The House Homeland Security Committee on Sept. 3 approved H.R. 5079, the Widespread Information Management for the Welfare of Infrastructure and Government Act, which would reauthorize the 2015 Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) for an additional 10 years.
APPA strongly supports the reauthorization of CISA 2015, which is set to expire on September 30.
Sponsored by Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), the bill garnered bipartisan support – only three Republicans voted against passage. A copy of the legislation is available here.
CISA 2015 set up policies and procedures for the voluntary sharing of cybersecurity threat information between and among the federal government and private entities (the definition of which includes public power utilities) and provides limited liability protection for these activities.
The Widespread Information Management for the Welfare of Infrastructure and Government Act was released Tuesday morning by committee Republicans.
In addition to extending the expiration date of CISA 2015 by ten years, it includes minor updates regarding the use of artificial intelligence, new requirements for oversight of threat information sharing and data collected by the attorney general and secretary of Homeland Security, and would require the secretary of Homeland Security to “develop and continuously implement an outreach plan…to ensure Federal and non-Federal entities, particularly small or rural owners or operators of critical infrastructure which often lack dedicated cybersecurity staff but remain vital to national security.”
APPA on Sept. 4 joined a number of other trade associations in sending a letter to House and Senate leaders urging quick action to reauthorize CISA 2015 and the important authorities it includes before the September 30 expiration date.
Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Gary Peters (D-MI) in April introduced a bill to reauthorize CISA 2015 through 2035.
However, the bill has yet to move through committee due to concerns cited by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Rand Paul (R-KY) regarding privacy provisions.
