Federal Register Watch is The Investigative Journal’s daily review of the rules, proposed rules, and notices shaping federal policy. Every item below links directly to the underlying public record.
The Federal Register for Wednesday, August 19, 2026, carries more than 80 documents from roughly three dozen agencies, according to the Office of the Federal Register’s public-inspection listings — among them a presidential proclamation imposing steep new tariffs on imported drones, a Justice Department antitrust settlement, a first-of-its-kind deep-sea mining application moving to public comment, and a draft chemical risk finding with implications for small aviation. Here is what matters, and when the public can weigh in.
1. White House imposes 100 percent tariff on heavy and thermal-imaging drones, effective September 3
In Proclamation 11055, published today, President Trump ordered new import duties on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and their components under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the national-security tariff authority. The proclamation, signed August 13, follows a Commerce Department investigation that, according to the document, found the United States “too reliant on foreign sources of UAS and UAS components” and warned that drones from certain foreign entities “pose an information technology security risk because their software allows data to be sent back to the manufacturer in a foreign country.”
The rate structure is aggressive. Effective 12:01 a.m. Eastern on September 3, 2026, imports of drones with a maximum take-off weight above 25 kilograms, drones that integrate thermal imagers, drone docking stations, and certain critical components face a 100 percent ad valorem duty; lighter drones without thermal imaging face 25 percent. A second tranche — 25 percent duties on a broader list of parts such as propellers, rotors, and undercarriages — takes effect February 9, 2027, a delay the proclamation says is designed “to incentivize production onshoring.” The new duties stack on top of existing tariffs. Allied suppliers receive a partial carve-out: products of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the European Union are capped at 15 percent, and the United Kingdom at 10 percent, but only if importers certify that substantially all critical components and technology originate in the United States or those partner countries.
The proclamation also directs Commerce to stand up an onshoring incentive program: companies that commit to building U.S. drone or component factories — with construction beginning before January 20, 2029 — may import covered products duty-free during construction, in volumes tied to the new facility’s anticipated output. The document authorizes audits of those commitments and retroactive clawback of tariff benefits where the government finds fraud. Companies already on the Department of War’s Blue UAS Cleared List or the FCC’s Conditional Approval List as of September 2 get a 180-day reprieve before the duties bite. For commercial drone buyers — utilities, farmers, public-safety agencies — the near-term effect will be higher prices on imported hardware; the administration’s stated bet is that domestic manufacturing scales up fast enough to fill the gap.
2. DOJ and Tennessee settle challenge to CRH asphalt deal — with divestitures and a 60-day comment window
The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division published a Tunney Act notice in United States, et al. v. CRH plc, et al., disclosing a proposed consent decree in the government’s challenge to a Memphis-area asphalt acquisition. According to the filings, the United States and the State of Tennessee filed a complaint on August 7 in the Western District of Tennessee (No. 2:26-cv-03012) alleging that APAC-Tennessee — a subsidiary of Dublin-based building-materials giant CRH plc — would substantially lessen competition in the manufacture and sale of hot-mix asphalt in Shelby County, Tennessee, through its proposed acquisition of Standard Construction Group, a deal the complaint values at no less than $133.9 million under an October 2024 letter of intent.
The proposed final judgment, filed alongside the complaint, would require the parties to divest two asphalt plants — APAC’s facility at 4765 Tuggle Road in Memphis and Standard’s facility on Raleigh Millington Road in Millington — to Dunn Investment Company, a Birmingham, Alabama-based firm, or another buyer approved by the government. The settlement resolves the allegations without trial and remains subject to court approval under the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act. Hot-mix asphalt markets are intensely local — the product cools quickly and cannot travel far — which is why a single county’s plant ownership can determine what state and local governments pay for road contracts.
Public comment is invited for 60 days from today’s notice; comments go to the Antitrust Division and will be filed with the court. For taxpayers who ultimately fund paving contracts, the Tunney Act window is the rare formal channel to tell a federal judge whether a merger remedy goes far enough.
3. Deep-sea mining reaches a regulatory milestone: NOAA opens comment on The Metals Company’s application
NOAA announced receipt of a consolidated application from The Metals Company USA, LLC (TMC USA) for both an exploration license and a commercial recovery permit in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific — and determined the application “fully compliant” with the information requirements of the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, moving it into formal public review. Records indicate the amended application, received March 19, 2026, superseded an earlier exploration-only filing noticed last December.
The stakes are considerable: the Clarion-Clipperton Zone holds polymetallic nodules rich in nickel, cobalt, and manganese, and a commercial recovery permit under the 1980 statute would be a first for the United States. Written comments are due 60 days after publication via docket NOAA-NOS-2026-1751, and NOAA will hold a virtual public hearing on October 13, 2026, from 3 to 5 p.m. Eastern — registration closes October 9, attendance is capped at 1,000, and speakers get three minutes each. The notice is careful to state that the application’s contents “do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA or the U.S. Government.”
