The White House is considering plans to combine an increase in the U.S. debt ceiling with the proposed $5.95 billion disaster relief request for Hurricane Harvey in an effort to avoid a possible U.S. debt default, Bloomberg reported Friday.

Two administration officials told Bloomberg the initial request would allocate $5.5 billion in funds to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the rest to the Small Business Administration and is expected to be announced as early as Friday.

The Trump administration has begun to prepare the hurricane aid package to cover funding requests through the end of fiscal 2017 on Sept. 30.

Vice President Mike Pence said more than 311,000 citizens from Texas had requested federal hurricane relief funds as of Thursday and the government has granted over $530 million.

A Republican aide told the publication the House may vote on an initial disaster relief measure in the first half of September in an effort to replenish FEMA’s funds used in the hurricane’s aftermath.

The Federal Aviation Administration has authorized 43 unmanned aircraft system operators as of Thursday morning to support damage assessments or provide media coverage related to Hurricane Harvey response operations in Houston.

FAA said Thursday the UAS permits cover federal, state and local government efforts to assess homes, critical infrastructure and establishments hit by the storm to expedite emergency assistance.

Local fire department and emergency management personnel use drones to identify Harvey-related damages to local infrastructure assets such as roads, bridges, underpasses and water treatment plants, FAA noted.

The agency added Texas’ environmental quality officials also fly UAS to determine the impacts of drainage and flooding from the storm.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has begun to solicit public comments on proposed restructuring of an NIST-led organization that promotes the development and adoption of forensic science standards.

NIST said Wednesday it released a request for information notice that describes four possible new structures for the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science.

The comment period is open through Oct. 30.

The Justice Department and NIST established OSAC in 2014, with a plan to evolve the organization’s structure overtime and transition it from NIST to another host entity within five to 10 years.

“Now that OSAC has been operating for three-plus years, it’s time to assess the performance of the organization and look for opportunities for improvement,” said Richard Cavanagh, director of NIST’s Special Programs Office.

“Although the structure of OSAC may change, the goals remain the same, and NIST remains committed to OSAC’s stability and scientific integrity,” Cavanagh added.

NIST welcomes ideas that are not covered by the four concepts described in the RFI.

The agency noted it may also keep aspects of the current OSAC structure, modify the structure or consider “substantially different” arrangements.