Review – S 4794 Introduced – Ag Cybersecurity Report

Last month, Sen Sheehy (R,MT) introduced S 4794, the Precision Agriculture Cybersecurity Act. The bill would require two different reports to Congress on cybersecurity in precision agriculture technologies. No new spending is authorized. 

Moving Forward  

While Sheehy is not a member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration, his sole cosponsor, Sen Schiff (D,CA) is a member. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered by that Committee. Since this is a ‘report to Congress’ bill, I see nothing that would engender any organized opposition. I suspect that there would be significant bipartisan support for the bill if it were considered by the Committee.  

This bill is not politically important enough to be considered by the full Senate under regular order. It could possibly be considered under the unanimous consent process, but that process is fraught with potential opposition for unrelated political issues. The language from this bill could be added to a spending or authorization bill. 

For more information on the provisions of this bill, as well as suggestions for vulnerability disclosure language, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-4794-introduced-ag-cybersecurity - subscription required. 

Short Takes – 7-30-26 - Federal Register Editon

EPA  

Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; Facility Ground-Water Monitoring Requirements, EPA ICR No. 0959.18, OMB Control No. 2050-0033. EPA 60-day ICR renewal notice. Summary: “Owners or operators that conduct ground-water monitoring are required to report information to the oversight agencies on releases of contaminants and to maintain records of ground-water monitoring data at their facilities. The goal of the ground-water monitoring program is to prevent and quickly detect releases of hazardous contaminants to groundwater, and to establish a program whereby any contamination is expeditiously cleaned up as necessary to protect human health and environment.” 

1,1,2-Trichloroethane Draft Risk Evaluation Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); Notice of Availability and Request for Comment. EPA draft risk evaluation notice. Summary: “The 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 1,1,2-trichloroethane. The purpose of risk evaluations under TSCA is to determine whether a chemical substance presents an unreasonable risk of injury to 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 1,1,2-trichloroethane.” 

Space Geek  

Waiver of Specified Statutory Requirements for Commercial Space Launch and Reentry Actions. FAA notice of proposed rulemaking. Summary: “FAA proposes to amend its commercial space licensing regulations to streamline the licensing process and reduce regulatory burden for applicants. Specifically, FAA proposes to invoke the Secretary of Transportation's statutory authority to waive requirements of laws of the U.S. for a license or permit, after consultation with the head of the appropriate executive agency, when the requirement is not necessary to protect the public health and safety, safety of property, and national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. FAA proposes waiving requirements under 13 laws for commercial space licenses and permits to operate a launch site, licenses to operate a reentry site, experimental permits, and licenses to operate a launch or reentry vehicle.” 

UAS 

Notice of Availability of the Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment and FONSI/ROD. FAA notice of availability. Summary: “The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces the availability of the Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)/Record of Decision (ROD), following the FAA's evaluation of the potential environmental effects of its decision related to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) (drone) package delivery operations in the United States.” 

Executive Orders 

EO 14416 - Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian Institution – Federal Register. 

OMB Approves FCC Space Modernization Final Rule

Yesterday, the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had approved a final rule from the FCC on “Space Modernization for the 21st Century (SB Docket No. 25.306)”. The final rule was submitted to OIRA on July 27th, 2026. 

According to the 2026 Unified Agenda Entry for this rulemaking:  

“In this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice), the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) proposes to modernize the Commission’s space and earth station licensing process to allow space companies to more freely and successfully compete in the marketplace to serve the American people. In particular, the Notice proposes to develop a licensing assembly line” designed to route applications for efficient review based on specific aspects of a request. It further proposes to change the public notice timelines to allow for faster application processing; proposes reforms to bonds, processing rounds, license terms, and milestones; and substantially updates the earth station licensing regime.” 

With this quick (1 day turnaround) approval of the rulemaking, I would not be surprised to see this final rule published in the Federal Register this week. I do not expect to provide any detailed coverage of this final rule. Under my limited Space Geek coverage, I will at least mention its publication in the appropriate Short Takes post. 

