OMB Approves FCC Satellite Spectrum NPRM

 Yesteday, the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had approved a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on “Satellite Spectrum Abundance (SB Docket No. 25-180)”. The NPRM was sent to the FCC yesterday.  

While this rulemaking was not published in the Spring 2025 Unified Agenda, the FCC does have an explanatory document that describes the proposed rulemaking. According to that document: 

“The satellite industry is delivering a new wave of innovation and investment as demand for high-speed connectivity skyrockets thanks to streaming, cloud services, global connectivity initiatives, and emerging AI applications. With major investment in the ecosystem and next-generation satellite systems promising faster, more reliable, and lower-latency service, having abundant satellite spectrum is more critical than ever. To ensure U.S. leadership in this rapidly evolving sector and to keep pace with global developments, the Commission is committed to achieving spectrum abundance for the growing competitive ecosystem of existing and emerging satellite services. We initiate these proceedings to explore opportunities to make over 20,000 megahertz of spectrum available for satellite use across four bands.” 

This rulemaking will be covered under the limited Space Geek coverage on this blog, with notification of its publication in the appropriate Short Takes post. 

APHIS Sends Biotechnology RFI to OMB

On Monday, the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had received a request for information (RFI) notice from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on “Regulation of Biotechnology”. This RFI was not listed in the Spring 2025 Unified Agenda, but most RFI’s are not listed.  

Since much of the ‘technology’ in biotechnology manufacturing is identical to that used in chemical manufacturing, I would expect to cover biotechnology manufacturing issues and regulations in this blog. 

Review – HR 7390 Introduced - SELF DRIVE Act

Last month Rep Latta (R,OH) introduced HR 7390, the Safely Ensuring Lives Future Deployment and Research In Vehicle Evolution (SELF DRIVE) Act of 2026. The bill would require the establishment of motor vehicle safety standards for automated driving systems. No new funding is authorized.

I could find no legislation in the 118^th Congress that would appear to be similar to HR 7390, but there was a similarly titled bill (HR 3711) introduced in the 117th Congress by Latta, but it was substantially different from this bill. No action was taken in the House on the earlier bill.

The bill would add two new sections to 49 USC Chapter 301:

§30130. Motor vehicle safety standards for automated driving systems, and

§30131. National Automated Vehicle Safety Data Repository

The proposed §30130 includes cybersecurity requirements.

Moving Forward

On February 10^th, 2026 the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade of the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a business meeting where HR 7390 was considered. Three amendments were offered and withdrawn. The Subcommittee voted 12 to 11 to refer the bill favorably to the full Committee.

 

For more information about the cybersecurity provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-7390-introduced-self-drive-act - subscription required.

Review – Public ICS Disclosures – Week of 3-21-26 – Part 2

For Part 2 we have nine additional vendor disclosures from Siemens, Supermicro, TP-Link (4), WatchGuard (2), and Yokogawa. Finally, we have a vendor update from FortiGuard.

Advisories

Siemens Advisory - Siemens published an advisory that describes two vulnerabilities in their SICAM 8 products.

Supermicro Advisory - Supermicro published an advisory that discusses nine vulnerabilities in multiple Supermicro product lines.

TP-Link Advisory #1 - TP-Link published an advisory that describes a clear-text storage of sensitive information vulnerability in their TL-WR850N wireless router.

TP-Link Advisory #2 - TP-Link published an advisory that describes an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in their TL-WR841N wireless router.

TP-Link Advisory #3 - TP-Link published an advisory that describes an improper input validation vulnerability in their TD-W8961N wireless modem-router.

TP-Link Advisory #4 - TP-Link published an advisory that describes four vulnerabilities in their Archer NX series gigabit wireless routers.

WatchGuard Advisory #1 - WatchGuard published an advisory that describes a deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability in their Fireware OS products.

WatchGuard Advisory #2 - WatchGuard published an advisory that describes a cross-site request forgery vulnerability in their Fireware OS WebUI.

Yokogawa Advisory - Yokogawa published an advisory that describes a use of hard-coded password vulnerability in their CENTUM VP products.

Updates

FortiGuard Update - FortiGuard published an update for their vmimages update feature advisory that was originally published on March 10^th, 2026.

 

For more information on these disclosures, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/public-ics-disclosures-week-of-3-a57 - subscription required.

House Reamended and Repassed HR 7147 – FY 2026 DHS Spending

Friday, after receiving the amended version of HR 7147, the FY 2026 DHS spending bill, from the Senate, the House took up H Res 1142 - Providing for disposition of the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 7147) making further consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, and for other purposes. That resolution was very short:

“Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution, the House shall be considered to have taken from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 7147) making further consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, and for other purposes, with the Senate amendment thereto, and to have concurred in the Senate amendment with an amendment consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 119–21.”

The resulting House amended version of HR 7147, would extend the lapsed continuing resolution (PL 119-37) through May 22nd, 2026.

After almost two hours of debate the House approved H Res 1142 by a near party-line vote of 213 to 203. Three Democrats and one Independent voted with the Republicans on the resolution. The further amended version of HR 7147 now goes back to the Senate.

The Senate is not scheduled to return to Washington until April 13^th, 2026. In my opinion, there is not much chance that the Senate will agree to the House amendment. It will be interesting to see if they ask the House to go to conference on the bill.

Chemical Incident Reporting – Week of 3-21-26

NOTE: See here for series background.

Beachwood, OH – 3-19-26

Local News Report: Here and here.

There was a medical clinic that was evacuated due to an unidentified odor. Oxygen levels tested as low. While some workers felt ill, there were no hospitalizations reported.

Not CSB reportable.

Port Arthur, TX – 3-23-26

Local News Report: Here, here, and here.

There was an explosion and fire at an oil refinery. A shelter-in-place order was issued for nearby residents. No injuries or fatalities were reported.

Possible CSB reportable.

Berlin, NJ – 3-26-26

Local News Report: Here, here, and here.

There was a gas pipeline leak that caused  highway closure. No fires, injuries, or deaths were reported.

Not CSB reportable, transportation incident.

Spartanburg, SC – 3-26-26

Local News Report: Here and here.

There was a rail car pressurization event at a chemical manufacturing facility. Flaring was used to relieve the excessive pressure in the railcar. No injuries were reported.

 

Not CSB reportable.

HR 7147 Amended and Passed in Senate – FY 2026 DHS Spending

Late Thursday night (actually 2:17 am Friday) the Senate bypassed all of the previous attempts to close debate on proceeding to consideration of HR 7147, the FY 2026 DHS spending bill, and began consideration of the bill (pg S1660) under unanimous consent. The Senate took up Thune amendment SA 4790, which was substitute language that removed the section dealing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), thus removing funding for that agency from the bill. The amended language and then the amended bill were then adopted by voice vote. Of course, ICE has continued functioning and paying their personnel during the DHS shutdown from monies authorized by the “Big Beautiful Bill”.

Passed by ‘voice vote’ is normally an indication of broad, bipartisan support, as would the consideration of the measure under unanimous consent. But, this bill was ‘considered’ late at night and reporting by Andrew Desiderio of Punchbowl.news noted that there were only five Senators present on the Senate floor when the vote was cast; Sen Thune (R,SD), Sen Schmidt (R,MO), Sen Moreno (R,OH; presiding), Sen Schatz (D,HI), and Sen Kim (D,NJ). So, while there was technically bipartisan support for the measure, there are legitimate questions about how widespread that support extended in both parties.

More on subsequent action in the House in a separate post.