This Week at the Department of Transportation — week of July 27, 2026

The Department of Transportation published 21 actions this week. Most were routine technical updates to federal pipeline safety standards, alongside a handful of proposed rules and procedural changes affecting airfare advertising, automated vehicle brakes, and railroad worker certification.

Airfare advertising

• • The Department extended the deadline for public comments on a proposed rule governing how airlines advertise prices. The change gives passengers and industry groups more time to weigh in before the Department finalizes any decision on fare advertising practices.

Automated vehicle brakes

• • NHTSA extended the comment period for proposed changes to federal brake standards as they apply to automated vehicles. The extension, requested by a law firm, allows more time for public input on how brake regulations should adapt as cars become more automated.

Vehicle safety exemptions

• • NHTSA issued an interim final rule changing how it processes requests for temporary exemptions from federal motor vehicle safety standards. The agency described it as an administrative change intended to streamline paperwork and give NHTSA more flexibility in granting exemptions.

Railroad worker certification

• • The Federal Railroad Administration proposed new rules for how locomotive engineers and conductors are trained and certified. Railroad companies would be required to verify English language proficiency before certifying or recertifying workers, and the proposal also addresses manual operation testing and movement across certain borders.

Pipeline safety: routine standards updates

• • PHMSA updated technical standards for steel pipe used in gas and hazardous liquid pipelines, including pipe for low-temperature service and pressure vessels. These updates keep federal rules aligned with current industry engineering specifications.
• • PHMSA updated standards for several plastic pipe components, including polyethylene pipe, polyethylene pipe fittings, gas distribution pipe fittings, and fuel gas distribution fittings, plus a standard for joining polyethylene pipes by heat fusion and one for PVC pipe solvent cements. These are administrative updates to match current manufacturing standards.
• • PHMSA updated how companies inspect natural gas pipelines for corrosion, adopting methods that detect corrosion without physical digging or intrusive inspections. It also adopted a new version of the NACE SP0502 industry standard for “external corrosion direct assessment” on gas and hazardous liquid pipelines.
• • PHMSA updated standards for how liquefied petroleum gas is handled and how LP-gas plants are built and operated. These are administrative updates to reflect current industry technical standards.
• • PHMSA confirmed the effective date for updated standards covering high-strength, wrought, butt-welding pipe fittings.

Pipeline safety: withdrawals and administrative changes

• • PHMSA withdrew a document titled “Clarifying Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Integrity Management Guidance,” originally published April 24, 2026. The withdrawal removes specific instructions previously given to pipeline operators on safety management.
• • PHMSA withdrew a previously published notice proposing an update to the ASME B31.4 standard, which covers liquid fuel pipelines. The withdrawal cancels that pending technical change.
• • PHMSA confirmed the effective date of a rule allowing companies to store oil spill response plans electronically, replacing any requirement for physical paper copies.

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This weekly agency digest is generated from federal records (the Federal Register and Congress.gov) and summarized in plain English. It may simplify or omit detail — follow the linked official sources before relying on any item. Part of The Boring Parts.