Capitol Contours - Summer 2026

I’m John “JB” Byrd, the registered lobbyist for the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS), and President of Miller/Wenhold Capitol Strategies based in Fairfax City, Virginia. 

Welcome to another edition of Capitol Contours with JB. 

A few highlights since our last update include: 

As of April 30, all twelve annual appropriations for Fiscal Year 2026 were signed into law to keep the Federal government open through September 30. The controversial bill funding the Department of Homeland Security, which included FEMA’s flood mapping program, was finally enacted into law and was accompanied by the following report language: 

“Preservation of Surveyors Marks.-Within 180 days of the date of enactment of this Act, FEMA shall provide a briefing to the Committees on the potential benefits of including surveying mark preservation performed by land surveyors as a core activity for disaster planning, emergency response, disaster cleanup, and disaster recovery efforts.” 

On April 3, President Trump and the Office of Management & Budget released the FY2027 Budget showcasing priorities for civilian and defense agencies. An early analysis found that the budget proposal includes $1.5 trillion in defense spending — a 42% increase — while cutting nondefense spending by $73 billion, or 10%. Congressional committees including the Appropriations Subcommittees have started oversight hearings connected to agency budgets while working on their respective funding bills for FY2027. 

Connected to DHS related to any potential structural and policy changes for FEMA, on May 7, President Trump’s task force for reforming FEMA recommended sweeping changes to how the federal government responds to natural disasters. The recommendations include reassessing FEMA staffing, rethinking what disasters qualify for federal disaster aid and then streamlining its distribution, reforming the National Flood Insurance Program, and shifting more training and spending decisions to state, local and tribal authorities, over a period of two to three years. At least half of the recommendations require action by Congress. 

On April 22, the Leadership of the House Energy & Commerce Committee released draft privacy legislation known as the Securing and Establishing Consumer Uniform Rights and Enforcement over Data (SECURE) Data Act. Committee Vice Chair Rep. John Joyce (R-PA) knows the surveying profession and marketplace very well. Dr. Joyce’s privacy working group received over 250 written responses and held meetings with over 170 different organizations to gather feedback and create the strongest bill possible; NSPS federal lobbyist John “JB” Byrd met with his staff tasked with forming the privacy bill. 

In April, the NSPS Government Affairs Committee met during the society's Spring Business Meeting in Crystal City, Virginia. During the session, NSPS Federal Lobbyist John "JB" Byrd provided highlights from the Government Affairs Update with numerous advances on key NSPS legislative priorities. Committee members discussed issues such as Geodesy Prioritization in the Highway Bill, Workforce Development in a proposed pilot program for the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) in the Defense Department, Alpha-gal legislation involving tickborne diseases, and funding for NOAA's Digital Coast, USGS 3DEP, as well as FEMA's NFIP. NSPS GAC Chairman Mark Sargent also provided an update to the NSPS Board of Directors. Pennsylvania Director to NSPS Mike Given attended and participated with Capitol Hill staff-level meetings with U.S. Senators John Fetterman (D-PA), Dave McCormick (R-PA), and U.S. Representative Chris Deluzio (D-PA). 

Within three weeks of the NSPS Day on the Hill which helped the total cosponsors for the House Alpha-gal bill reach 40 overall, the House Energy & Commerce Committee held a legislative hearing on numerous bills including H.R. 1178, the Alpha-gal Allergen Inclusion Act on April 29. This bill was one of the three issues NSPS members took to Capitol Hill on April 14 requesting cosponsorship of H.R. 1178 in the House, and sponsorship in the Senate. 

On April 30, the House passed the House version of the Farm Bill (H.R. 7567). The bill text highlights precision agriculture technologies, amends the definition of remote sensing, and provides for remote sensing for Forest Inventory Analysis, and wildfires. 

On April 29th, the Senate passed S. 2975, the bipartisan PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025. As of May 4th, it is being held at the Desk of the Speaker. The bill reauthorizes the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) pipeline safety program for five years while also impacting subsurface utility engineering (SUE) with a focus in Section 224 as connected to pipeline safety integrity management programs, and inspection and incident avoidance sections (211, 212, and 214). 

