As water utilities wait for new cybersecurity regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency, some experts worry about giving state governments more oversight power over the fragmented industry, while others warned that any regulations run the risk of not keeping up with evolving cyber threats.
The EPA had a deadline of Aug. 22 under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to send Congress its Technical Cybersecurity Support Plan, which would outline its plans for offering cyber support to water systems and list those that it expects to provide support to. An EPA spokesperson declined to offer a firm timeline for the release of the Technical Cybersecurity Support Plan but said in an email he anticipated an update on its status “very soon.”
Meanwhile, the EPA also has plans in the long term to release a regulation entitled, “Cybersecurity in Public Water Systems” that would provide regulatory clarity and promote the adoption of cybersecurity measures by public water systems.
Events on both sides of the Atlantic show the need for urgency on the matter, as a water supplier in the United Kingdom recently disclosed it was hit by a cyberattack, while the water utility for the…
