Review - S 5313 Introduced – FERC Quantum Cybersecurity

Last week, Sen Coons (D,DE) introduced S 5313, the Quantum Grid Utility Assurance and Resilient Defense (Quantum-GUARD) Act of 2026. The bill would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to consider cybersecurity risks from quantum computers in any future reliability-standards setting actions. It would also require DOE to establish a PQC sandbox. No new funding is authorized by this legislation. 

Moving Forward  

Neither Coons, nor his sole cosponsor {Sen Rounds (R,SD)} are members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there will not likely be sufficient influence to see the bill considered by the Committee. I see nothing in the language that would engender organized opposition. I suspect that there would be some level of bipartisan support for the bill. Unfortunately, this bill is not politically significant enough to justify the time necessary to consider it under regular order, especially in the short time left in the 119th Congress. 

Commentary  

This bill is not normally something that would be considered in this blog. But, having said that, I am interested in the definition of the term ‘operational technology’ proposed in Section 2. While S 5313 is targeted at control of the electric grid, the crafters of this definition felt it necessary to specifically include “industrial control systems, building management systems, fire control systems, and physical access control mechanisms” in the definition. It is almost as if they were intending to use this bill to establish this definition in US Code for some reason. I do not think that that is likely to happen with this bill, but the definition is almost good enough to be a broadly applicable cybersecurity definition. 

For more information on the provisions of this legislation, including providing changes to the OT definintion to make it more broadly applicable, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-5313-introduced-ferc-quantum-cybersecurity - subscription required. A copy will be emailed to free subscribers tomorrow. 

Short Takes – 8-14-26 - Federal Register Edition

Information Collection Requests  

Information Collection; Generic Clearance for NASA Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing Projects. NASA 60-day ICR renewal notice. Summary: “Citizen science and crowdsourcing can support NASA's mission and purpose by providing new opportunities to explore our solar system and our own home planet like never before, producing critical data that expands our knowledge of the universe, and advancing our ability to provide societal benefit through the synergy of satellite and ground-based observations.” 

Rulemakings 

3Streamlining Export Controls for Drone Exports. BIS final rule. Summary: “The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is easing export controls on certain Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs or drones) and related parts, components, accessories, attachments, technology, and software under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Specifically, this rule: eliminates wind gust tolerance as a parameter for determining UAV controls under the EAR; increases the threshold for national security controls on certain UAVs from an endurance of 30 minutes to an endurance of 3 hours; makes conforming changes to remove national security controls on software and technology associated with UAVs with an endurance less than 3 hours; maintains military end-use and end-user controls on those lower endurance drones and associated software and technology; clarifies Commerce Control List (CCL) controls for certain UAVs specially designed for military use; and removes national security controls on certain specially designed parts, components, accessories, and attachments for such UAVs as they do not provide any significant military or intelligence capabilities.” 

Executive Orders  

EO 14420 - Delivering Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations for Americans. 

Regulatory Agenda  

Today, each major organization in the Executive Branch published their unique regulatory agendas based upon the recently published 2026 Unified Agenda. Whereas the Unified Agenda lists every rulemaking that each agency plans on working on during the next year, the Regulatory Agenda lists each rulemaking that the agencies intend to prioritize for completing the next phase of rulemaking during the next year. The overall regulatory agenda for the executive branch can be found in the Regulatory Information Service Center entry in today’s Federal Register. That entry provides a detailed discussion about the purpose of the Unified Agenda , a caveat about the accuracy of dates, and a description of how Unified Agenda entries are organized. 

Regulatory Agenda entries of potential interest here include:  

• Commerce Department, 
• Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, 
• Energy Department,  
• Environmental Protection Agency,  
• Federal Communications Commission,  
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,  
• Homeland Security Department,  
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and  
• Transportation Department. 

CSB Publishes Update for Catalyst Refiners Hydrogen Sulfide Release – 8-13-26

 Yesterday, the Chemical Safety Board announced the publication of an update on their investigation of the April 22nd, 2026, fatal hydrogen sulfide release at the Catalyst Refiners facility in Institute, West Virginia. That incident killed two and seriously injured four others during decommissioning activities at the facility. Three incompatible chemicals were sequentially added to the wastewater processing tank, resulting in a chemical reaction that produced the toxic hydrogen sulfide gas. 

The update provides background information on the facility operations at the time of the incident, a description of the incident timeline, and information on the facilities personal protective measures policies at the time of the incident. The report closes with the following list of investigatory items remaining to be resolved: 

• “Analysis of onsite chemicals 
• “Decommissioning hazard analysis 
• “Use of personal protective equipment 
• “Corporate governance and oversight” 

Chemical Transportation Incidents – Week of 7-11-26

Reporting Background 

See this post for explanation, with the most recent update here (removed from paywall). 

Data from PHMSA’s online database of transportation related chemical incidents that have been reported to the agency. 

Incidents Summary  

• Number of incidents – 635 (604 highway, 25 air, 6 rail, 0 water) 
• Serious incidents – 3 (2 Bulk release, 2 evacuation, 0 injury, 0 death, 0 major artery closed, 2 fire/explosion, 39 no release)  
• Largest container involved – 30,500-gal Railcar {Alcohols, N.O.S.} Loose manway bolts. 
• Largest amount spilled – 120-gal Plastic IBC {Zinc Chloride, Solution} Forklift strike. 
• Total amount reported spilled in all incidents – 1903.8-gal 

NOTE: Links above are to Form 5800.1 for the incident described. 

Most Interesting Chemical: 2-Bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol: White crystals. Ignite easily and burn readily. May detonate under strong shock. Decomposes when heated, evolving toxic gases. Toxic by skin absorption, inhalation, or ingestion. (Source: CameoChemicals.NOAA.gov).