The White House directed EPA and other federal agencies this week to stand up “minimum” security requirements for critical sectors of the economy, including the drinking water and wastewater industries.
In a new memorandum on national security, the Biden administration urged agencies to adopt resilience and security mandates, in addition to voluntary measures, to protect critical infrastructure from physical threats, cyberattacks and the effects of climate change.
“Voluntary approaches to enhance critical infrastructure security and resilience have meaningfully mitigated risk over the past decade, but more must be done to ensure the Nation’s critical infrastructure is secure and resilient against all threats and hazards,” the memorandum said.
Water providers have struggled to stay on top of cybersecurity threats, which have become more frequent and pronounced in recent years. The industry has also clashed with EPA over how to handle the issue.
