Short Takes – 12-5-24

Indiana begins offering water systems free cyber assessments. StateScoop.com article. Pull quote: ““We strongly encourage Indiana drinking water and wastewater utilities to take advantage of this opportunity. Safeguarding the integrity of public utility infrastructure is vital to ensuring safe, clean water for Hoosiers,” Brian Rockensuess, commissioner of Indiana’s environmental management agency, said in the release. “IDEM is excited about this partnership, which will help water systems identify vulnerabilities and implement practices to deter and respond to potential threats.””

Trump moves spark fear of brain drain at environment agencies. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “He also raised concerns about a loss of career staff from the EPA’s chemical division, saying this could lead to both rushed reviews potentially causing dangerous chemicals to be allowed onto the market, as well as longer wait times for the approval of new and innovative chemicals if there are fewer people on the job.”

How did the CEO of an online payments firm become the nominee to lead NASA? ArsTechnica.com article. Pull quote: “So wither NASA? Under the Trump administration, NASA's role is likely to focus on stimulating the efforts by commercial space entrepreneurs. Isaacman's marching orders for NASA will almost certainly be two words: results and speed. NASA, they believe, should transition to become more like its roots in the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, which undertook, promoted, and institutionalized aeronautical research—but now for space.”

The Rush for AI-Enabled Drones on Ukrainian Battlefields. LawFareMedia.org article.  Pull quote: “According to Martynov, U.S. companies have reached out with inquiries about field-testing weaponized drones. “If companies abroad are serious about weaponization and validation, Ukraine’s battlefield is the proving ground,” he remarked. U.S. defense tech company Anduril recently started selling its new autonomous drones after successful tests that were carried out in Ukraine. Ukrainian and Western drone manufacturers are also partnering more closely on both drones and AI development. The U.S.—in its desire to speed up the deployment of cheap autonomous systems through its “Replicator” program—is also working with the private sector to bring more of these drones into operation.”

NASA delays Artemis II human moon mission once again as it wraps up heat shield investigation. NPR.org article. Pull quote: “The Artemis II mission, which was targeting liftoff for late 2025, will now launch no earlier than April, 2026. The mission will send NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a trip around the moon and back, testing key systems of the Orion space capsule like its life support hardware.”

NGSO Fixed-Satellite Service (Space-to-Earth) Operations in the 17.3-17.8 GHz Band. Federal Register FCC final rule. Summary: “In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) adopts rules to permit use of the 17.3-17.7 GHz band by non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) space stations operating in the fixed-satellite service (FSS) in the space-to-Earth (downlink) direction. The Report and Order modifies the United States Table of Frequency Allocations (U.S. Table) to enable NGSO FSS to operate in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band in the downlink direction on a co-primary basis with incumbent services and on a shared, co-primary basis with geostationary satellite orbit (GSO) services. The Report and Order also enables NGSO FSS downlink use of the 17.7-17.8 GHz band on a co-primary basis with GSO services and on an unprotected basis with respect to terrestrial fixed services. The Commission additionally adopts technical requirements to establish safeguards to reduce the likelihood of harmful interference to incumbent operators. The actions taken in the Commission's Report and Order promote spectrum efficiency, foster competition and U.S. leadership, and expand the ability of satellite operators to deploy advanced services, including high-speed internet access to unserved and underserved areas.”

Florida should use next six months to prepare for the 2025 hurricane season. FloridaPhoenix.com article. This applies to much of the Gulf Coast. Pull quote: ““Climatologists are unsure what next year has in store for the tropics, but early signs point to a similar hurricane season to the one that is just ending,” the Tampa Bay Times reported.” And we need to talk about uh Bruno….

S 2393 New Sponsor Added – Ag Cyber Clearinghouse

Earlier this week Sen Warnock (D,GA) was added as a co-sponsor for S 2393 [removed from paywall], the Food and Agriculture Industry Cybersecurity Support Act. Warnock is a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that, were there more time remaining in the session, there could be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee, instead it is unlikely to make a difference.

The bill would require National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to establish a food and agriculture cybersecurity clearinghouse which would include direct support by NTIA to the food and agriculture industry. No funding is authorized by this bill.

This bill is very similar to HR 1219, which was introduced in March. No action has been taken on that bill.

Review – 2 Advisories Published – 12-5-24

Today CISA’s NCCIC-ICS published two control system security advisories for products from Planet Technology and AutomationDirect.

Advisories

Planet Technology Advisory - This advisory describes three vulnerabilities in the Planet Technology Planet WGS-804HPT industrial switch.

AutomationDirect Advisory - This advisory describes three stack-based buffer overflow vulnerabilities in the AutomationDirect C-More EA9 Programming Software.

 

For more details about these advisories, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/2-advisories-published-12-5-24 - subscription required.

