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.

HR 3809 Introduced – Rural Water Cybersecurity

Last month, Rep Davis (D,NC) introduced HR 3809, the Cybersecurity for Rural Water Systems Act of 2023. 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.

The bill amends 7 USC 1926(a)(22), inserting a new clause (ii) requiring that the Circuit Rider program includes “cybersecurity technical assistance for rural water systems serving fewer than 10,000 persons”. The assistance would be used to:

• Assess system efficacy in protecting against cyber threats, and

• Implement cybersecurity plans, procedures, and technologies to protect against cyber threats.

Moving Forward

Craig, along with all four of his co-sponsors {Rep Nunn (R,IA), Rep Craig, (D,MN), Rep Spanberger (D,VA), and Rep Costa (D,CA)}, are members of the House Agriculture Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This should mean that there is sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. While I expect that there will be bipartisan support for this bill in Committee, it would probably run afoul of the conservative Republican focus on cost cutting, so it would be difficult to get the bill before the full House. There is a chance that the bill could be considered as a floor amendment to HR 4638, the ARD spending bill.

Commentary

I have always been a little surprised at the 10,000-customer cut off for EPA regulations on water systems. Looking as 7 USC 1926, the reason becomes clear, the Agriculture Department is responsible for the oversight of these smaller water systems. This bill seems to provide a relatively low-cost program to begin to address cybersecurity issues at some of the smaller systems, but with only 147 circuit riders nationwide, it will take some time for the program to reach all of the potentially affected systems.

Bills Introduced – 6-5-23

Yesterday, with just the House in session, there were 47 bills  introduced. One of those bills will receive additional coverage in this blog:

HR 3809 To include cybersecurity technical assistance in the national rural water and wastewater circuit rider program of Department of Agriculture. Davis, Donald G. [Rep.-D-NC-1]