The Securities and Exchange Commission has extended its public comment period for its second attempt at a rule requiring the disclosure of government payments made by energy and mining companies for extraction rights.

The comment period was scheduled to end on Monday, with a Feb. 16 deadline for comments responding to issues raised during that initial process. The new deadlines are Feb. 16, 2016 for the first round of commentary and March 8, 2016 for responses.

Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act requires oil, gas, and mining companies publicly traded in the U.S. to disclose those payments. The SEC’s first attempt at such a rule, in 2012, was challenged by the American Petroleum Institute and vacated in U.S. District Court. In September 2014, Oxfam America sued the SEC for “unlawfully withholding” a rewritten final rule.

In October 2015, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ordered the Commission to file an “expedited schedule” detailing when the agency planned to issue a final rule. In response the SEC pledged to hold a vote on the adoption of a final rule on or before June 27, 2016. A proposed rule was approved in December.

 

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