I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5491 
To authorize the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security 
Agency to designate certain elements of critical infrastructure as system-
ically important, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 5, 2021 
Mr. KATKO (for himself, Ms. SPANBERGER, and Mr. GARBARINO) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
A BILL 
To authorize the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infra-
structure Security Agency to designate certain elements 
of critical infrastructure as systemically important, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing Systemically 
Important Critical Infrastructure Act’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:34 Oct 06, 2021
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5491.IH
H5491
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF SYSTEMICALLY IMPORTANT CRIT-
ICAL INFRASTRUCTURE. 
(a) TITLE XXII TECHNICAL AND CLERICAL AMEND-
MENTS.— 
(1) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.— 
(A) HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 2002.— 
Subtitle A of title XXII of the Homeland Secu-
rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) is 
amended— 
(i) in section 2202 (6 U.S.C. 652)— 
(I) in paragraph (11), by striking 
‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 
(II) in the first paragraph (12) 
(relating to appointment of a Cyberse-
curity State Coordinator) by striking 
‘‘as described in section 2215; and’’ 
and inserting ‘‘as described in section 
2217;’’; 
(III) by redesignating the second 
paragraph (12) (relating to the .gov 
internet domain) as paragraph (13); 
and 
(IV) by redesignating the third 
paragraph (12) (relating to carrying 
out such other duties and responsibil-
ities) as paragraph (14); 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:34 Oct 06, 2021
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5491.IH
H5491
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
(ii) in the first section 2215 (6 U.S.C. 
665; relating to the duties and authorities 
relating to .gov internet domain), by 
amending the section enumerator and 
heading to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 2215. DUTIES AND AUTHORITIES RELATING TO .GOV 
INTERNET DOMAIN.’’; 
(iii) in the second section 2215 (6 
U.S.C. 665b; relating to the joint cyber 
planning office), by amending the section 
enumerator and heading to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 2216. JOINT CYBER PLANNING OFFICE.’’; 
(iv) in the third section 2215 (6 
U.S.C. 665c; relating to the Cybersecurity 
State Coordinator), by amending the sec-
tion enumerator and heading to read as 
follows: 
‘‘SEC. 2217. CYBERSECURITY STATE COORDINATOR.’’; 
(v) in the fourth section 2215 (6 
U.S.C. 665d; relating to Sector Risk Man-
agement Agencies), by amending the sec-
tion enumerator and heading to read as 
follows: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:34 Oct 06, 2021
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5491.IH
H5491
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
‘‘SEC. 2218. SECTOR RISK MANAGEMENT AGENCIES.’’; 
(vi) in section 2216 (6 U.S.C. 665e; 
relating to the Cybersecurity Advisory 
Committee), by amending the section enu-
merator and heading to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 2219. CYBERSECURITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE.’’; 
and 
(vii) in section 2217 (6 U.S.C. 665f; 
relating to Cybersecurity Education and 
Training Programs), by amending the sec-
tion enumerator and heading to read as 
follows: 
‘‘SEC. 2220. CYBERSECURITY EDUCATION AND TRAINING 
PROGRAMS.’’. 
(B) CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
2021.—Paragraph (1) of section 904(b) of divi-
sion U of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2021 (Public Law 116–260) is amended, in the 
matter preceding subparagraph (A), by insert-
ing ‘‘of 2002’’ after ‘‘Homeland Security Act’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act 
of 2002 is amended by striking the items relating to 
sections 2214 through 2217 and inserting the fol-
lowing new items: 
‘‘Sec. 2214. National Asset Database. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:24 Oct 08, 2021
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6211
E:\BILLS\H5491.IH
H5491
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
‘‘Sec. 2215. Duties and authorities relating to .gov internet domain. 
‘‘Sec. 2216. Joint cyber planning office. 
‘‘Sec. 2217. Cybersecurity State Coordinator. 
‘‘Sec. 2218. Sector Risk Management Agencies. 
‘‘Sec. 2219. Cybersecurity Advisory Committee. 
‘‘Sec. 2220. Cybersecurity Education and Training Programs. 
‘‘Sec. 2220A. Designation of systemically important critical infrastructure.’’. 
(b) DESIGNATION
OF SYSTEMICALLY IMPORTANT 
CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—Subtitle A of title XXII of 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 2220A. DESIGNATION OF SYSTEMICALLY IMPORTANT 
CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Cybersecu-
rity and Infrastructure Security Agency shall designate an 
element of critical infrastructure as systemically important 
critical infrastructure if— 
‘‘(1) the Director makes a preliminary deter-
mination pursuant to subsection (d)(1), using the 
methodology established pursuant to subsection (b), 
that such element satisfies the criteria established 
pursuant to subsection (c); and 
‘‘(2) such preliminary determination becomes a 
final determination pursuant to subsection (d)(2). 
‘‘(b) METHODOLOGY.—The Director, in consultation 
with the heads of Sector Risk Management Agencies and 
covered stakeholders, shall— 
‘‘(1) establish a methodology for determining 
whether an element of critical infrastructure satisfies 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:24 Oct 08, 2021
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5491.IH
H5491
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
the criteria established for systemically important 
critical infrastructure pursuant to subsection (c); 
and 
‘‘(2) update such methodology, as necessary. 
‘‘(c) CRITERIA.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director, in consulta-
tion with the heads of Sector Risk Management 
Agencies and covered stakeholders, shall develop ob-
jective criteria to determine whether an element of 
critical infrastructure should be designated as sys-
temically important. 
‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the cri-
teria required under paragraph (1), the Director 
shall consider the following: 
‘‘(A) The likelihood that a disruption to, or 
compromise of, such element of critical infra-
structure would result in a debilitating effect on 
national security, economic security, public 
health or safety, or any combination thereof. 
‘‘(B) The extent to which damage, disrup-
tion, or unauthorized access to such element or 
collectively to the category of critical infrastruc-
ture to which such element belongs— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:24 Oct 08, 2021
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5491.IH
H5491
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS