Federal Rules Open for Comment – September 29, 2026

Transcript

Narrated by an AI presenter with a synthetic voice. Check the official documents for current dates and details.

Welcome back to Federal Register Daily, our community for tracking federal rules and making your voice heard. It's Tuesday, September 29, 2026. Today we've got three final actions from Medicare, Education, and EPA, plus four rules where the comment window is closing fast: mine safety proposals from MSHA closing tomorrow, a CFTC privacy rule closing Thursday, and a Forest Service roadless area proposal open through next week. If you're new here, hit subscribe, we do this every weekday. Let's get into it.

First up, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published a correction to its big Fiscal Year 2027 hospital payment rule. This is a final rule correction, so there's no new comment period. CMS says it made technical errors in the rule it finalized back in August, things like a wrong ICD-10 procedure code count and mistakenly treating one hospital as if it had converted to rural emergency hospital status, which threw off wage index and payment calculations. The correction restores that hospital's data and recalculates wage indexes, budget neutrality factors, and payment rates across the board. It takes effect October first, alongside the rest of the FY 2027 rates. This mainly affects acute care and long-term care hospitals that bill Medicare, since it changes how much they'll actually get paid starting next week.

Quick recap: CMS corrected technical errors in its FY 2027 hospital payment rule, including restoring one hospital's data; the fix takes effect October first, and there's no comment period.

Next, the Department of Education finalized a rule repealing its 2024 Title IX regulations and restoring the rules that existed before that rulemaking. This is a final rule, effective today, so there's no comment period open. The Department says the 2024 rule was struck down by courts and hasn't been enforced in over a year and a half, so it's updating the Code of Federal Regulations to match what's actually being enforced, the 2020 Title IX rule. The Department made a few small tweaks rather than a word for word restoration, mostly removing outdated deadlines and a court vacated sentence about cross examination. This affects schools, colleges, and any institution that receives federal education funding, along with students and parents trying to understand which Title IX rules apply to them right now.

Quick recap: Education repealed the 2024 Title IX rule and restored the prior regulations to match what's actually enforced; it's a final rule with no comment period.

Our third story: the EPA finalized a new pesticide tolerance for sodium salt of acifluorfen, an herbicide, allowing residue on sugar beet. This is a final rule, requested by manufacturer UPL NA, and it's effective today. There's no public comment period on tolerance rules like this one, though anyone can file a formal objection or request a hearing through November 30th if they think the science is wrong. The EPA says it reviewed the safety data and found reasonable certainty of no harm from the residue levels it's setting, including for infants and children. This mainly affects sugar beet growers, food manufacturers, and pesticide makers who need to know the legal limit for this chemical on their crops.

Quick recap: EPA set a new pesticide residue limit for sodium salt of acifluorfen on sugar beet; it's final, with only a formal objection window through November 30th, not a public comment period.

Closing soon: MSHA's proposal on ventilation plan approval criteria. It would strip mine district managers of their authority to require extra provisions in ventilation control plans. MSHA reopened the comment period after industry and labor asked for a hearing, and held one earlier this month. If you work in or around underground mines, this is your chance to weigh in. Comments are due by 11:59 PM Eastern on September 30th, that's tomorrow. The link is in the description.

Quick recap: MSHA's ventilation plan rule would remove district managers' authority to add extra plan requirements; comments close September 30th.

Closing soon: a companion MSHA proposal on roof control plan approval criteria. It would eliminate the district manager's authority to require additional roof control measures beyond the base standard. Like the ventilation rule, this one reopened for comments after a hearing request, with a virtual hearing held in September. If you're in mine safety, labor, or management, now's the time to speak up. Comments are due by 11:59 PM Eastern on September 30th, that's tomorrow. The link is in the description.

Quick recap: MSHA's roof control rule would remove district managers' power to require extra safety measures; comments close September 30th.

Closing soon: the Commodity Futures Trading Commission wants to exempt its Insider Risk Program records from certain Privacy Act protections, things like access and amendment rights, to protect ongoing investigations. The Commission reopened comments for ten extra days after a technical glitch kept people from submitting through Regulations dot gov. If you care about how the government handles insider threat investigations and privacy rights, comments are due by October first, this Thursday. The link is in the description.

Quick recap: CFTC wants to exempt its insider risk records from parts of the Privacy Act; reopened comments close October first.

Closing soon: the Forest Service's proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which has protected millions of acres of national forest from new road building for over two decades. The agency extended the comment period to give people more time to review the proposal and its environmental review. If you hike, hunt, log, or just care about how national forests are managed, this is a big one to weigh in on. Comments are now due by October sixth. The link is in the description.

Quick recap: The Forest Service wants to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule protecting national forest land from new roads; comments close October sixth.

That's it for today. Thanks for spending part of your day with this community. If any of these rules affect you, your workplace, your school, or your public lands, please share this video with someone who needs to see it. All the comment links are in the description. If you've never written a public comment, our book, How to Comment on Federal Rules, walks you through it step by step, and the link is in the description. Got a rule you want us to cover? Tell us at FedReg Intel dot com. Subscribe so you don't miss tomorrow's deadlines, and we'll see you then.