The Federal Highway Administration has posted the fiscal year 2009 Surface Transportation Environment and Planning Cooperative Research Program (STEP) Annual Report. STEP is a federally administered research effort to help improve the understanding of the relationship between surface transportation, planning, and the environment. Highlights of the report are available here.

The President has issued Executive Order 13549, which establishes a Classified National Security Information Program designed to safeguard and govern access to classified national security information shared by the Federal Government with State, local, tribal, and private sector entities.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology posts drafts and changes to foreign technical regulations for manufactured products which may be considered technical barriers to trade and are therefore required to be reported to the World Trade Organization, which distributes the information to WTO Member countries.

The Foreign Agriculture Service issued the following GAIN reports:

On August 18, 2010, APHIS updated its Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Canadian Border Agricultural Clearance Manual. This Manual serves as a guide for authorized Federal officers at ports of entry along the Canadian Border.

The Commerce Department announces that the National Advisory Committee on Innovation and Entrepreneurship will hold a meeting on September 2, 2010. Agenda topics to be discussed include: U.S. capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship; Administration and Commerce priorities related to innovation and entrepreneurship; and strategies for promoting greater innovation and entrepreneurship in the U.S.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requests comments on its technical report, "The Effectiveness of ABS [Antilock Braking Systems] in Heavy Truck Tractors and Trailers." Comments are due by December 17, 2010.

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a final rule, effective October 19, 2010, which promulgates national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants for existing stationary spark ignition reciprocating internal combustion engines that either are located at area sources of hazardous air pollutant emissions or that have a site rating of less than or equal to 500 brake horsepower and are located at major sources of hazardous air pollutant emissions.

The Department of Energy has issued a proposed rule to use full-fuel-cycle (FFC) measures of energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, rather than the primary energy measures it currently uses to estimate the likely impacts of energy conservation standards. DOE will hold a public meeting on October 7, 2010, and comments are due by October 18, 2010.

The Department of Defense has issued a final rule, effective August 20, 2010, which amends the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to update text on transportation matters relating to DOD contracts, including clarifying certain shipping procedures and offering additional guidance on their use.