Title: Securing Energy Infrastructure Act of 2017
Policy area: Energy

Summary:
Securing Energy Infrastructure Act of 2017
This bill establishes a two-year pilot program within the Department of Energy's (DOE) national laboratories to (1) identify the	security vulnerabilities of certain entities in the energy sector; and (2) research, develop, test, and implement technology that can be used to isolate the most critical systems of such entities from cyberattacks.
The bill also directs the Director of Intelligence and Counterintelligence of DOE to establish a working group to evaluate the technology solutions proposed by the national laboratories and to develop a national strategy to isolate the energy grid from attacks.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3958 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3958

To establish a pilot program on securing energy infrastructure, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 4, 2017

Mr. Ruppersberger (for himself and Mr. Carter of Texas) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, 
                             and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a pilot program on securing energy infrastructure, 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 ``Securing Energy Infrastructure Act 
of 2017''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Covered entity.--The term ``covered entity'' means an 
        entity identified pursuant to section 9(a) of Executive Order 
        13636 of February 12, 2013 (78 Fed. Reg. 11742) relating to 
        identification of critical infrastructure where a cybersecurity 
        incident could reasonably result in catastrophic regional or 
        national effects on public health or safety, economic security, 
        or national security.
            (2) Director.--Except as otherwise specifically provided, 
        the term ``Director'' means the Director of Intelligence and 
        Counterintelligence of the Department of Energy.
            (3) Exploit.--The term ``exploit'' means a software tool 
        designed to take advantage of a security vulnerability.
            (4) Industrial control system.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``industrial control 
                system'' means an operational technology used to 
                measure, control, or manage industrial functions.
                    (B) Inclusions.--The term ``industrial control 
                system'' includes supervisory control and data 
                acquisition systems, distributed control systems, and 
                programmable logic or embedded controllers.
            (5) National laboratory.--The term ``National Laboratory'' 
        has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Energy 
        Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).
            (6) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the pilot program 
        established under section 3.
            (7) Security vulnerability.--The term ``security 
        vulnerability'' means any attribute of hardware, software, 
        process, or procedure that could enable or facilitate the 
        defeat of a security control.

SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM FOR SECURING ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Director shall establish a 2-year control systems implementation 
pilot program within the National Laboratories for the purposes of--
            (1) partnering with covered entities in the energy sector 
        (including critical component manufacturers in the supply 
        chain) that voluntarily participate in the Program to identify 
        new classes of security vulnerabilities of the covered 
        entities; and
            (2) researching, developing, testing, and implementing 
        technology platforms and standards, in partnership with covered 
        entities, to isolate and defend industrial control systems of 
        covered entities from security vulnerabilities and exploits in 
        the most critical systems of the covered entities, including--
                    (A) analog and nondigital control systems;
                    (B) purpose-built control systems; and
                    (C) physical controls.

SEC. 4. WORKING GROUP TO EVALUATE PROGRAM STANDARDS AND DEVELOP 
              STRATEGY.

    (a) Establishment.--The Director shall establish a working group--
            (1) to evaluate the technology platforms and standards used 
        in the Program under section 3(2); and
            (2) to develop a national cyber-informed engineering 
        strategy to isolate and defend covered entities from security 
        vulnerabilities and exploits in the most critical systems of 
        the covered entities.
    (b) Membership.--The working group established under subsection (a) 
shall be composed of not fewer than 10 members, to be appointed by the 
Director, at least 1 member of which shall represent each of the 
following:
            (1) The Department of Energy.
            (2) The energy industry, including electric utilities and 
        manufacturers recommended by the Energy Sector coordinating 
        councils.
            (3)(A) The Department of Homeland Security; or
            (B) the Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response 
        Team.
            (4) The North American Electric Reliability Corporation.
            (5) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
            (6)(A) The Office of the Director of National Intelligence; 
        or
            (B) the intelligence community (as defined in section 3 of 
        the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003)).
            (7)(A) The Department of Defense; or
            (B) the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland 
        Security and America's Security Affairs.
            (8) A State or regional energy agency.
            (9) A national research body or academic institution.
            (10) The National Laboratories.

SEC. 5. REPORTS ON THE PROGRAM.

    (a) Interim Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date on 
which funds are first disbursed under the Program, the Director shall 
submit to the appropriate committees of Congress an interim report 
that--
            (1) describes the results of the Program;
            (2) includes an analysis of the feasibility of each method 
        studied under the Program; and
            (3) describes the results of the evaluations conducted by 
        the working group established under section 4(a).
    (b) Final Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date on which 
funds are first disbursed under the Program, the Director shall submit 
to the appropriate committees of Congress a final report that--
            (1) describes the results of the Program;
            (2) includes an analysis of the feasibility of each method 
        studied under the Program; and
            (3) describes the results of the evaluations conducted by 
        the working group established under section 4(a).
    (c) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
            (1) the congressional intelligence committees;
            (2) the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 
        Senate; and
            (3) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
        Representatives.

SEC. 6. NO NEW REGULATORY AUTHORITY FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES.

    Nothing in this Act authorizes the Director or the head of any 
other Federal agency to issue new regulations.

SEC. 7. EXEMPTION FROM DISCLOSURE.

    Information shared by or with the Federal Government or a State, 
tribal, or local government under this Act shall be--
            (1) deemed to be voluntarily shared information; and
            (2) exempt from disclosure under any provision of Federal, 
        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.

SEC. 8. PROTECTION FROM LIABILITY.

    (a) In General.--A cause of action against a covered entity for 
engaging in the voluntary activities authorized under section 3--
            (1) shall not lie or be maintained in any court; and
            (2) shall be promptly dismissed by the applicable court.
    (b) Voluntary Activities.--Nothing in this Act subjects any covered 
entity to liability for not engaging in the voluntary activities 
authorized under section 3.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) Pilot Program.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
$10,000,000 to carry out section 3.
    (b) Working Group and Report.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $1,500,000 to carry out sections 4 and 5.
    (c) Availability.--Amounts made available under subsections (a) and 
(b) shall remain available until expended.
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