House NASA Budget Request Hearing – 4-22-26

 Yesterday, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee added a hearing to be held today on “A Review of the President’s Budget Request for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for Fiscal Year 2027”. The sole witness was NASA Administrator Isaacman (statement here). 

It is interesting to note that the opening statements from both Chair Babin and Ranking Member Lofgren expressed concerns about cuts proposed in the President’s FY 2027 budget request. A video of the hearing is available here. 

Short Takes – 4-22-26 - Federal Register Edition

 Hazardous Materials: Notice of Public Meetings in 2026 for International Standards on the Transport of Dangerous Goods. Federal Register PHMSA meeting notice. Summary: “This notice announces that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Office of Hazardous Materials Safety (OHMS) will host three public meetings during 2026 in advance of certain international meetings. The first meeting will be held in preparation for the 68th session of the United Nations Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (UNSCOE TDG) scheduled for June 29 to July 8, 2026, in Geneva, Switzerland. The second meeting will be held in preparation for the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) Dangerous Goods Panel (DGP) Working Group 26 (WG/26) tentatively scheduled for October 2026 in Montreal, Canada. The third meeting will be held in preparation for the 69th session of the UNSCOE TDG scheduled for November 23 to December 1, 2026, in Geneva, Switzerland. For each of these meetings, PHMSA will solicit public input on current proposals.” 

Notice of Availability of the Draft Section 9.0 Security Program for Hydropower Guidance and Request for Comments. Federal Register FERC notice of availability. Summary: “The staff of the Office of Energy Projects (OEP) has revised Section 9.0 of its Security Program for Hydropower Guidance (Guidance) to modernize the Commission's existing guidance for cybersecurity practices at licensed projects. The Section 9.0 revisions reflect technological advancements and lessons learned through recent inspections and audits. The revised Section 9.0 Guidance updates definitions, applicability criteria, and the technical measures used to evaluate and protect cyber and control-system assets. The staff is asking for public input and suggestions for modifications to the Section 9.0 revisions of the Guidance from hydropower owners and operators, federal and state agencies, and other interested parties with expertise in the implementation of cybersecurity practices. The more specific your comments, the more useful they will be. Please note that this comment period will close on Monday, May 18, 2026, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.” 

National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production Facilities and Natural Gas Transmission and Storage Facilities; Technology Review and Reconsideration. Federal Register EPA notice of proposed rulemaking. Summary: “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing an action related to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) from Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production Facilities and from Natural Gas Transmission and Storage Facilities (Oil and Gas NESHAP) in connection with a technology review pursuant to Clean Air Act (CAA) section 112. Based on the EPA's review the Agency is not proposing any revision to the current standards in the NESHAP. With respect to unregulated pollutants, the EPA is proposing standards for methanol from regulated emission points at crude oil and natural gas production facilities that will result in no additional control requirements. The EPA is further proposing two alternative approaches to emission points not currently regulated in these NESHAP. Under the first approach, we are proposing that the Agency does not have an obligation to regulate previously unregulated emission points when conducting a CAA section 112(d)(6) review and to defer action on that basis. Under the second approach, we are proposing new control standards for previously unregulated emission points, which include: acid gas removal units, transport vessel loading operations, and storage vessels without flash emissions at crude oil and natural gas production facilities, as well as storage vessels, transport vessel loading and natural gas-driven process controllers and pumps at natural gas transmission and storage facilities.” 

Space Geek Entries 

Flight Analog Projects (FAP) Crew Selection Questionnaire. Federal Register NASA 30-day ICR renewal notice. 

Space Launch and Reentry Licensing and Permitting User Fees. Federal Register FAA policy statement. 

Executive Orders  

EO 14401 – Accelerating Medical Treatments for Serious Mental Illness. Federal Register. 

Review – Bills Introduced – 4-21-26

 Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in Washington, there were 59 bills introduced. Three of those bills may receive additional coverage in this blog: 

HR 8407 To direct the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology to establish a Commission on Hazard Risk Assessment Tools, and for other purposes. Franklin, Scott [Rep.-R-FL-18] 

HR 8410 To direct the Secretary of Transportation to apply certain requirements to centralized computer-aided train-dispatching systems and centralized traffic control boards. Gillen, Laura [Rep.-D-NY-4] 

HR 8417 To amend title 49, United States Code, to require all railroad freight cars operating on the United States general railroad system of transportation to meet certain manufacturing and content requirements, and for other purposes. Moolenaar, John R. [Rep.-R-MI-2] 

For more information on these bills, including legislative history for similar bills in the 118th Congress, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/bills-introduced-4-21-26 - subscription required. 

Review – 12 Advisories Published – 4-21-26

Today CISA’s NCCIC-ICS published 12 control system security advisories for products from SenseLive, Silex Technology, Zero Motorcycle, Hardy Barth, Siemens (8). I briefly mentioned the eight Siemens advisories on Saturday. 

Advisories  SenseLive Advisory - This advisory describes 11 vulnerabilities in the SenseLive X3050 industrial serial device server. 

Silex Advisory - This advisory describes 13 vulnerabilities in the SD-330AC and AMC Manager. 

Zero Motorcycles Advisory - This advisory describes a key exchange without entity authentication vulnerability in Zero Motorcycles. 

Hardy Barth Advisory - This advisory describes two vulnerabilities (both with publicly available exploits) in the Hardy Barth Salia EV Charge Controller.  

Siemens Advisory #1 - This advisory describes an authentication bypass by primary weakness vulnerability in the Siemens Industrial Edge Management products. 

Siemens Advisory #2 - This advisory describes an authorization bypass through user-controlled key vulnerability in the Siemens SINEC NMS network traffic monitoring software. 

Siemens Advisory #3 - This advisory discusses a numeric truncation error vulnerability in the Siemens RUGGEDCOM CROSSBOW Station Access Controller. 

Siemens Advisory #4 - This advisory discusses 15 vulnerabilities in the Siemens SCALANCE W-700 IEEE 802.11n family. 

Siemens Advisory #5 - This advisory describes an improper certificate validation vulnerability in the Siemens Analytics Toolkit. 

Siemens Advisory #6 - This advisory describes an improper verification of cryptographic signature vulnerability in the Siemens SINEC NMS network traffic monitoring software. 

Siemens Advisory #7 - This advisory describes an incorrect privilege management vulnerability in the Siemens RUGGEDCOM CROSSBOW Secure Access Manager Primary. 

Siemens Advisory #8 - This advisory discusses an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in the Siemens TPM 2.0 implementation in multiple Siemens products. 

For more information on these advisories, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/12-advisories-published-4-21-26 - subscription required.