Water Security and Cyber Protection Act

Summary#

This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to create a program within one year to help drinking water systems and wastewater treatment plants share and use information about threats. The program would: encourage and support community water systems, treatment works, and other groups to join the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Water ISAC); help pay costs those systems need to start or keep Water ISAC membership; increase EPA cooperation with the Water ISAC for collecting and analyzing incident data about water-sector threats; and improve Water ISAC tools and materials to monitor the water sector and help systems prepare for, detect, respond to, and recover from malevolent acts or natural hazards. The bill authorizes $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 and 2027 to carry out the program, with those amounts available until spent.

What it means for you#

• If you work for or rely on a public water supplier or a publicly owned treatment work, your utility could be encouraged to join the Water ISAC and may receive help paying membership costs.
• The program aims to expand data sharing and coordination between the EPA and Water ISAC about incidents that affect drinking water and wastewater systems.
• The goal is to give water systems better tools and resources to spot and respond to malicious attacks or natural hazards, though the bill text does not promise specific outcomes.

Expenses#

The bill authorizes $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2026 and $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2027 to carry out the program. These funds are to remain available until expended. No publicly available information on other costs or budget details is provided in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.