Short Takes – 2-26-26 – Federal Register Edition

Notice and Request for Comment; Proposal for a New United Nations Global Technical Regulation on Automated Driving Systems (ADS). Federal Register NHTSA request for comments. Summary: “The United Nations Working Party on Automated/Autonomous and Connected Vehicles (GRVA), under the World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) at United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), has proposed a draft Global Technical Regulation (GTR) for Automated Driving Systems (ADS). NHTSA is seeking public comment on the draft GTR to help inform the U.S. government's position, including how that position could relate to any future domestic actions regarding the safety and performance of Automated Driving Systems. With this notice, NHTSA is announcing a 15-day extension of the public comment period for this request for comment.” Comments due March 10^th, 2026.

Proposed Renewal Collection and Request for Comment; Confidential Business Information Claims Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA 60-day ICR renewal notice. Summary: “In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), this document announces the availability of and solicits public comment on the following Information Collection Request (ICR) that EPA is planning to submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB): Confidential Business Information Claims under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (EPA ICR No. 2706.04 and OMB Control No. 2070-0223). This ICR represents a renewal of an existing ICR that is currently approved through August 31, 2026. Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review and approval under the PRA, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the information collection that is summarized in this document. The ICR and accompanying material are available in the docket for public review and comment.” Comments due April 27^th, 2026.

Worker Safety and Health Requirements To Support Reform of Nuclear Reactor Testing; Reopening of Public Comment Period. DOE NPRM comment extension. Summary: “On January 21, 2026, the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (“NOPR”) seeking to amend certain regulations for worker safety and health to expedite the review, approval, and deployment of advanced reactors under DOE's jurisdiction, including qualified test reactors in DOE's reactor pilot program consistent with a recent Executive order. The NOPR provided an opportunity for submitting written comments, data, and information by February 20, 2026. By letter dated February 4, 2026, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (“AFL-CIO”) requested a 45-day extension to the comment period. DOE has reviewed this request and is re-opening the public comment period until March 23, 2026.”

EO 14388 - Continuing the Suspension of Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries. Federal Register.

EO 14389 - Ending Certain Tariff Actions. Federal Register.

Review – Bills Introduced – 2-25-26

Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in session, and the House preparing to leave for a long weekend, there were 81 bills introduced. One of those bills will receive additional coverage in  this blog:

HR 7696 To establish a grant program to provide awards to National Laboratories and institutions of higher education to develop secure artificial intelligence (AI) cyber-physical testbeds to simulate grid-scale cyberattacks, and for other purposes. Hernández, Pablo Jose [Resident Commissioner-D-PR-At Large]

 

For more information on these bills, including legislative history for similar bills in the 118^th Congress, as well as a mention in passing of a bill requiring ICE to return identity documents to released detainees, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/bills-introduced-2-25-26 - subscription required.

Review – Bills Introduced – 2-24-26

Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in Washington, there were 31 bills introduced. Two of those bills will receive additional coverage in this blog:

HR 7662 To enhance safety requirements for trains transporting hazardous materials, and for other purposes. Nehls, Troy E. [Rep.-R-TX-22]

S 3903 A bill to enhance safety requirements for trains transporting hazardous materials, and for other purposes. Husted, Jon [Sen.-R-OH]

 

For more information on these bills, including legislative history for similar bills in the 118^th Congress, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/bills-introduced-2-24-26 - subscription required.

DOT Sends Administrative Procedures Final Rule to OMB

Yesterday the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had received a final rule from the DOT’s Office of the Secretary (OS) on “Administrative Rulemaking, Guidance, and Enforcement Procedures”. The notice of proposed rulemaking was published on May 16^th, 2025. Interestingly, even though the NPRM was published before the Spring 2025 Unified Agenda (published in September 2025), that NPRM was listed as being projected for publication in July 2025.

According to the Spring 2025 Unified Agenda entry for this rulemaking:

“This rulemaking would reinstate and expound upon procedural reforms for the Department’s rulemakings, guidance documents, and enforcement actions rescinded by a final rule published by the Department on April 2, 2021, Administrative Rulemaking, Guidance, and Enforcement Procedures (86 FR 17292) [link added]. Accordingly, this proposed rule would revise and update the Department’s internal policies and procedures relating to the issuance of rulemaking documents. In addition, this rulemaking would update the Department’s procedural requirements governing the review and clearance of guidance documents, and the initiation and conduct of enforcement actions, including administrative enforcement proceedings and judicial enforcement actions brought in Federal court.”

That 2021 rulemaking was part of the Biden Administration’s effort to remove much of 45’s regulatory agenda. Specifically, that Biden Administration rulemaking addressed an earlier DOT/OS rulemaking (84 FR 71714) from the previous administration. The preamble to the 2021 rulemaking noted that:

“Many of the policies and procedures codified at 49 CFR part 5 were prompted by Executive orders that have since been revoked by E.O. 13992.^[1] As a result, the Department will rescind those policies and procedures, or portions thereof, that implemented or enforced any of the revoked orders. This final rule removes from 49 CFR part 5 those provisions that reflect revoked policies and procedures that are no longer in effect.”

