NIH, NPS, and USPS Actions Span Grant Review, Bike Trail Rules, and Ballot Mail Privacy

NIH Closes Grant Review and Intramural Evaluation Meetings

The National Institutes of Health Center for Scientific Review (CSR) announced a series of closed virtual meetings scheduled across October 2026 to review and evaluate grant applications. The meetings will be closed to the public pursuant to sections 552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6) of Title 5 U.S.C., as amended, on the grounds that grant application discussions could disclose confidential trade secrets or commercial property such as patentable material, and personal information concerning individuals associated with the grant applications, the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

The four CSR study sections convening are: the Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disorders Study Section (Brain Disorders and Clinical Neuroscience Integrated Review Group), meeting October 6–7, 2026, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; the Health Promotion in Communities Study Section (Social and Community Influences on Health Integrated Review Group), meeting October 13–14, 2026, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; the Skin and Connective Tissue Sciences Study Section (Musculoskeletal, Oral and Skin Sciences Integrated Review Group), meeting October 13–14, 2026, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; and the Translational Immuno-oncology Study Section TIO (Oncology 2--Translational Clinical Integrated Review Group), meeting October 15–16, 2026, 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. A fifth session, the Maximizing Investigators' Research Award--E Study Section (Biological Chemistry and Macromolecular Biophysics Integrated Review Group), is also scheduled for October 15–16, 2026, running 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. All meetings are virtual and addressed to National Institutes of Health, Rockledge II, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892.

Separately, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) announced a closed virtual meeting of its Board of Scientific Counselors on September 28–29, 2026, 9:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., at the NIH NIAAA facility at 6700B Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, MD 20817. The meeting's agenda is to review and evaluate personnel qualifications and performance, and the competence of individual investigators conducting intramural programs and projects. The meeting is closed under section 552b(c)(6) of Title 5 U.S.C. because the discussions would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

NPS Proposes to Streamline Bicycle-Use Designations in Park Areas

The National Park Service (NPS) published a proposed rule that would modify procedural requirements in existing NPS regulations — specifically 36 CFR 4 — governing the designation of roads and trails for bicycle use within park areas. According to the notice, the NPS administers the National Park System of more than 400 areas and sites, and bicycling is the most popular form of active recreation within the National Park System after hiking and walking, based on 2024 Socioeconomic Research of National Park Service Visitors data. The NPS states that the proposed changes would align NPS regulations with applicable Federal law and policy, remove unnecessary requirements, and ensure public involvement when needed, and would allow the NPS to manage its resources and allocate taxpayer funds more efficiently while streamlining the approval of new and expanded opportunities for use and enjoyment of park areas.

The rule's stated rationale is grounded in two executive orders. On February 19, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14219, directing agency heads to identify regulations based on anything other than the best reading of the underlying statutory authority. On July 3, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14314, directing the Secretary of the Interior to review all of the Department's recreation access rules and take steps to rescind any that unnecessarily restrict recreation in national parks.

The document identifies a specific conflict in existing regulations at 36 CFR 4.30: those rules require the NPS to prepare an environmental assessment (EA) or an environmental impact statement (EIS) for bicycle-related actions — including designation of existing trails that require no construction or significant modification — whether or not an EA or EIS would be required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The existing regulations do not allow the NPS to use categorical exclusions, which the notice describes as classes of actions that a Federal agency has determined do not have a significant effect on the human environment and therefore do not need to be evaluated in an EA or EIS, and which are a valid compliance pathway under NEPA. The proposed rule would address this conflict. Comments on the proposed rule must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on November 2, 2026.

The notice also addresses the role of e-bikes. The agency states that e-bikes reduce the physical demands of operating a bicycle and therefore expand opportunities for recreation and access, particularly for those with limitations stemming from age, illness, disability or fitness, and in more challenging environments such as high altitudes or hilly terrain.

USPS Activates Federal Ballot Mail System of Records

The United States Postal Service (USPS) responded to public comments and confirmed that a new General Privacy Act System of Records — USPS 820.225, Federal Ballot Mail — is now effective as of the September 1, 2026 publication date, consistent with the condition that the SOR become effective upon publication of the Postal Service's responses to comments received, which is more than 30 days from July 17, 2026, the publication date of the original SOR notice.

The new SOR was created to maintain a list of individuals, each individual's address, the unique Intelligent Mail barcodes printed on each individual's outbound and return ballot envelope for a federal election, and the state or political subdivision thereof that issued such ballot, for inclusion on a state's Mail-in and Absentee Participation List. The USPS states that the SOR coincides with the Final Rule amending the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) regarding the transmission of mail-in or absentee ballots for federal elections, published as Ballot Mail for Federal Elections, 91 FR 54966 (August 26, 2026).

The notice addresses several categories of public comment. In response to a question raised by the State of Utah, a coalition of 24 state attorneys general, and other commenters about whether the new DMM section usurps state authority over elections, the Postal Service answered no, stating that the rule does not recast the Postal Service as an election administrator and does not dictate the manner of elections in the states. The agency states that states maintain complete control over their own voter registration rolls and retain complete autonomy to determine the extent to which they utilize the postal system as an aspect of their elections, and that the new DMM language does not involve or authorize inspection of a mail-in ballot's contents, review of individual voters' eligibility, or auditing of state voter rolls, focusing instead exclusively on exterior mailpiece criteria and barcode scan data. In response to a question about whether Executive Order 14399 provides authority for the new DMM section, the Postal Service answered no, stating it relied on existing statutory authority — specifically 39 U.S.C. 401(2) — to promulgate the Final Rule, though it noted the Executive Order was relevant to the Postal Service's consideration of this subject and began the deliberative process. There will be no changes to the new system of records in light of public comments received.

What to Watch

• September 28–29, 2026: NIAAA Board of Scientific Counselors closed virtual meeting on intramural investigator performance.
• October 6–7, 2026: CSR Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disorders Study Section closed virtual meeting.
• October 13–14, 2026: CSR Health Promotion in Communities and Skin and Connective Tissue Sciences Study Section meetings.
• October 15–16, 2026: CSR Translational Immuno-oncology and Maximizing Investigators' Research Award--E Study Section meetings.
• November 2, 2026, 11:59 p.m. ET: Deadline for public comments on the NPS proposed rule on bicycle use in park areas (36 CFR 4).

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