4. EPA’s draft finding: ethylene dibromide poses “unreasonable risk” — a warning shot for leaded avgas
The EPA released for comment its draft risk evaluation of ethylene dibromide under the Toxic Substances Control Act, preliminarily determining that the chemical “does pose unreasonable risk to human health driven primarily by certain conditions of use.” Ethylene dibromide’s main modern use, per the notice, is as a lead scavenger in 100LL leaded aviation gasoline — the fuel that still powers much of the piston-engine general aviation fleet — with exposure risks for workers who handle the fuel, pilots who refuel their own aircraft, and, per the evaluation’s scope, fenceline communities near emitting facilities.
A final unreasonable-risk determination would trigger mandatory risk-management rulemaking under TSCA Section 6 — potentially restrictions on a fuel additive the small-aviation sector has no drop-in replacement for at scale. EPA is asking specifically for data on refueling practices, exposure monitoring, and protective equipment. Comments are due 60 days after publication (on or about October 18, 2026) in docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2018-0488, with Scientific Advisory Committee on Chemicals peer review to follow.
5. NRC clears another hurdle for the Palisades nuclear restart
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission published notice of an exemption issued August 12 allowing Palisades Energy, LLC to place control-room operations personnel on outage work-hour rules for up to 60 days beginning at core reload — or until the Michigan plant reconnects to the electrical grid, whichever comes first. It is the fifth work-hour exemption granted for the project, which the NRC describes as “a first-of-a-kind unique activity where a nuclear power plant in decommissioning status is being returned to operational status.”
The practical signal is in the details: the agency’s evaluation states the licensee “plans to load fuel during this proposed exemption period,” and that shift staffing will increase from four senior reactor operators and three reactor operators to six and five, respectively. The NRC’s public-interest analysis weighed fatigue risks against crew continuity during what it called safety-significant startup evolutions, and concluded the exemption — bounded by mandatory rest breaks and minimum days off — would not endanger life or property. Filings indicate the country’s first restart of a decommissioning reactor is entering its decisive phase.
6. USDA proposes scrapping its rural construction standards
USDA’s Rural Housing Service and Rural Business-Cooperative Service proposed rescinding 7 CFR part 1924, the regulation governing construction and repair standards across Rural Development housing programs. The agency’s rationale: state and local building codes “already ensure structural integrity, safety, and compliance,” while the federal overlay — including energy-efficiency and thermal-performance standards that the agency says often exceed local requirements — adds cost and delay that “are passed directly on to borrowers by increasing home prices.” The proposal cites three deregulatory executive orders, including March’s Executive Order 14394 on affordable home construction.
The trade-off deserves scrutiny from both directions: rescission could lower construction costs and expand the pool of developers willing to build federally financed rural housing, but it also removes uniform federal minimums in jurisdictions where local code enforcement is thin. Comments are due 60 days after publication in docket RHS-26-ADMIN-0331 at regulations.gov.
7. E-Verify+ heads to OMB — with 13 million verifications a year at stake
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services published a 30-day notice sending the E-Verify+ information collection to the Office of Management and Budget for renewal. E-Verify+, per the notice, is a demonstration project that folds the Form I-9 employment-verification process directly into the E-Verify system. The agency’s own burden estimates convey the program’s scale: roughly 11.7 million new user accounts and 13.2 million employment-eligibility verifications annually, with total public burden pegged at nearly 6 million hours. The earlier 60-day notice drew eight public comments; this final window closes 30 days after publication (on or about September 18, 2026), docket USCIS-2023-0011.
On our radar
Several smaller entries touch The Investigative Journal’s accountability beats and merit follow-up. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is seeking comment on a collection addressing the accuracy of importer-of-record data — the identity backbone for tariff enforcement in an era of record duty rates. The International Trade Administration published procedures for automakers to certify U.S. content under the USMCA’s preferential tariff rules, and continues an antidumping review of phosphate fertilizers from Russia, an input-cost issue for American farmers. NOAA finalized quota adjustments for Atlantic swordfish, albacore, and bluefin tuna. And the Justice Department’s CRH settlement, the drone-tariff onshoring program’s company-by-company approvals, and TMC USA’s seabed permit will all generate discretionary government decisions worth watching as they move from paper to practice.
Comment deadlines at a glance: E-Verify+ renewal, on or about September 18; CRH consent decree, 60 days from today’s notice; ethylene dibromide draft evaluation, USDA construction-standards rescission, and the TMC USA seabed application, each on or about October 18. The TMC hearing is October 13; register by October 9.
Methodology and right of reply: This digest is drawn from documents filed with the Office of the Federal Register and scheduled for publication August 19, 2026, and reflects only what those public records state. Parties named in the filings who wish to respond may contact The Investigative Journal, and their responses will be noted.