Cybersecurity for Rural Water Systems Act
Key claim: This bill would direct the Department of Agriculture to establish a technical assistance program deploying cybersecurity specialists to help small rural water and wastewater systems assess vulnerabilities and strengthen digital defenses.
Abstract
(S2388 · 118th Congress)
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.
Latest action (2023-07-19): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Why this matters
The proposal would extend USDA rural development assistance to digital vulnerabilities in small water and wastewater utilities, potentially supporting service continuity for rural households and farmers served by those systems. It remains introduced legislation, and the finding establishes neither operational benefits nor effects on farm costs, consumer bills, or food prices.