I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3243 

To codify the Transportation Security Administration’s responsibility relating 

to securing pipelines against cybersecurity threats, acts of terrorism, 

and other nefarious acts that jeopardize the physical security or cybersecurity of pipelines, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2021 

Mr. CLEAVER (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. KATKO, Mrs. 

WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. 

LANGEVIN, Mr. CORREA, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. SWALWELL, Ms. 

TITUS, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mrs. LURIA, Mr. TORRES of New York, and Mr. 

GIMENEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To codify the Transportation Security Administration’s responsibility relating to securing pipelines against cybersecurity threats, acts of terrorism, and other nefarious 

acts that jeopardize the physical security or cybersecurity 

of pipelines, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pipeline Security Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PIPELINE SECURITY RESPONSIBILITIES. 

2 Subsection (f) of section 114 of title 49, United 

3 States Code, is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (15), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

5 the semicolon at the end; 

6 (2) by redesignating paragraph (16) as para7 graph (17); and 

8 (3) by inserting after paragraph (15) the fol9 lowing new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(16) maintain responsibility, in coordination 

11 with the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infra12 structure Security Agency, as appropriate, relating 

13 to securing pipeline transportation and pipeline fa14 cilities (as such terms are defined in section 60101 

15 of this title) against cybersecurity threats (as such 

16 term is defined in section 102 of the Cybersecurity 

17 Information Sharing Act of 2015 (Public Law 114– 

18 113; 6 U.S.C. 1501)), an act of terrorism (as such 

19 term is defined in section 3077 of title 18), and 

20 other nefarious acts that jeopardize the physical se21 curity or cybersecurity of such transportation or fa22 cilities; and’’. 

23 SEC. 3. PIPELINE SECURITY SECTION. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XVI of the Homeland Secu25 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 561 et seq.) is amended by 

26 adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘Subtitle D—Pipeline Security 

2 ‘‘SEC. 1631. PIPELINE SECURITY SECTION. 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is within the Admin4 istration a pipeline security section to carry out pipeline 

5 security programs in furtherance of section 114(f)(16) of 

6 title 49, United States Code. 

7 ‘‘(b) MISSION.—The mission of the section referred 

8 to in subsection (a) is to oversee, in coordination with the 

9 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the 

10 Department, the security of pipeline transportation and 

11 pipeline facilities (as such terms are defined in section 

12 60101 of title 49, United States Code) against cybersecu13 rity threats (as such term is defined in section 102 of the 

14 Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (Public 

15 Law 114–113; 6 U.S.C. 1501)), an act of terrorism (as 

16 such term is defined in section 3077 of title 18, United 

17 States Code), and other nefarious acts that jeopardize the 

18 physical security or cybersecurity of such transportation 

19 or facilities. 

20 ‘‘(c) LEADERSHIP; STAFFING.—The Administrator 

21 shall appoint as the head of the section an individual with 

22 knowledge of the pipeline industry and security best prac23 tices, as determined appropriate by the Administrator. 

24 The section shall be staffed by a workforce that includes 

25 personnel with cybersecurity expertise. 


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1 ‘‘(d) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The section shall be re2 sponsible for carrying out the duties of the section as di3 rected by the Administrator, acting through the head ap4 pointed pursuant to subsection (c). Such duties shall in5 clude the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) Developing, in consultation with relevant 

7 Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial entities 

8 and public and private sector stakeholders, guide9 lines for improving the security of pipeline transpor10 tation and pipeline facilities against cybersecurity 

11 threats, an act of terrorism, and other nefarious acts 

12 that jeopardize the physical security or cybersecurity 

13 of such transportation or facilities, consistent with 

14 the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

15 Framework for Improvement of Critical Infrastruc16 ture Cybersecurity and any update to such guide17 lines pursuant to section 2(c)(15) of the National 

18 Institute for Standards and Technology Act (15 

19 U.S.C. 272(c)(15)). 

20 ‘‘(2) Updating such guidelines as necessary 

21 based on intelligence and risk assessments, but not 

22 less frequently than every three years. 

