Review - HR 2109 Introduced – Cybersecurity for Rural Water Systems

Last month Rep Davis (D,NC) introduced HR 2109, the Cybersecurity for Rural Water Systems Act. The bill would expand the USDA’s support of the Circuit Rider program to provide cybersecurity technical assistance for rural water systems. The legislation would extend the authorization for the Circuit Rider program through 2028 and adds $7.5 million in additional annual funding to support the cybersecurity effort.

This bill is essentially the same as HR 3809, the Cybersecurity for Rural Water Systems Act of 2023, that was introduced by Davis in June of 2023, There was no action taken on that bill in the 118^th Congress. A similar sounding bill (S 1018) was introduced in the Senate last month.

Moving Forward

Both Davis, and one of his two cosponsors, Rep Nunn (R,IA), are members of the House Agriculture Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. The major drawback to this bill is $7.5 million dollars in additional funding being proposed for the program. In the 119^th Congress (even more so than in the 118^th) any legislation increasing funding will face a high hurdle with leadership.

 

For more information on the provisions of this bill, including additional commentary of the bill moving forward, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://open.substack.com/pub/patrickcoyle/p/hr-2109-introduced - subscription required.