[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5360 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5360
To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to reauthorize the
Rural and Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity Grant and Technical
Assistance Program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 7, 2026
Mr. McCormick (for himself, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Hickenlooper, Mr.
Curtis, and Mr. Hoeven) introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to reauthorize the
Rural and Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity Grant and Technical
Assistance Program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Rural and Municipal Utility
Cybersecurity Act''.
SEC. 2. RURAL AND MUNICIPAL UTILITY ADVANCED CYBERSECURITY GRANT AND
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
Section 40124 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (42
U.S.C. 18723) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 40124. RURAL AND MUNICIPAL UTILITY ADVANCED CYBERSECURITY GRANT
AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Advanced cybersecurity technology.--The term
`advanced cybersecurity technology' means any technology,
operational capability, or service, including computer
hardware, software, or a related asset, that enhances the
security posture of electric utilities through improvements in
the ability to protect against, detect, respond to, or recover
from a cybersecurity threat.
``(2) Bulk-power system.--The term `bulk-power system' has
the meaning given the term in section 215(a) of the Federal
Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824o(a)).
``(3) Cybersecurity threat.--The term `cybersecurity
threat' has the meaning given the term in section 2200 of the
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 650).
``(4) Defense critical electric infrastructure.--The term
`defense critical electric infrastructure' has the meaning
given the term in section 215A(a) of the Federal Power Act (16
U.S.C. 824o-1(a)).
``(5) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means--
``(A) a rural electric cooperative;
``(B) an electric utility owned by a political
subdivision of a State, such as a municipally owned
electric utility;
``(C) an electric utility owned by any agency,
authority, corporation, or instrumentality of 1 or more
political subdivisions of a State;
``(D) a not-for-profit entity that is in a
partnership with not fewer than 6 entities described in
subparagraph (A), (B), or (C); and
``(E) an investor-owned electric utility that sells
less than 4,000,000 megawatt hours of electricity per
year.
``(6) Funding.--The term `funding' includes grants,
cooperative agreements, and prizes.
``(7) Program.--The term `Program' means the Rural and
Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity Grant and Technical
Assistance Program established under subsection (b).
``(b) Establishment.--The Secretary shall maintain a program, to be
known as the `Rural and Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity Grant
and Technical Assistance Program', to provide technical assistance and
award funding to eligible entities to protect against, detect, respond
to, and recover from cybersecurity threats.
``(c) Objectives.--The objectives of the Program shall be--
``(1) to deploy advanced cybersecurity technologies for
electric utility systems; and
``(2) to increase the participation of eligible entities in
cybersecurity threat information sharing programs.
``(d) Awards.--
``(1) In general.--In carrying out the Program, the
Secretary--
``(A) shall, subject to the availability of
appropriations, provide technical assistance and award
funding to eligible entities on a competitive or
noncompetitive basis;
``(B) shall develop criteria for providing that
technical assistance and awarding that funding;
``(C) may enter into agreements that can facilitate
the objectives described in subsection (c) with
eligible entities to provide technical assistance or
award funding; and
``(D) shall establish a process to ensure, to the
extent practicable, that all eligible entities are
informed about opportunities to receive technical
assistance or funding.
``(2) Priority for funding and technical assistance.--In
providing technical assistance and awarding funding under the
Program, the Secretary shall give priority to an eligible
entity that, as determined by the Secretary--
``(A) has limited cybersecurity resources;
``(B) owns assets critical to the reliability of
the bulk-power system; or
``(C) owns or operates defense critical electric
infrastructure.
``(e) Protection of Information.--Information shared by or with the
Federal Government or a State, Tribal, or local government under the
Program shall be deemed voluntarily shared information and exempt from
disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly
known as the `Freedom of Information Act'), or any provision of any
State, Tribal, or local freedom of information law, open government
law, open meetings law, open records law, sunshine law, or similar law
requiring the disclosure of information or records.
``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $250,000,000
for the period of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.''.
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