution. The company agreed to fully cooperate with the U.S. investigation of the other individuals and entities linked to the customs fraud scheme (United States v. High Life, S.D.N.Y. # 23-00631).

Indiana should hasten to join other states with privacy laws, said state legislators and the attorney general’s office at a hearing livestreamed Thursday. Two Democrats raised concerns that an opt-out privacy bill based on Virginia’s law might not go far enough, but the Senate Commerce and Technology Committee voted 11-0 to clear the comprehensive data protection bill. SB-5’s low bill number shows it’s a priority this legislative session, said Chair Chip Perfect (R).

Importer High Life and the U.S. settled a False Claims Act case in which the company was charged with knowingly underreporting the value of apparel entries, leading it to avoid duty payments. According to a stipulation and order of settlement filed Jan. 25 at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, High Life will pay the government $1.3 million, $650,000 of which counts as restitution. The company agreed to fully cooperate with the U.S. investigation of the other individuals and entities linked to the customs fraud scheme (United States v. High Life, S.D.N.Y. # 23-00631).

The Court of International Trade in a Jan. 24 opinion ordered the Commerce Department to drop to zero a 26.50% estimated subsidy rate for the provision of land to an affiliate of respondent Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited (GFL) that was included in GFL's countervailing duty rate in a CVD investigation. Judge Timothy Stanceu said Commerce should not have included the subsidy because the agency overlooked the type of relationship the regulation requires between subsidies to inputs and the downstream product in the production chain.

The Court of International Trade in a Jan. 24 order sent back the Commerce Department's final determination in the countervailing duty investigation on granular polytetrafluoroethylene from India. Judge Timothy Stanceu said that, on remand, Commerce must drop the 26.5% estimated subsidy rate for the provision of land by the State Industrial Development Corp. and reconsider the estimated subsidy rate for the provision of land from the Gujarat Industrial Development Corp.

The Agricultural Marketing Service on Jan. 18 released a final rule requiring submission in ACE of National Organic Program organic certificates for all organic products entering the U.S. as part of the entry process. The agency’s sprawling final rule also sets requirements for organic certifiers, recognition of foreign organic certifications, labeling requirements and the calculation of organic content of multi-ingredient products, among other things.

The National Weather Service isn’t well-equipped to keep up with the speed with which spectrum decisions are often made, said Michael Farrar, director of National Centers for Environmental Prediction, at an American Meteorological meeting, streamed from Denver Thursday. Farrar warned against the “drip, drip, drip of changes” as spectrum policy evolves.