Review - HR 3701 Introduced – PIPE Act

Last month, Rep Delgado (D,NY) introduced HR 3701, the Protecting Infrastructure and Promoting the Economy (PIPE) Act. The bill would require the EPA to establish two new discretionary grant programs; one for wastewater infrastructure and one for drinking water infrastructure. While there is no specific mention of cybersecurity, the grant projects are defined broadly enough to include coverage of cybersecurity support of projects. The bill would authorize the expenditure of $1 billion per year through 2031 for each grant program.

Delgado and two of his cosponsors {Norton (D,DC), and Cohen (D,TN)} are members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the primary of two committees to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. Because of the large amount of spending authorized by the bill, I would expect to see significant opposition to this bill from Republicans. It might not be enough to stop consideration in Committee, but it would stop the bill from being able to be considered on the floor of the House under the suspension of the rules process. It is unlikely that this bill would make it to the floor of the House under regular order.

For a more detailed review of the bill’s language and my suggestions for changes, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-3701-introduced - subscription required.