AV STEP Withdrawal and the ADS Rulemaking Agenda
Published
Proposal withdrawn; separate rulemaking announced. Law checked through October 18, 2026.
Penelope wove a shroud by day and unwove it by night, and the suitors waited. Federal automated-vehicle policy has had its own loom. A program is proposed, the comments arrive, and the work is taken apart and begun again in another form.
On January 15, 2025, NHTSA proposed the ADS-Equipped Vehicle Safety, Transparency, and Evaluation Program, known as AV STEP (90 FR 4130, Docket NHTSA-2024-0100). It was voluntary: participating companies would have submitted information and accepted oversight in exchange for a structured pathway. On June 26, 2026, the agency withdrew it (91 FR 38619). The notice recorded that industry comments suggested participation "would have been minimal," that safety advocates thought a voluntary program "would not offer a sufficiently comprehensive regulatory tool," and that "the goals of AV STEP will be better served by other initiatives." It pointed to the agency's expanded exemption programs and its pending guidance for General Exemptions.
A second path runs alongside, and it would be mandatory. NHTSA's July 31, 2026 notice (91 FR 48485, Docket NHTSA-2026-1552) states that on March 10, 2026, the agency "announced the commencement of a rulemaking process to establish performance requirements for ADS," expected to lead to one or more Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. The same notice sought comment on interim guidance for General Exemptions under 49 U.S.C. § 30113, describing initial exemption terms followed by operational authorizations that can be modified over time.
For Texas, the federal shape matters because the state borrowed it. Transportation Code § 545.455 (renumbered from § 545.454 in 2025) requires an automated vehicle operating on Texas highways to carry an automated driving system that complies with applicable federal law and federal motor vehicle safety standards. When federal standards for ADS arrive, they will enter Texas law through that provision.
Limits
NHTSA's September 2026 report to Congress on ADS research and rulemaking lists no proposed ADS performance standard. The March 2026 announcement began a process; it did not set a requirement.
Sources
- NHTSA, 90 FR 4130 (Jan. 15, 2025)
- 91 FR 38619 (June 26, 2026)
- 91 FR 48485 (July 31, 2026)
- NHTSA Report to Congress on ADS Rulemaking (Sept. 2026)
- 49 U.S.C. § 30113
- Tex. Transp. Code § 545.455