OMB Approves EPA TCE TSCA Final Rule

Yesterday the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had approved a final rule from the EPA on “Trichloroethylene (TCE); Regulation Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)”. The final rule was sent to OIRA on July 18^th, 2024. The notice of proposed rulemaking was published on October 31^st, 2023.

According to the Spring 2024 Unified Agenda entry for this rulemaking:

“On October 31, 2023, EPA issued a proposed rule to address the unreasonable risk of injury to human health presented by trichloroethylene (TCE) under its conditions of use as documented in EPA's November 2020 Risk Evaluation for TCE and January 2023 revised risk determination for TCE pursuant to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). TCE is widely used as a solvent in a variety of industrial, commercial and consumer applications including for hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) production, vapor and aerosol degreasing, and in lubricants, greases, adhesives, and sealants. TSCA requires that when EPA determines a chemical substance presents unreasonable risk that EPA address by rule the unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment and apply requirements to the extent necessary so the chemical no longer presents unreasonable risk. EPA determined that TCE presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health due to the significant adverse health effects associated with exposure to TCE, including non-cancer effects (liver toxicity, kidney toxicity, neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity, reproductive toxicity, and developmental toxicity) as well as cancer (liver, kidney, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma) from chronic inhalation and dermal exposures to TCE. TCE is a neurotoxicant and is carcinogenic to humans by all routes of exposure. The most sensitive adverse effects of TCE exposure are non-cancer effects (developmental toxicity and immunosuppression) for acute exposures and developmental toxicity and autoimmunity for chronic exposures. To address the identified unreasonable risk, EPA is proposing to: prohibit all manufacture (including import), processing, and distribution in commerce of TCE and industrial and commercial use of TCE for all uses, with longer compliance timeframes and workplace controls for certain processing and industrial and commercial uses (including proposed phaseouts and time-limited exemptions); prohibit the disposal of TCE to industrial pre-treatment, industrial treatment, or publicly owned treatment works, with a time-limited exemption for cleanup projects; and establish recordkeeping and downstream notification requirements.”

Again, (see Tuesday’s posts about EPA TSCA final rules here and here) this final rule will fall afoul of the incoming Trump Administration’s more hands off (slightly understated) approach to environmental regulations. With an effective date falling after January 20^th, Trump will be able to effectively kill this rule with the stroke of a pen. If it had been published 30 days ago, it would have taken a full rulemaking process to overturn this regulation.

I will not (and even under ‘normal’ circumstances would not) cover this final rule in any detail. I will certainly announce its publication in the appropriate ‘Short Takes’ post.

Short Takes – 12-4-24

Public Briefing on Changes to Advanced Computing and Semiconductor Manufacturing Items. Federal Register BIS meeting notice. Summary: “On December 2, 2024, the Office of the Federal Register posted for public inspection two related Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) rules: an interim final rule, “Foreign-Produced Direct Product Rule Additions, and Refinements to Controls for Advanced Computing and Semiconductor Manufacturing Items,” (RIN 0694-AJ74) and a final rule, “Additions and Modifications to the Entity List; Removals from the Validated End-User (VEU) Program” (RIN 0694-AJ77). This document announces that, on December 5, 2024, BIS will host a virtual public briefing on these rules. This document also provides details on the procedures for participating in the virtual public briefing.”

California Democrat Flips Seat in the Last House Race to Be Called. NYTimes.com article. Pull quote: “The race call came just short of a month after Election Day. California notably takes longer to tabulate votes because elections officials are flooded with mail-in ballots that must be inspected and verified. The state gives county offices weeks to complete their tallies and reach out to voters whose ballots may lack a proper signature.”

GOP lawmakers already divided over sweeping Trump policy bill. Politico.com article. Pull quote: ““You almost need a whiteboard for all the moving parts, because it’s more than just: Do you run two reconciliations for the two different open budget years, where this one’s more policy and this one is more tax, financial, debt, deficit-type issues? At the same time, are you also calculating your votes,” said Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), a Ways and Means member who argued it is less about people “fussing” with each other than the overall complexity of the process.”

New C-UAS System Can Detect 500 Targets at the Same Time. I-HLS.com article. Pull quote: “One of the standout features of the Cerberus XL is its modular design, which allows it to be adapted for use in air, ground, and maritime scenarios. Capable of detecting up to 500 simultaneous targets, the system is well-suited for applications at military bases, airports, seaports, borders, and other high-security areas. It also operates effectively in extreme conditions, ensuring consistent performance even in challenging environments. Teledyne FLIR highlights that the system is built to work alongside kinetic defeat solutions and uses advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to improve target identification accuracy.”

Trump picks billionaire Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. NBCNews.com article. Pull quote: “Isaacman, 41, is the founder and CEO of the payment processing company Shift4. He has flown to space twice on commercial SpaceX missions, but has not worked at NASA or in the federal government. Isaacman funded both of those spaceflights himself, for an undisclosed sum.”

