Bill > HR7266

This bill, titled the Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity Act, aims to reauthorize and strengthen the Rural and Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity Grant and Technical Assistance Program, which was originally established by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The program provides funding, grants, and technical assistance to eligible entities, including rural electric cooperatives, municipally owned utilities, and smaller investor-owned utilities, to help them protect their electric utility systems from cybersecurity threats. The bill defines key terms like "advanced cybersecurity technology" as tools that improve a utility's ability to defend against, detect, respond to, and recover from cyberattacks, and "cybersecurity threat" as any action that compromises the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of information or systems. A significant provision is the protection of information shared under this program, making it exempt from disclosure under federal and state freedom of information laws to encourage open sharing of threat intelligence. The bill also authorizes $250,000,000 for the program for fiscal years 2026 through 2030, with priority given to entities that have limited cybersecurity resources, own critical infrastructure for the bulk-power system, or operate defense critical electric infrastructure.

Agriculture and Natural Resources, Business and Industry

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7266/all-info