Review - DHS/DOJ Publish SLTT cUAS Authority IFR

On Monday (available on-line yesterday), DHS and DOJ jointly published an interim final rule in the Federal Register (91 FR 41466-41516) for “Counter-UAS Authority for State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Law Enforcement and Correctional [SLTT] Agencies”. This IFR implements the requirements of the SAFER SKYS Act included as TITLE LXXXVI of the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (PL 119-60, 139 STAT. 1938) codified mainly at 6 USC 124n (the official USC listing at GoveInfo.gov has not been updated since 2024, they are way behind, and the USCODE.house.gov site has been down for weeks, so this link is to the Cornell Law US Code library listing). The effective date of this IFR is July 1st, 2026. 

Public Comments  

DHS/DOJ are soliciting public comments on this IFR. Comments may be submitted via the Federal Document Management System (formerly known as the Federal eRulemaking Portal; www.Regulations.gov: Docket # FBI-2026-0001). Comments should be submitted by September 4th, 2026. 

For an overview of the IFR, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/dhsdoj-publish-sltt-cuas-authority - subscription required. 

OMB Approves NRC NEPA NPRM

 On Thursday, the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had approved a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) from the Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRC) on “Implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act [NRC-2025-0478]”. The NPRM was submitted to OIRA on March 20th, 2026. 

According to the 2026 Unified Agenda entry for this rulemaking: 

“This rulemaking would revise the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s regulations to (1) streamline implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), (2) alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens, and (3) expand flexibilities for applicants and licensees while complying with environmental requirements. The revisions are necessitated by and consistent with the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality's recision of its NEPA implementing regulations, Executive Order (EO) 14300 [link added], Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” and EO 14154 [link added], Unleashing American Energy.”” 

I would expect to see this NPRM published in the Federal Register in the next week or so. I do not expect that I will cover this rulemaking in any detail. At the very least, though, I would mention its publication in the appropriate Short Takes Post. 

Review - 2026 Unified Agenda – DHS

Yesterday, the Administration published their 2026 Unified Agenda. The Unified Agenda lays out the major regulatory measures that the Administration is considering taking action on over the next year. The listing of a rulemaking or the estimated action dates associated with a rulemaking are aspirational at best and no guarantee of agency action, especially since there will be a change in Administration in January. There are 59 active rulemakings listed for DHS with 30 rulemakings on the Long-Term Action list for the Department. There are 101 rulemakings listed in the Inactive Rule portion of the Agenda. Finally, DHS reported 21 rulemakings (none of particular interest here) on the Completed Actions portion of the Agenda. 

DHS Active Rulemakings  

The DHS portion of the Spring 2025 Unified Agenda lists 45 rulemakings, five of which I would expect to cover in this blog if/when actions are taken. Those rulemakings are: 

Commentary  

Federal agencies are required {5 USC 602(a)} to publish twice a year (specifically in April and October) a regulatory flexibility agenda that lists “any rule which the agency expects to propose or promulgate which is likely to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities”. Since the fall of 1995, OIRA has published a compilation of these as the Spring and Fall Unified Agenda respectively. The April and October requirement has slipped over the years with the current Administration publishing the Spring 2025 Unified Agenda in September 2025. With the removal of the seasonal designation from the current Unified Agenda, it seems that the Administration is announcing that they have no intention of publishing a second Unified Agenda this year. Hopefully, they intend to return to complying with statutory requirements in 2027. 

Chemical Transportation Incidents – Week of 5-30-26

Reporting Background 

See this post for explanation, with the most recent update here (removed from paywall). 

Data from PHMSA’s online database of transportation related chemical incidents that have been reported to the agency. 

Incidents Summary  

• Number of incidents – 498 (459 highway, 35 air, 4 rail, 0 water) 

• Serious incidents – 9 (8 Bulk release, 0 evacuation, 0 injury, 0 death, 0 major artery closed, 5 fire/explosion, 37no release)  

• Largest container involved – 30,300-gal DOT 117R100W Railcar {Fuel, Aviation, Turbine Engine} BOV ball valve leaking, cap not tool tight. 

• Largest amount spilled – 38,693-lbs Railcar {Lithium Ion Batteries Including Lithium Ion Polymer Batteries} Railcar fire in transit, cause not determined. 

• Total amount reported spilled in all incidents – 4972.2-gal (excludes lithium battery fire) 

NOTE: Links above are to Form 5800.1 for the described incidents. 

Most Interesting Chemical: Fuel, Aviation, Turbine Engine: A clear colorless to variable colored liquid with a petroleum-like odor. Less dense than water and insoluble in water. Hence, floats on water. Vapors are heavier than air. (Source: CameoChemicals.NOAA.gov).