Brake Plus NWA, Inc. v. TRAN

── Brake Plus NWA, Inc. v. TRAN ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Date: May 18, 2026 Category: General United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 24-2951 ___________________________ Brake Plus NWA, Inc.; Williams & Lake, LLC Plaintiffs - Appellants v. United States Department of Transportation; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Defendants - Appellees ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas ____________ Submitted: September 17, 2025 Filed: May 18, 2026 ____________ Before BENTON, GRASZ, and KOBES, Circuit Judges. ____________ GRASZ, Circuit Judge. Brake Plus NWA, Inc. and Williams & Lake, LLC (together, the Distributors) sued the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The district court decided the matters at issue are not reviewable because they are not final agency action, so it dismissed the case sua sponte. We reverse and remand. I. Background For more than a decade, the Distributors have sold aftermarket electronic modules (Pulse Modules) that cause vehicles’ center high mounted stop lamps to rapidly brighten and dim four times, before remaining bright, when drivers activate their brakes. The Distributors only sell Pulse Modules to dealerships, rather than directly to individuals. On February 5, 2019, NHTSA issued an “Information Request” letter to Williams & Lake. This letter states NHTSA was investigating whether Pulse Modules render vehicles’ center high mounted stop lamps noncompliant with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 108’s “steady burning” requirement. FMVSS 108 requires all “stop lamps” — the lamps that give “a steady light to the rear of a vehicle to indicate a vehicle is stopping or diminishing speed by braking” — to be “steady burning.” 49 C.F.R. § 571.108 (2025). However, FMVSS 108 does not define “steady burning.” Additionally, Congress mandated in the Safety Act that “[a] manufacturer, distributor, dealer, rental company, or motor vehicle repair business may not knowingly make inoperative any part of a device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle . . . in compliance with an applicable motor vehicle safety standard . . . .” 49 U.S.C. § 30122(b). So if Pulse Modules render vehicles’ center high mounted stop lamps inoperative under FMVSS 108, the Distributors’ customers violate the Safety Act, and risk “a civil penalty of not more than $27,874,” every time they install a Module. 49 C.F.R. § 578.6(a)(1) (2025). After investigating for more than four years, NHTSA’s Acting Chief Counsel notified Williams & Lake, by letter dated July 26, 2023, that “Pulse [Modules] take[] -2- required stop lamps on motor vehicles out of compliance with Federal law.” In relevant part, NHTSA’s letter states: Pulsing stop lamps do not comply with Federal safety standards requiring steady burning stop lamps. FMVSS No. 108, Lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment, requires stop lamps, including the center high mounted stop lamp, to be “steady burning.” 49 C.F.R. § 571.108, Table 1-a. NHTSA has consistently explained in several decades of interpretations that pulsing is not steady burning.[] Pulse [Modules] cause[] a high-mounted stop lamp to dim and brighten, which is not a compliant, steady-burning lamp . . . .