S 2465 Introduced – FY 2026 THUD Spending
Back in July Sen Hyde-Smith introduced S 2465, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026. At the same time the Senate Appropriations Committee published their Report on the Bill. While there is a cyber security mention in the bill, the main focus here will be PHMSA spending in the bill and discussions in the Report, as well as some UAS discussions in the Report.
S 2465 is be similar to S 4796, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025, that was introduced by Sen Schatz (D,HI) in July 2024. No action was taken on that bill in the 118th Congress. The related House bill, HR 9028, was also introduced in July 2024, and similarly, no action was taken on that bill in the 118th Congress.
Cyber in the Bill
On page 10, under the heading ‘Cyber Security Initiatives’, the bill provides $60 million for DOT cybersecurity initiatives. This is down from the $74 million provided in S 4796, but $11 million more that was enacted in the CR last year.
Cyber in Report
Spending
On page 18, under the heading ‘Office of the Chief Information Officer’, the Report provides $17 million for the DOT CIO.
On pages 30-1, under the heading ‘FAA Operations’, the Report provides $35 million for cybersecurity efforts.
Earmarks
There are no cybersecurity earmarks.
PHMSA in the Bill
On pages 118-22 the bill provides an extended discussion for spending for DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The high level numbers for the PHMSA programs are summarized in the table below and are compared to both S 4796 proposed numbers and the numbers actually enacted for FY 2025.
INSERT PHMSA Spending graphic
HAZMAT in the Report
Spending
On Page 77 under the heading ‘Short Line Safety Institute’ the Report provides “$2,750,000 for the SLSI. These efforts include safety culture assessments and the provision of hazardous materials emergency response training in an effort to improve the safe transportation of crude oil and other hazardous materials on our Nation’s rail network.”
Discussions
On pages 75-6 under the heading “Hazardous Materials Incident Mitigation”, the Report directs the FRA to “republish the [the 2007 vent and burn] reports which shall include clear instructions to consult the shipper when considering a vent and burn; more comprehensive guidance on what products are candidates for a vent and burn, along with what chemicals and other hazards may result from a vent and burn; and an updated process flow chart.”
On page 102 under the heading ‘East Palestine, Ohio’, the Report:
Directs “PHMSA to work with the authorizing committees of jurisdiction in Congress to require placards to be able to survive fires and accidents and remain legible during emergencies long enough to fulfill their functions as described in the emergency response guidebook.”
Directs “PHMSA to work with the relevant authorizing committees to accelerate the phase-out of DOT–111 tank cars.”
Directs “PHMSA to work with the relevant authorizing committees to revise the definition of high-hazard flammable train.”
HAZMAT Earmarks
There are no HAZMAT related earmarks in the bill.
UAS in Report
Spending
On page 34 under the heading ‘Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Sites’, the Report “includes $6,000,000 for providing matching funds to commercial entities that contract with an FAA-designated UAS test range to demonstrate or validate technologies that the FAA considers essential to the safe integration of UAS into the NAS [National Air Space].”
On page 35 under the heading ‘Military UAS Integration’, the Report ‘includes up to $1,000,000 to support collaborative efforts with the DoD to safely integrate military UAS into the NAS.’
On page 40 under the heading ‘Office of Spectrum Engineering’, the Report provides $14 million for the office, noting that “pending legislation could significantly increase the number of covered facilities or assets where DoD could deploy counter-UAS systems. As such, the FAA should increase staffing in this office in order to be able to expeditiously provide the required consultation prior to DoD’s deployment of counter-UAS systems.”
On pages 43-4 under the heading ‘UAS’, the Report provides $16 million “to enable the FAA to complete the development and standardization of the airborne collision avoidance system [ACAS] program, to support UAS, small UAS, and rotorcraft operations.”
On page 48 under the heading ‘UAS Research’, the Report provides $7.5 million for UAS research and an additional $14 million for the UAS Center of Excellence (COE), noting that the “UAS COE research may include cyber security, agricultural applications, and BVLOS.”
Other Discussions
On page 35 under the heading ‘Protecting Domestic Manufacturing From Unauthorized Drone Use’, the Report “directs the FAA to report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations within 90 days of enactment of this act on any challenges associated with including major manufacturing plants and domestic automotive manufacturing sites as critical infrastructure under section 2209 of the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016.”
UAS Earmarks
There are no earmarks related to UAS funding in the bill.
Moving Forward
The plan in the House currently appears to be to add the language of S 2431 to the substitute language for the consideration of HR 4016, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026. The Senate has not yet held their first cloture vote that would allow actual debate to begin on the bill. This probably indicates that there is still some backroom dealing going on to determine the broad outline of what will end up in the Senate version of the bill. Then further dealing with determining what further amendments will be considered on the floor.
Right now, SA 3951 from Sen Collins (Chair of the Appropriations Committee) is the current candidate for the substitute language to be considered, and it includes the language from S 2431. But a lot can happen in the short legislative month of December.