U.S. proposes faster Arctic oil drilling permits.
Today's events
Alaska oil permits.
Interior's Bureau of Land Management proposed pre-set criteria that would fast-track drilling permits and pipeline rights-of-way for qualifying production sites in the National Petroleum Reserve; comments close November 9.1Sep 4 · InteriorChina mower duties.
Commerce revoked antidumping and countervailing duties on walk-behind lawn mowers from China and Vietnam after no U.S. producer defended the 2021 orders; revocation applies September 8.2Sep 4 · CommercePacific fighter test.
Eglin's 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron deployed F-15EX Eagle IIs to Kadena Air Base in Japan and flew one alongside an uncrewed MQ-28 Ghost Bat over the Philippine Sea during Exercise Valiant Shield.3Sep 6 · Air ForceMerger reviews.
The Justice Department's Antitrust Division returned to targeted Second Request investigations and published a model timing agreement, letting merging parties prioritize key documents before full compliance.4Sep 4 · DOJAllied tanker access.
A French A330 Phénix refueled U.S. and British RC-135 surveillance aircraft over central France — the first such trilateral integration, opening more than 30 allied tankers to the fleet.5Sep 6 · Air ForceSatellites for phones.
The Federal Communications Commission proposed letting unlicensed devices talk directly to satellites on a non-interference basis, adding satellite allocations in specific unlicensed bands; comments close November 9.6Sep 4 · FCCSwap clearing switch.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission moved mandatory clearing for Canadian-dollar and Mexican-peso interest-rate swaps onto the replacement benchmarks CORRA and F-TIIE, effective October 8.7Sep 4 · CFTCCar-loan tax break.
The Internal Revenue Service issued final rules for a deduction of up to $10,000 of interest on qualifying vehicle loans, plus $600 lender reporting; effective November 9.8Sep 4 · TreasuryAsphalt divestiture.
Justice and Tennessee's attorney general will require Ireland-based CRH and its APAC subsidiary to sell two hot-mix asphalt plants to close their purchase of Standard Construction.9Sep 4 · DOJ
Allied Governments
Arctic trilateral.
Royal Marines and Royal Air Force personnel deployed to the Norwegian Sea island of Jan Mayen alongside Norwegian forces and U.S. Marines for Operation Atlantic City, part of NATO's Arctic Sentry activity.aSep 5 · UK MoDCaribbean fisheries.
Japan sent a vice-foreign-minister to Grenada for the first East Caribbean ministerial meeting on sustainable marine resources in two years, with seven regional states attending.bSep 3–5 · Japan MoFADisarmament fellowship.
Twenty-four young diplomats toured Nagasaki, Hiroshima and Tokyo under the United Nations Disarmament Fellowship, hearing testimony from two atomic-bomb survivors.cAug 31–Sep 5 · Japan MoFA
Voices
“The future of airpower is a partnership between our greatest assets: our skilled warfighters and the technology that empowers them.”
Maj. Daniel Pesich, Experimental Operations Unit · Sep 63
“This Department of Justice is working to eliminate bureaucratic burdens while still preserving the integrity of Second Request investigations, which are aimed at protecting American consumers and affordability.”
Assoc. Att'y Gen. Stanley E. Woodward Jr. · Sep 44
“The Bureau of Land Management is proposing to streamline its decision-making process for authorizing the construction and operation of qualifying oil and gas production sites.”
BLM proposed rule, National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska · Sep 41
“Because no domestic party responded to the sunset review notice of initiation by the applicable deadline… Commerce is revoking the [antidumping and countervailing duty] orders on lawn mowers from China.”
Commerce Dept. sunset-review determination · Sep 42
“State antitrust enforcers can play an important role in merger enforcement in local markets in which potential harm is limited to a single state.”
DAAG G. Charles Beller, DOJ Antitrust · Sep 49
“[The Commission] proposes to expand opportunities for direct-to-device communications by permitting certain unlicensed devices to communicate with satellites on a non-interference basis.”
FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking · Sep 46
Sources
- Federal Register, “National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Production Site Development” (Bureau of Land Management, proposed rule), September 8, 2026 issue. federalregister.gov/…/npr-a-production-site-development
- U.S. Dept. of Commerce, “Certain Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers and Parts Thereof From the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Final Results of Sunset Review and Revocation of Orders,” September 8, 2026 issue. federalregister.gov/…/lawn-mowers-china-vietnam-revocation
- U.S. Air Force, “F-15EX returns to Pacific,” Air Force News Service. af.mil/News/…/f-15ex-returns-to-pacific
- U.S. Dept. of Justice, “Justice Department Resumes Targeted HSR Merger Review Process.” justice.gov/opa/pr/…/targeted-hsr-merger-review
- U.S. Air Force, “Three nations, one force: Allied integration makes the operational world smaller,” Air Force News Service. af.mil/News/…/three-nations-one-force
- Federal Register, “Unleashing Unlicensed Spectrum for Direct-to-Device” (Federal Communications Commission, notice of proposed rulemaking), September 8, 2026 issue. federalregister.gov/…/unlicensed-spectrum-direct-to-device
- Federal Register, “Clearing Requirement Determination Under Section 2(h) of the Commodity Exchange Act for Interest Rate Swaps To Account for CAD and MXN Interest Rate Benchmark Transitions” (CFTC, final rule), September 8, 2026 issue. federalregister.gov/…/cad-mxn-swap-clearing-requirement
- Federal Register, “Car Loan Interest Deduction” (Internal Revenue Service, final regulations), September 8, 2026 issue. federalregister.gov/…/car-loan-interest-deduction
- U.S. Dept. of Justice, “Justice Department Partners with Tennessee Attorney General to Preserve Competition for Asphalt in Western Tennessee.” justice.gov/opa/pr/…/tennessee-asphalt-competition
- UK Ministry of Defence, “UK forces join trilateral Arctic exercise in strategic High North operation,” September 5, 2026. gov.uk/government/news/…/trilateral-arctic-exercise
- Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs SHIMADA's attendance at the East Caribbean Ministerial Meeting on Sustainable Use of Living Marine Resources (September 3 to 5, 2026).” mofa.go.jp/press/release/…/east-caribbean-ministerial
- Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “2026 United Nations Disarmament Fellowship Program (Study Visit to Japan).” mofa.go.jp/press/release/…/un-disarmament-fellowship