119-s1018

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

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

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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