CISA has published Current Activity: Urgent: Protect Against Active Exploitation of ProxyShell Vulnerabilities (TLP:WHITE) to the following URL: https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/current-activity/2021/08/21/urgent-protect-against-active-exploitation-proxyshell

ProxyShell consists of three CVEs (CVE-2021-34473, CVE-2021-34523, and CVE-2021-31207), all of which are addressed by the Microsoft May 2021 security update. CISA recommends users and administrators identify and update vulnerable systems; threat actors have been observed exploiting ProxyShell vulnerabilities in the wild.

“As the pandemic forced families to stay at home, swimming pool demand surged while chlorine production sank,” Business Insider reported. “The supply of chlorine is still being limited by a Louisiana chlorine plant that caught fire last summer, cutting off a large percentage of the nation’s chlorine tablet supply… The Chlorine Institute said reports suggest the Louisiana plant will be out of order until 2022.”more

The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday issued a joint memo with the U.S. Department of the Army allowing states and tribes to extend the finalization process for water permits after a Trump-era rule imposed a one-year window.

The memo directs the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to wait the maximum amount of time to finalize 41 Nationwide Permits proposed under the act in September. The Trump-era rule provided a window of only a year to make a final decision under the Clean Water Act for oil and gas project permitting. While the CWA allows states and tribes to weigh in on projects that run through waterways, the 2020 rule reduced the approvals required at the state and tribal level.

The memo outlines scenarios under which state or tribal governments may take longer than a year to approve or deny projects, such as cases where “they identify factors and circumstances that warrant extending the reasonable period of time.” more

Open Application Period for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program

Begins September 30, 2021

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced the opening of the FY 2021 Application Period for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. FEMA’s Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is attached and can be found at www.grants.gov.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) is soliciting eligible subapplicants to prepare and submit subapplications for the BRIC grant program. All subapplications must be submitted to FDEM via the FEMA GO grant application system on or before November 12, 2021 by 5:00 PM EST. Only complete subapplications will be accepted and reviewed.

A schedule of webinars supporting the FY2021 Notice of Funding Opportunity is attached. For information on training and resources on FEMA’s grant application system (FEMA GO), please visit FEMA’s website at https://www.fema.gov/grants/guidance-tools/fema-go or contact the FEMA GO Helpdesk at 1-877-611-4700 or via e-mail at FEMAGO@fema.dhs.gov.

The attached FY 2021 BRIC Grant Program Fact Sheet provides Key FY 2021 BRIC Grant Program Changes and FEMA’s evaluation criteria and priorities. Detailed information regarding BRIC and application development can be found at https://www.fema.gov/grants/mitigation/building-resilient-infrastructure-communities and https://www.floridadisaster.org/dem/mitigation/builing-resilient-infrastructure-and-communities-bric-grant-program/

August 22, 1908: The Engineering Record article. The New Sewage Pumping Station, Washington, DC. “The pumping station is…housed in a 138 x 304-ft. structure that is located centrally in a 200 x 6oo-ft. plot, between the lower extensions of New Jersey Ave. and Second St. and between N St. and the river. It is of steel frame and brick construction, with trimmings in light stone. The design of the building has been rendered particularly attractive architecturally for the purpose of concealing to a degree the purpose for which the station is intended, and the grounds surrounding the station have, in fact, been carefully parked and attractively laid out, rendering the structure a decided advantage to the locality….

The design of the sewage pumping equipment has, like that of the revised sewerage system…and the outfall, been based on the requirements for the handling of the dry weather sewage flow from a population of 1,000,000 inhabitants in the city. There are installed five sewage pumps in all, which have an aggregate capacity of about 360 cu. ft. of sewage per second, which is, however, a capacity largely in excess of the present normal requirements. Two of the sewage pumps are, in fact, reserve equipment, the flow capacity of the outfall line being but 250 cu. ft. per second.” more