On March 4, the Energy and Commerce Committee marked up legislation to reauthorize the Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Administration (PHMSA) under the U.S. Department of Transportation. The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee has already worked on its version (H.R. 5301) of PHMSA. 

April 20th was the 6th anniversary of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval of the Ligado Order. On April 30th, NSPS joined nearly 70 other organizations that wrote to President Trump and Congress reminding each of the threat to GPS from the FCC approval and respectfully requesting decision makers to reconsider while at the same time preventing GPS interference in the future. 

On April 27, the GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA)’s Executive Director Lisa Dyer coauthored an op-ed with Linda Foster, immediate Past-President of the National Society of Professional Surveyors (affiliate member of GPSIA), and Frank Winters, former president of the National States Geographic Information Council. The group calls on Congress to prioritize GPS modernization and expanding the geodesy workforce pipeline, highlighting increased global competition as other nations graduate many more geodesists than the U.S. and upgrade their own GNSS constellations. 

On April 9, NSPS Executive Director Tim Burch and NSPS federal lobbyist attended the 3DEP Coalition meeting at the Washington, DC HQ for the American Public Works Association (APWA). Dr. Mike Tischler and Becci Anderson were the featured USGSguests before the 10 attendees in person and over 20 online attendees 

On April 15, NSPS led efforts for a bipartisan Senate letter with 10 cosigners to the Appropriations Committee calling for robust funding in FY2027 for USGS’s 3D Elevation Program (3DEP). On March 20, NSPS led efforts for a bipartisan House letter with 20 cosigners to the Appropriations Committee calling for robust funding in FY2027 for USGS’s 3D Elevation Program (3DEP). 

On March 13, NSPS led efforts for a bipartisan House letter with 10 cosigners to the Appropriations Committee calling for robust funding in FY2027 for NOAA’s Digital Coast Program. 

On February 26, the Senate passed legislation (S. 2245) reauthorizing NOAA’s Digital Coast program by unanimous consent. On March 2, U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) issued a joint news release highlighting support for their legislation from NSPS. As part of next steps, the House needs to either pass S. 2245, or move the House version of the bill, H.R. 4256. 

On March 25, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) introduced the Property Location Oversight and Transparency (PLOT) Act, S. 4192. The bill amends the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 to require reports to contain geospatial data requiring that “Any person that submits a report under this section shall include in the report geospatial data delineating the property boundaries of the applicable agricultural land” and that “geospatial data required … shall be submitted in an open- source format compatible with widely available geographic information system software, such as a quantum geographic information system or equivalent format”. 

On March 20, the White House issued a national policy framework for AI focused on AI development, including data infrastructure buildout. It said that Congress should streamline federal permitting for AI infrastructure construction and operation so AI developers can develop or procure on-site and behind-the-meter power generation to accelerate AI infrastructure buildout and enhance grid reliability, and that Congress should preempt state AI laws that impose undue burdens to ensure a minimally burdensome national standard consistent with these recommendations, not fifty discordant ones. 

On March 17, NSPS learned that then-NSPS Past President Dr. Davey Edwards of Texas had been appointed as a member of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) for a three-year term; On March 25-25, Dr. Edwards attended his first meeting as a member of the NGAC and met with Dr. Andrea Travnicek, the Chair of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) at the Department of Interior (DOI) Headquarters. In addition, Ryen Johnson, PLS, Idaho Transportation Department was also appointed. The March meeting held in Washington, DC included a focus on AI, USGS 3DEP, the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), and a panel on the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS). 

On February 25, NSPS federal lobbyist John “JB” Byrd teamed with PSLS Lobbyist Bob Regola on a joint online presentation related to federal and state legislation and regulation impacting the surveying profession. 

As Congress continues its work, NSPS will provide updates as part of Capitol Contours with JB. 

Until next time, this is JB! 

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