Short Takes – 7-28-26 - Federal Register Edition

Perchloroethylene (PCE) and Carbon Tetrachloride (CTC); Regulation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); Compliance Date Extensions. EPA compliance date extension. Summary: “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is finalizing an extension of certain compliance dates applicable to certain entities subject to the risk-management rules for perchloroethylene (PCE) and carbon tetrachloride (CTC) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA is extending certain Workplace Chemical Protection Program (WCPP) compliance dates for non-federal owners and operators to match the existing compliance dates for federal agencies and their contractors. For both PCE and CTC, this action extends the compliance date for initial monitoring for inhalation exposure to June 21, 2027, and extends the compliance date to meet the existing chemical exposure limit (ECEL), establish a regulated area, institute a workplace information and training program, provide any required respiratory personal protective equipment (PPE), and establish a respiratory PPE program to September 20, 2027. For PCE, EPA is also extending the compliance date for federal entities to institute a workplace information and training program to September 20, 2027, and for non-federal entities to establish and implement an exposure control plan to December 20, 2027.” 

Benzene. OSHA comment period reopening. Summary: “OSHA is providing an additional comment period to allow interested persons to comment on OSHA's proposal to revise the Benzene standard. Following consideration of the rulemaking by OSHA's Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH), OSHA is re-opening the record for this rulemaking to provide an additional 30 days for public comment.” 

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Modernization of FMVSS No. 135 To Accommodate ADS-Equipped Vehicles; Extension of Comment Period. NHTSA comment period extension. Summary: “In response to a request from Varnum LLP (Varnum), NHTSA is announcing a 30-day extension of the public comment period for the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published on June 26, 2026 proposing to amend Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 135, “Light vehicle brake systems.” The proposed modifications would distinguish how regulations apply to vehicles with and without manually operated driving controls. The comment period for the NPRM was originally scheduled to end on July 27, 2026. It will now end on August 26, 2026.” 

Space Geek  

Notice of Extension of Public Comment Period on the Draft Tiered Environmental Assessment for SpaceX Starship Reentry Contingency Operations in the Pacific Ocean and Additional Starship Landing Trajectory. FAA Draft Tiered EA comment extension. Summary: “In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), DOT Order 5610.1D, DOT's Procedures for Considering Environmental Impacts, and FAA Order 1050.1G, FAA National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Procedures, the FAA is announcing the extension of the comment period on the Draft Tiered Environmental Assessment for SpaceX Starship Reentry Contingency Operations in the Pacific Ocean and Additional Starship Landing Trajectory (Draft Tiered EA).” 

Name of Information Collection: Automated Technology Licensing Application System (ATLAS). NASA 30-day ICR revision notice. Summary: “The information submitted by the public is a license application for those companies and individuals who wish to obtain a patent license for a NASA patented technology. Information needed for the license application in ATLAS may include supporting documentation such as a certificate of incorporation, a financial statement, a business and/or commercialization plan, a project revenue/royalty spreadsheet, and a company balance sheet. At a minimum, all license applicants must submit a satisfactory plan for the development and/or marketing of an invention. The collected information is used by NASA to ensure that companies that seek to commercialize NASA technologies have a solid business plan for bringing the technology to market.” 

Review – 7 Advisories Published – 7-28-26

Today CISA’s NCCIC-ICS published seven control system security advisories for products from ABB, igloohome, MikroTik, and Siemens (4). 

Advisories  

ABB Advisory - This advisory describes a missing support for integrity check vulnerability in the ABB KNX Update Tool. The ABB advisory reports that: “As classic KNX technology did not include built-in encryption, this vulnerability is not specific to ABB products and cannot be addressed through a software update.” 

Igloohome Advisory - This advisory describes an inclusion of sensitive information in source code vulnerability in the igloohome Smart Lock Mobile Application (Android). 

MikroTik Advisory - This advisory describes an improper restriction of excessive authentication attempts vulnerability in the MikroTik RouterOS and MikroTik Cloud Hosted Router. 

Siemens Advisory #1 - This advisory discusses more than 353 GNU/Linux vulnerabilities in the Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518(F)-4 PN/DP MFP. 

Siemens Advisory #2 - This advisory describes an allocation of resources without limit or throttling vulnerability in the Siemens SIMATIC S7-PLCSIM Advanced. 

Siemens Advisory #3 - This advisory describes an insecure inherited permissions vulnerability in the Siemens Mendix Runtime product. 

Siemens Advisory #4 - This advisory discusses an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in the Siemens Desigo CC products. 

For more information on these advisories, including DTRH looks at the Mendix vulnerability and Desigo CC exploits, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/7-advisories-published-7-28-26 - subscription required.