Review – Chemical Facilities and Sabotage Operations

A new reader at CFSN Detailed Analysis pointed me at their article on Audacy.com “Strategic sabotage is coming to a global conflict near you”. He looks at several recent sabotage operations carried out by CIA and Special Operations forces in recent history. One story-of-note here was the development of a technique to attack glass lined chemical reaction vessels:

“At the Nevada Test Site, a demolitions expert from Delta Force began experimenting. Working with different configurations of explosives, he came across a method in which they could be arranged on the outside of the vat and detonated in a sequence, which shattered the glass lining inside the chemical weapons vat, without breaching the metal exterior.”

Such an attack would take the vessel out of production for an extended period of time since glass lined vessels are custom made.

Current federal chemical security programs (the now defunct CFATS program, chemical facilities covered under the Coast Guard’s MTSA program, and to a lesser extent the ATF’s explosive facility programs) are more targeted at preventing terrorist attacks. While security measures required under those programs would have some effect against military style attacks like those outlined in the article, the operators executing those attacks would be expected to have higher levels of training and more effective equipment than the standard terrorist cell. This means that more effective security measures would be required to prevent such attacks.

Protecting selected chemical facilities from military-sabotage type attacks is going to require more extensive protective measures, but less emphasis will probably be required for emergency response activities as the attackers will not be trying to optimize their attacks for chemical releases. And fewer facilities will need to be expected to meet these higher protection requirements.

For a more detailed discussion about the differences between potential terrorist attacks and military sabotage attacks, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/chemical-facilities-and-sabotage - subscription required. 

Short Takes – 12-4-24 – Space Geek Edition

Tollways in space: from sci-fi to saving grace. TheSpaceReview.com article. Pull quote: “The proposed Orbital Tollway Framework draws from the concept of Orbital-Use Fees (OUF) and terrestrial congestion measures. It introduces mandatory fees for highly congested LEO subregions, assessed annually and based on an object’s duration in orbit. The fee structure operates on a deposit-refund model to incentivize operators to deorbit objects and comply with debris mitigation guidelines. Operators receive partial refunds upon successful deorbiting, while non-compliance results in penalties. Collected fees and fines are allocated to sustainability initiatives, primarily debris removal.”

Single Network Future: Supplemental Coverage From Space Information Collection Approval for Space Station and Earth Station Applications. Federal Register FCC final rule effective date announcement. Summary: “In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection associated with certain rules adopted in a Report and Order, FCC 24-28, in GN Docket No. 23-65 and IB Docket No. 22-271 (SCS Report and Order) for space station and earth station applicants wishing to provide supplemental coverage from space (SCS). The SCS Report and Order stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of rules which were delayed indefinitely. With this document, the Commission is announcing the effective date of the rules applicable to space station and earth station applicants.”

SpaceX just got exactly what it wanted from the FAA for Texas Starship launches. ArsTechnica.com article. Pull quote: “However, it seems unlikely that this document—which has been in the works for more than a year—was unduly influenced by Trump's election. It was prepared by an FAA still under the Biden administration. Rather, the tone of the environmental assessment signals that SpaceX was probably already on a path to complying with federal regulations. Looking ahead, if those regulations become looser during the Trump administration as anticipated, it is likely that the development and testing of the ambitious Starship vehicle will proceed at a high rate.”

China quietly tested its first inflatable space module in orbit. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “The Shijian-19 test echoes tests such as the BEAM demonstration by Bigelow Aerospace on the International Space Station, though smaller in scale and much shorter in duration. A number of companies including Lockheed Martin and Sierra Space are testing inflatable habitat technology, which could be deployed in post-ISS low Earth orbit commercial space stations.”

Lockheed Martin unveils solar power array for Artemis program. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “For now, LVSAT’s future depends on NASA’s next steps. An agency spokesperson confirmed that all three designs in the program are close to completing testing, with final reports due in early 2025. NASA is not treating the LVSAT program as a competitive selection process. If the agency moves forward with a lunar technology demonstration, it would issue a new solicitation, potentially laying the groundwork for an operational deployment.”

Private Japanese moon lander arrives in Florida ahead of January SpaceX launch. Space.com article. Pull quote: “"The Mission 2 Resilience lander is the culmination of the Hakuto-R program, incorporating the data and know-how gained from Mission 1," said Takeshi Hakamada, ispace founder and CEO, in a statement. "We will continue to make final preparations until the day of the launch, when the lander, which carries so many hopes, will be launched."”

Robotic Mechanic for Satellites Set to Transform Space Operations. I-HLS.com article. Pull quote: “The RSGS [Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites] technology could not only extend the lifespans of valuable satellites but also pave the way for future space-based construction, such as building observatories and solar power stations, according to Interesting Engineering. The Northrop Grumman MRV, with the robotic payload, is expected to launch in 2026, bringing us closer to a future where satellites can be serviced and repaired in orbit.”