Federal Regulations

A 1984 landmark Supreme Court ruling empowering federal agencies to interpret statutes when there is uncertainty is being challenged. The outcome will impact federal regulatory authority throughout government, particularly environmental protection.

June 28, 2024 - Irvin Dawid

California is pushing back against federal actions by enforcing state rules and standards that it says have precedence.

March 30, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

The Trump administration cannot legally delay the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule, according to a ruling by a federal judge this week.

August 17, 2018 - Pacific Standard

Jarrett Walker discusses some reasons why transit authorities can be resistant to change. It all comes down to considering their point of view.

January 30, 2018 - Human Transit

In just his first year, the high-profile and controversial cabinet member “has begun to dismantle former president Barack Obama’s environmental legacy.”

January 8, 2018 - The Washington Post

Among the many guidelines and rules going back to the drawing board (or ceremonial execution by executive order) at the federal level are guidelines for self-driving cars released only months ago by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

February 28, 2017 - Reuters

The U.S. Department of Transportation a new Federal Committee on Automation, gathering 25 experts in the field of vehicle technology to help keep the government in front of a rapidly approaching era.

January 12, 2017 - U.S. Department Of Transportation

It's a big day for the future of automated vehicles. Federal safety regulators gave first indication, not yet regulations, of how they expect automated vehicles to behave when they hit the road en masse.

September 20, 2016 - The New York Times

The new exam is required nationwide for commercial use of drones.

September 14, 2016 - Quartz

Opponents of federal oversight rejoice: a ruling by U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl reiterates the limitations of the federal government to regulate fracking.

June 23, 2016 - KUOW

The Wall Street Journal's senior energy reporter, Russell Gold, is interviewed on NPR about the February 16 derailment and explosion in West Virginia of an oil-train hauling 109 tanker cars of Bakken crude from North Dakota.

March 6, 2015 - NPR

President Barack Obama hopes to add to his "climate legacy" by having the EPA adopt the nation's first regulations to reduce methane emissions, the second most prevalent greenhouse gas emission after carbon dioxide, but far more powerful.

January 15, 2015 - Los Angeles Times

A deal may be near between energy and rail industries and the Department of Transportation to phase out the DOT-111 tank car—the same kind implicated in the horrific explosions of oil trains, particularly those carry Bakken crude from North Dakota.

July 23, 2014 - Bloomberg BusinessWeek

In what is being billed as the first emergency order of more to come, the Department of Transportation (DOT), the federal regulator of transporting crude oil by rail, hopes to quell the growing national furor over what some call 'ticking time bombs'.

May 9, 2014 - The Tribune

The full declaration on CBR by DOT regulators was “an imminent hazard to public health and safety and the environment." An immediate safety order was issued requiring vigorous testing of crude and prohibition of use of some tanker cars.

February 27, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal - U.S.

In the first case of its kind, federal regulators fined three oil companies for allegedly either failing to test, or improperly testing crude from the Bakken Shale in N.D., resulting in rail companies not knowing which type of oil tanker cars to use.

February 6, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

John M. Broder looks at the obstacles that stand in the way of Mitt Romney's campaign pledge to “take a weed whacker” to a variety of federal pollution and public health rules.

October 9, 2012 - The New York Times