2016 Regulatory Schedule for the U.S. Department of Transportation

Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration’s two drone rulemakings got a lot of attention: their strange attempt to implement Congress’s airspace integration mandate and their unlawful drone registration mandate. CEI submitted comments in both (see here and here).

With 2016 being the final year of Obama’s presidency, we can expect a flurry of rulemaking activity—some good, but mostly bad. Below are expected 2016 U.S. Department of Transportation rulemaking events we’ll be closely following, broken down by agency, from the Fall 2015 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions:

Federal Aviation Administration

  • Updates to Rulemaking and Waiver Procedures and Expansion of the Equivalent Level of Safety Option, NPRM expected January 2016, RIN: 2120-AK76 (CEI expressed strong interest in ELOS expansion in its April 2015 sUAS operation and certification comments linked below)
  • Operation and Certification of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems, final rule expected April 2016, RIN: 2120-AJ60 (CEI filed comments in response to the NPRM on April 24, 2015)

Federal Railroad Administration

  • Passenger Equipment Safety Standards Amendments, NPRM expected February 2016, RIN: 2130-AC46 (CEI published a white paper in June 2013 recommending the changes we expect to be included in the proposed rule)

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  • Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles and Work Trucks: Phase 2, no final rule stage estimate reported, RIN: 2127-AL52 (CEI filed comments in response to the NPRM on October 1, 2015)
  • Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 150–Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) Communication, NPRM expected May 2016, RIN: 2127-AL55 (CEI filed comments in response to the ANPRM on October 20, 2014)

Office of the Secretary of Transportation

  • Smoking of Electronic Cigarettes On Commercial Aircraft, final rule expected February 2016, RIN: 2105-AE06 (CEI submitted comments in response to the NPRM on September 15, 2011)
  • Use of Mobile Wireless Devices for Voice Calls on Aircraft, NPRM expected March 2016, RIN: 2105-AE30 (CEI submitted comments in response to the ANPRM on March 26, 2014)
  • Airline Pricing Transparency and Other Consumer Protection Issues, final rule expected April 2016, RIN: 2105-AE11 (CEI submitted comments in response to the NPRM on September 24, 2014)