A subcommittee markup of a critical infrastructure cybersecurity bill originally planned for June 13 was postponed in order to give lawmakers and staff additional time to sort through comments collected from stakeholders, including AMWA and WaterISAC. House Homeland Security Committee staff say they hope to mark up the draft “National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection (NCCIP) Act” before the end of the month, but no firm timeline has been announced.
The draft bill was authored by Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) and circulated to industry stakeholders earlier this month. The proposal would encourage critical infrastructure owners and operators to voluntarily adopt cybersecurity standards formulated by their respective Sector Coordinating Council (SCC) and would not include enforceable government cybersecurity mandates. The draft bill would formalize the role of Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) as primary cybersecurity information sharing entities for each sector and would establish firm lines of communications between ISACs and DHS.
In comments on the NCCIP Act submitted to the Homeland Security Committee earlier this month, AMWA and WaterISAC expressed appreciation that the bill did not create regulatory burdens but suggested several improvements to ensure effective communication and cooperation between government and critical infrastructure stakeholders.