The FAA has formally withdrawn the crew duty and rest time rule proposal seen as seriously flawed by nearly every party involved in the process. 

Reason for Withdrawal - The FAA is withdrawing the 1995 flight Crewmember Duty Period imitations, Flight Time Limitations and Rest Requirements NPRM because it s outdated and because it raised many significant issues that the agency needed to consider before proceeding with a final rule.

See the Federal Register announcement (.pdf) here.

The Federal Register notice explains that the rulemaking, which began in 1992 has met with significant opposition from nearly every industry group.  The air carries find the current 16 hour duty day limitation unduly restrictive and were lobbying for fewer of the common sense limitations suggested in the NPRM.  Pilot unions and other constituents focused on safety were concerned that the regulations did not go far enough and still lacked obvious common sense requirements that may have prevented many if not most of the recent (15 years) air carrier accidents.  

For decades the air carriers and their lobbyists have been pointing to declining accident rates to argue against common sense crew duty, flight and rest  regulations.  But as the system as a whole has become safer through the implementation of technology solutions, the NTSB is more and more frequently citing to fatigue as a contributing factor in the infrequent remaining accidents.  

The FAA must now seriously address these issues or the general public will find them as wanting as a regulator as the crew members have found them for decades.  It is my sincere hope that Captain Randy Babbitt will direct the FAA attorneys to come up with meaningful new regulations that account for all aspects of the fatigue equation including circadian rhythms, frequency of operations and length of duty day.