This is one of the problems with relying on executive orders as the authority for issuing regulations. It is relatively easy for the next administration to come in and revoke/change those regulations. In this case, since this rule only directly impacts internal DOT processes, this is more of a storm in a tea pot issue, but it does reflect significant changes in regulatory intent, and those changes are already in place and are already affecting DOT policy and rulemaking regardless of the presence or absence of this rule.

I will not be covering this final rule in any detail, but I would expect to report its publication in the appropriate Short Takes post.

Review – 3 Advisories and 2 Updates Published – 2-24-26

Today CISA’s NCCIC-ICS published three control system security advisories for products from Gardyn, Schneider Electric, and InSAT. They also updated two advisories for products from Mitsubishi.

Advisories

Gardyn Advisory - This advisory describes four vulnerabilities in the Gardyn Home Kit product line.

Schneider Advisory - This advisory describes two vulnerabilities in the Schneider EcoStruxure Building Operation Workstation.

NOTE: I briefly discussed these vulnerabilities on February 14^th, 2026

InSAT Advisory - This advisory describes two SQL injection vulnerabilities in the InSAT MasterSCADA BUK-TS.

Updates

Mitsubishi Update #1 - This update provides additional information on the Iconics Digital Solutions advisory that was originally published on October 22^nd, 2024, and most recently updated on January 8^th, 2026.

Mitsubishi Update # 2 - This update provides additional information on the ICONICS Suite advisory that was originally published on July 26^th, 2022, and most recently updated on January 15^th, 2025.

 

For more information on these advisories, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/3-advisories-and-2-updates-published-758 - subscription required.

Short Takes – 2-24-26 – Federal Register Edition

Prior Notice of Citizen Suits. Federal Register EPA notice of proposed rulemaking. Summary: “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to amend its regulations prescribing the manner in which prior notice of citizen suits is to be provided as required under the citizen suit provisions of the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the Noise Control Act (NCA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). This proposed rulemaking would generally require electronic service to EPA of Notices of Intent (NOIs) to file a citizen suit under the listed environmental statutes. These proposed revisions would help ensure the Agency receives and processes such NOIs in a timely and efficient manner.” Comments due: March 26^th, 2026.

Proposed Renewal Collection and Request for Comment; Chemical Data Reporting Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Federal Register EPA 60-day ICR renewal notice. Summary: “In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), this document announces the availability of and solicits public comment on the following Information Collection Request (ICR) that EPA is planning to submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB): Chemical Data Reporting under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (EPA ICR No. 1884.17 and OMB Control No. 2070-0162). This ICR represents a renewal of an existing ICR that is currently approved through October 31, 2026. Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review and approval under the PRA, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the information collection that is summarized in this document. The ICR and accompanying material are available in the docket for public review and comment.” Comments due: April 27^th, 2026.

Railroad Safety Advisory Committee. Federal Register FRA request for nominations. Summary: “In this notice, the Department is soliciting nominations for membership to the Committee. The Committee shall report to the Secretary of Transportation through the FRA Administrator and shall comprise 25 members representing the agency's major stakeholder groups, including railroads, labor organizations, suppliers, and manufacturers, as well as other interested parties.” Nominations due: March 26^th, 2026.

Pipeline Safety: Request for Special Permit; Sable Offshore Corp. Federal Register PHMSA notice. Summary: “PHMSA is publishing this notice to solicit public comments on a request for a special permit submitted by Sable Offshore Corp. (Sable). Sable is seeking relief from compliance with certain requirements in the Federal pipeline safety regulations. PHMSA has proposed conditions to ensure that the special permit is not inconsistent with pipeline safety. At the conclusion of the 30-day comment period, PHMSA will review the comments received from this notice as part of its evaluation to grant or deny the special permit request.” Comments due: March 26th, 2026.

Review – CSB Publishes PEMEX H2S Release Investigation Report

Yesterday the Chemical Safety Board announced the publication of incident investigation report for the October 2024, fatal hydrogen sulfide leak at the PEMEX facility in Deer Park, TX. During the incident 27,000-lbs of H2S were released when contractors opened the wrong line during a maintenance procedure. Two workers were killed and 13 were transported to local hospitals for exposure to H2S. The report identified four key safety issues and the Board made four safety recommendations to prevent future such accidents.

This closed investigation leave just eight CSB open investigations. The four new recommendations brings the total number of CSB recommendations to date to 1,026 with 118 open recommendations.

Incident Summary

The Executive Summary for the report describes the incident:

“The release occurred when contract workers from Repcon, Inc. (Repcon) opened piping containing hydrogen sulfide gas. Instead of opening a pipe flange on empty piping, the workers mistakenly opened an identical piping segment 5 feet away, releasing pressurized hydrogen sulfide gas and fatally injuring one of the Repcon workers. The released hydrogen sulfide traveled downwind to the adjacent unit, where a worker from ISC Constructors, who was unaware of the release, inhaled the toxic hydrogen sulfide and also was fatally injured. The release continued for nearly an hour until PEMEX Deer Park emergency responders reassembled the leaking flange, stopping the release. Thirteen additional contract workers were transported to nearby medical facilities to be evaluated for hydrogen sulfide exposure”

 

For more information on the CSB report, including commentary on another potential safety issue, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/csb-publishes-pemex-h2s-release-investigation - subscription required.