KEY AGENCIES
October 16, 2026 Updates
There was no reportable FHWA activity last week.
An amendment has been filed to the World Shipping Council Agreement. Details are not yet available because many pages on the FMC’s website are down; the item is being tracked and will be updated once the filing can be reviewed.
The FMC has also noticed a meeting for October 27. The public portion will include staff briefings from the Office of the General Counsel, the Office of Information Technology, and the Office of Consumer Affairs and Dispute Resolution Services.
All 50 states have now implemented FMCSA’s revised DataQs review process, which gives motor carriers the opportunity to challenge federal and state data on a driver’s safety record — including crashes, inspections, and violations — that they believe to be incorrect. The reformed process establishes review timelines and a three-step independent review.
Under the most recent round of the INFRA grant program, USDOT accepted applications through two tracks: Track 1 for the highway and freight projects typically eligible under INFRA (funded through the IIJA), and Track 2 for truck-parking projects only (funded through annual appropriations). This week USDOT announced its Track 2 selections, awarding $200 million to 14 projects in 12 states to improve and expand commercial truck parking.
The STB found that four Class I railroads — BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific — were revenue adequate for 2025, meaning each achieved a rate of return equal to or greater than the Board’s calculation of the freight rail industry’s average cost of capital. Read the STB determination (PDF).
In the Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger proceeding, an STB administrative law judge issued a discovery order on October 8 following an October 2 discovery conference. The judge granted in part and denied in part the applicants’ motion to compel CSX and CPKC to produce certain information, with the parties agreeing on a production timeline. After in camera review, the judge also found that an email between two NS executives and Oliver Wyman consultants concerning an intermodal plan supporting the merger application — which NS had clawed back — is protected as work product, rejecting non-applicants’ argument that it was unprotected and substantively damaging to the application. Opening comments on the merger application remain due November 18. Read the STB order (PDF).
The STB’s Rail Energy Transportation Advisory Committee will meet on October 27, 2026. The meeting is open to the public, and a review of rail performance measures is among the potential agenda items.
Other Offices & Agencies
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require rail carriers — passenger and freight alike — to submit advance information on all passengers and crew for every train entering or leaving the United States. Two submissions would be required: a notice of the train’s arrival or departure, due 24 hours before it reaches a U.S. border crossing (train number, car numbers, estimated arrival or departure time, and full itinerary, among other data), and advance traveler information for each passenger and crew member (name, date of birth, country of citizenship, and country of residence), due one hour before the train leaves its last stop before the border. Today a train entering the U.S. reports its arrival at the port of entry, where CBP collects passenger and crew information; freight trains also submit cargo data two hours before arrival. CBP argues the lack of advance information on individuals is a security risk and inconsistent with other modes. Comments are due December 14.
- On October 5, President Trump issued an Executive Order allowing the purchase of tax-free red-dyed diesel for road and highway use. Red-dyed diesel is exempt from the 24.4-cent-per-gallon federal excise tax on undyed diesel and had been restricted to off-highway uses such as agricultural and construction equipment. The order defers the tax on this fuel through the end of 2026 and directs the Secretary of the Treasury to examine ways, including legislation, to eliminate it altogether — leaving open whether this amounts to a deferral or a tax holiday through year-end.
- The FDA issued a final order exempting certain Class II clinical toxicology test systems from premarket notification (510(k)) requirements, subject to certain limitations. The exemption allows federal labs to conduct drug screening via oral-fluid and hair testing. IANA supported the exemption in comments filed with the FDA in June.
- Ahead of the 2027 annual joint review of the USMCA, the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking written comments on the agreement, due January 12, 2027, and intends to hold a public hearing, with the date and location to be posted on USTR’s website; post-hearing rebuttals will be due seven calendar days after the hearing concludes. At the first joint review earlier in 2026 the U.S. declined to extend the agreement for a new 16-year term, triggering an annual review process that continues until the three countries agree to a new 16-year term or the agreement expires in 2036.
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking greater visibility into the supply chains of imported goods, with the goal of detecting customs fraud, illegal transshipment, and other efforts to evade U.S. trade laws. CBP is weighing whether to require importers to identify additional supply-chain parties — manufacturers, exporters, sellers, and intermediaries — and to collect the foreign export documentation exporters must file with foreign customs authorities before shipment. It is also seeking input on global business identifiers and supply-chain traceability technologies, and on strengthening the CTPAT program with enhanced supply-chain visibility, cybersecurity, and data-integrity requirements. Comments are due December 1.
- Internal Revenue Service
- Maritime Administration
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- National Labor Relations Board
- Office of the United States Trade Representative
- Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
- Transportation Security Administration
- U.S. Coast Guard
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection
- U.S. Department of Commerce
- U.S. Department of Justice
- U.S. Department of Labor
- International Maritime Organization
