Official Summaries

Cybersecurity for Rural Water Systems Act

This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a cybersecurity circuit rider program to provide cybersecurity technical assistance for rural water and wastewater systems.

The program must be structured similarly to the USDA Circuit Rider Program. Under this program, USDA provides technical assistance to rural water systems that serve areas with populations of 10,000 or fewer people and are experiencing day-to-day operational, financial, or managerial issues.

Specifically, the cybersecurity circuit rider program must provide technical assistance to rural water or wastewater systems to

• provide rapid assessments of the system's current ability or inability to respond to cybersecurity threats and protect cyber infrastructure,
• develop reasonable protocols to enhance cybersecurity protection,
• provide assistance to address inadequate cyber protection plans, and
• document a system's current state of water supply cyber protection.

Current Full Text

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1018 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1018

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to establish a 
 cybersecurity circuit rider program to provide cybersecurity-related 
 technical assistance to certain entities that operate rural water or 
                          wastewater systems.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 13, 2025

Ms. Cortez Masto (for herself and Mr. Rounds) introduced the following 
      bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to establish a 
 cybersecurity circuit rider program to provide cybersecurity-related 
 technical assistance to certain entities that operate rural water or 
                          wastewater systems.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cybersecurity for Rural Water 
Systems Act''.

SEC. 2. RURAL WATER AND WASTEWATER CYBERSECURITY CIRCUIT RIDER PROGRAM.

    Section 306(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act 
(7 U.S.C. 1926(a)) is amended by inserting after paragraph (22) the 
following:
            ``(23) Rural water and wastewater cybersecurity circuit 
        rider program.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a 
                cybersecurity circuit rider program, which shall be 
                structured similarly to the circuit rider program under 
                paragraph (22), to provide technical assistance to 
                associations described in paragraph (1) that operate 
                rural water or wastewater systems--
                            ``(i) to provide rapid assessments of the 
                        current ability or inability of those 
                        associations--
                                    ``(I) to respond to cybersecurity 
                                threats; and
                                    ``(II) to protect the 
                                cyberinfrastructure of those 
                                associations and public health;
                            ``(ii) to develop reasonable protocols to 
                        enhance cybersecurity protection;
                            ``(iii) to provide assistance to address 
                        inadequate cyber protection plans; and
                            ``(iv) to document the state of cyber 
                        protection with respect to the water supplies 
                        of those associations.
                    ``(B) Report requirement.--A circuit rider that 
                receives funding under this paragraph shall submit to 
                the Secretary a report documenting--
                            ``(i) the associations served by the 
                        circuit rider under this paragraph; and
                            ``(ii) the activities performed by the 
                        circuit rider under this paragraph.
                    ``(C) Requirements for circuit riders.--To provide 
                technical assistance under subparagraph (A), a circuit 
                rider shall possess the necessary experience and 
                certification to effectively carry out the activities 
                described in that subparagraph, as determined by the 
                Secretary.
                    ``(D) Authorization of appropriations.--There is 
                authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
                paragraph $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 
                through 2029.''.
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