23 ‘‘(3) Sharing of such guidelines and, as appro24 priate, intelligence and information regarding such 

25 security threats to pipeline transportation and pipeVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 May 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3243.IH H3243

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1 line facilities, as appropriate, with relevant Federal, 

2 State, local, Tribal, and territorial entities and pub3 lic and private sector stakeholders. 

4 ‘‘(4) Conducting voluntary security assessments 

5 based on such guidelines to provide recommenda6 tions for the improvement of the security of pipeline 

7 transportation and pipeline facilities against cyberse8 curity threats, an act of terrorism, and other nefar9 ious acts that jeopardize the physical security or cy10 bersecurity of such transportation or facilities, in11 cluding the security policies, plans, practices, and 

12 training programs maintained by owners and opera13 tors of pipeline facilities. 

14 ‘‘(5) Carrying out a program through which the 

15 Administrator identifies and ranks the relative risk 

16 of pipelines and inspects pipeline facilities des17 ignated by owners and operators of such facilities as 

18 critical based on such guidelines. 

19 ‘‘(6) Preparing notice and comment regulations 

20 for publication, if determined necessary by the Ad21 ministrator. 

22 ‘‘(e) DETAILS.—In furtherance of the section’s mis23 sion, as set forth in subsection (b), the Administrator and 

24 the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Secu25 rity Agency may detail personnel between their compoVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 May 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3243.IH H3243

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1 nents to leverage expertise. Personnel detailed from the 

2 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency may be 

3 considered as fulfilling the cybersecurity expertise require4 ments in referred to in subsection (c).’’. 

5 (b) UPDATED GUIDELINES.—Not later than one year 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the pipeline 

7 security section of the Transportation Security Adminis8 tration established pursuant to section 1631 of the Home9 land Security Act of 2002, as added by subsection (a), 

10 shall publish updated guidelines described in subsection 

11 (d) of such section. 

12 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 

13 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 

14 amended by— 

15 (1) striking the item relating to section 1617 

16 and inserting the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 1617. Diversified security technology industry marketplace.’’; 

17 (2) by striking the item relating to section 1621 

18 and inserting the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 1621. Maintenance validation and oversight.’’; 

19 (3) inserting after the item relating to section 

20 1621 the following: 

‘‘Subtitle D—Pipeline Security 

‘‘Sec. 1631. Pipeline security section.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. PERSONNEL STRATEGY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

4 the Transportation Security Administration, in coordina5 tion with the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastruc6 ture Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Se7 curity, shall develop a personnel strategy for enhancing 

8 operations within the pipeline security section of the 

9 Transportation Security Administration established pur10 suant to section 1631 of the Homeland Security Act of 

11 2002, as added by section 3. 

12 (b) CONTENTS.—The strategy required under sub13 section (a) shall take into consideration the most recently 

14 published versions of each of the following documents: 

15 (1) The Transportation Security Administration 

16 National Strategy for Transportation Security. 

17 (2) The Department of Homeland Security Cy18 bersecurity Strategy. 

19 (3) The Transportation Security Administration 

20 Cybersecurity Roadmap. 

21 (4) The Department of Homeland Security Bal22 anced Workforce Strategy. 

23 (5) The Department of Homeland Security 

24 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review. 

25 (c) RESOURCES.—The strategy shall include an as26 sessment of resources determined necessary by the AdminVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 May 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3243.IH H3243

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1 istrator of the Transportation Security Administration to 

2 carry out such strategy. 

3 (d) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Upon development 

4 of the strategy, the Administrator of the Transportation 

5 Security Administration shall provide to the Committee on 

6 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and 

7 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

8 of the Senate a copy of such strategy. 

9 SEC. 5. OVERSIGHT. 

10 (a) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator of 

11 the Transportation Security Administration shall report to 

12 the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 

13 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

14 Science, and Transportation of the Senate not less than 

15 annually on activities of the pipeline security section of 

16 the Administration established pursuant to section 1631 

17 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by section 

18 3, including information with respect to guidelines, secu19 rity assessments, and inspections under such section. Each 

20 such report shall include a determination by the Adminis21 trator regarding whether there is a need for new regula22 tions or non-regulatory initiatives and the basis for such 

23 determination. 

24 (b) GAO REVIEW.—Not later than two years after 

25 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 


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1 General of the United States shall conduct a review of the 

2 implementation of this Act and the amendments made by 

3 this Act. 

4 SEC. 6. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT. 

5 Not later than one year after the date of the enact6 ment of this Act, the Administrator of the Transportation 

7 Security Administration shall convene not less than two 

8 industry days to engage with relevant pipeline transpor9 tation and pipeline facilities stakeholders on matters re10 lated to the security of pipeline transportation and pipeline 

11 facilities (as such terms are defined in section 60101 of 

12 title 49, United States Code). 

Æ 


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