OMB Approves ASPMB Hazardous Substances Final Rule

Yesterday, the OMB announced that it had approved a final rule from the DOI’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget (AS-PMB) on “Natural Resource Damages for Hazardous Substances”. An advanced notice of proposed rulemaking was published on January 19th, 2023. The notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) was published on January 5th, 2024. This rulemaking would amend 43 CFR Part 11. 

According to the Spring 2025 Unified Agenda entry for this rulemaking:  

“This final rule updates the existing Type A Rule of the CERCLA Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) regulations so it can be used in different environments and include methodologies which are not technology specific.  Adjustments are made to the rebuttable presumption for Type A procedures which is currently limited to damages of $100,000 or less.” 

According to the preamble to the NPRM: 

“Since its promulgation, the Type A Rule has rarely been utilized to resolve CERCLA Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) claims. This may be partly due to the Type A Rule's restrictive scope—to two specific aquatic environments when relatively low-impact, single substance spills occur. Additionally, the model equation for each Type A environment is the functional part of the rule itself—with no provisions to reflect evolving toxicology, ecology, technology, or other scientific understanding without a formal amendment to the Type A Rule each time a parameter is modified. The result is an inefficient and inflexible rule that is not currently useful as a means to resolve NRDAR claims and promote natural resource restoration. For these reasons, the Department is now seeking to modernize the Type A process and develop a more flexible and enduring rule than what is provided by the two existing static models.” 

I do not expect to be covering this rulemaking in any detail, but I do plan on announcing its publication in the appropriate Short Takes post. 

Review – Bills Introduced – 6-16-26

Yesterday, with just the Senate in session, there were 14 bills introduced. One of those bills will receive additional coverage in this blog: 

S 4794 A bill to require the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Homeland Security to submit to Congress a report regarding cybersecurity in precision agriculture technologies, and for other purposes. Sheehy, Tim [Sen.-R-MT]    

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-6-16-26 - subscription required. 

Review – CSB Updates Accidental Chemical Release Reporting Data – 6-1-26

Yesterday the CSB updated their published list of reported chemical release incidents. They added 38 new incidents that occurred since the previous version was published in March 2026. These are not incidents that the CSB is investigating; these are incidents that were reported to the CSB under their Accidental Release Reporting rules (40 CFR 1604) through END DATE. 

The table below shows the top five states based upon the number of reported incidents since the December update was published. In this case, with the short time frame since the last update, these were the only states that had reported incident. 

For more information on the updated incident reporting data, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/csb-updates-accidental-chemical-release - subscription required. 

Short Takes – 6-16-26 - Federal Register Edition

4,4′-(1-Methylethylidene)bis[2,6-dibromophenol] (TBBPA) Risk Evaluation Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); Notice of Availability and Request for Comment. Federal Register EPA TSCA availability notice. Summary: “he Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is announcing the availability of and seeking public comment on the draft risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 4,4′-(1-Methylethylidene)bis[2,6-dibromophenol] (TBBPA). The purpose of risk evaluations under TSCA are to determine whether a chemical substance presents an unreasonable risk of injury to human health or the environment under the conditions of use (COUs), including unreasonable risk to potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations identified as relevant to the risk evaluation by EPA, and without consideration of costs or non-risk factors. EPA is seeking comment on the draft risk evaluation for TBBPA.” 

NASA Small Business Supplier Development Program (Formerly Known as the NASA Mentor-Protégé Program). Federal Register NASA 60-day ICR revision notice. Summary: “The purpose of the Program is to provide incentives to NASA prime contractors (mentors) to assist small businesses and other protégés to enhance their capabilities and increase their participation in NASA, other Government, and in commercial contracts and subcontracts. Under the Program, mentor-protégé agreements specify the assistance to be provided by the mentor and agreement milestones, as well as reporting requirements for the mentor and protégé firm. This information collection (i.e., reports submitted pursuant to mentor-protégé agreements) is required by NASA to monitor the performance and progress of both the mentor and the protégé in this developmental assistance program.” 

NASA International Space Apps Challenge Applications. Federal Register NASA 60-day new ICR notice. Summary: “This collection of information supports NASA's International Space Apps Challenge, an international hackathon for coders, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers, builders, technologists, and others, where teams can engage with NASA's free and open data to address challenges we face on Earth and in space. This collection consists of applications for individuals and organizations from around the world that want to support and participate in the NASA International Space Apps Challenge.” 

Hazardous Materials: Notice of Applications for New Special Permits. Federal Register PHMSA list of applications for special permits. Summary: “In accordance with the procedures governing the application for, and the processing of, special permits from the Department of Transportation's Hazardous Material Regulations, notice is hereby given that the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety has received the application described herein.” 

NOTE: Includes two permits for spacecraft in terrestrial transportation modes: 22302-N and 22304-N 

HR 9193 Introduced – Space Nuclear Power

Earlier this month, Rep Kennedy (R,UT) introduced HR 9193, the Powering the Future of American Space Dominance Act. The bill would require NASA to prepare reports to Congress on space nuclear propulsion, radioisotope heater and power units for lunar exploration, lunar exploration power demand requirements, and risk management approaches for commercial power partners. 

While nuclear propulsion is a subject for one for the NASA power reports, the main focus of this bill is power generation for long term lunar operations. With the first lunar base being planned for the next semi-decade, it seems just a little bit late for much of this, but NASA has (hopefully) been working on these topics for some time. This is more of an effort to have NASA comprehensively update Congress on what NASA will be requesting funding for in the next five to ten years. 

Review - HR 7696 Introduced – Grid Scale Testbed

Back in February, Resident Commissioner Hernandez (D,PR) introduced HR 7696, the AI Cyber Grid Protection Resilient Development Act of 2026. The bill would require CISA and DHS to establish a grant program to develop secure artificial intelligence (AI) cyber-physical testbeds to simulate grid-scale cyberattacks and train AI models safely. The bill would authorize $100 million per year through 2030 to fund the program. 

Moving Forward  

Hernandez is a member of the House Homeland Security Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered by the Committee. There will be substantial opposition to the amount of new funding authorized by this bill. More importantly, the Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will probably oppose this bill because it does not include that Committee in the consideration of what is at base an energy program. This is especially true since the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in conjunction with DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER), is already funding the Mjölnir AI Testbed which is already addressing these issues. 

For more information on the provisions of this bill, including a commentary suggesting cybersecurity requirements for the cyber-physical testbeds, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-7696-introduced-grid-scale-testbed - subscription required.