PROTECT PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE.

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View NCGA Bill Details2023-2024 Session
House Bill 671 (Public) Filed Tuesday, April 18, 2023
AN ACT TO MAKE IT A CLASS F FELONY TO WILLFULLY OR MALICIOUSLY DESTROY, INJURE, OR OTHERWISE DAMAGE A PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE OR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM; TO ESTABLISH THE CYBER SECURITY FUND WITHIN THE STATE TREASURY TO BE ADMINISTERED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY WITH INPUT FROM CRITICAL GOVERNMENT STAKEHOLDERS FOR THE PURPOSE OF UPGRADING THEIR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE TO STRENGTHEN THE STATE AND LOCALITIES AGAINST CYBERATTACKS AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR THAT PURPOSE; AND TO ESTABLISH THE UTILITY SECURITIZATION TRUST FUND WITHIN THE STATE TREASURY TO STRENGTHEN PUBLIC UTILITY COMPANIES, THE STATE, AND LOCALITIES AGAINST ATTACKS ON UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR THAT PURPOSE.
Intro. by Reives, Charles Smith, F. Jackson, Pierce.

Status: Ref to the Com on Energy and Public Utilities, if favorable, Judiciary 2, if favorable, Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House (House action) (Apr 19 2023)
H 671

Bill Summaries:

  • Summary date: Apr 18 2023 - View Summary

    Enacts new GS 14-150.2 (Attack on public infrastructure) making it a Class F felony to willfully or maliciously destroy or damage, or attempt to destroy or damage, a public infrastructure or public transportation system. Defines public infrastructure to include publicly or privately owned facilities, systems, functions, or assets, both physical and virtual, that provide or distribute services for the benefit of the public, such as energy, fuel, water, and communications systems. Similarly defines public transportation system to include publicly or privately owned facilities and conveyances used for public transportation of individuals or cargo. Imposes civil liability on any person who violates the section or acts as an accessory or aids in the violation of the section. Effective and applies to offenses committed on or after December 1, 2023. 

    Creates new GS 143C-9-10 (Cyber Security Fund), which creates the North Carolina Cybersecurity Commission (Commission) to make grant awards from the Cyber Security Fund to state and local agencies for cybersecurity upgrades, risk responsiveness, and personnel training. Makes the State Treasurer the custodian of the Cyber Security Fund. Requires the Department of Information Technology to administer expenditures and the program of grants awarded by the Commission with input from the Department of Public Safety, State Bureau of Investigation, and counties and cities. Establishes the members of the Commission as one representative from each of the following entities: the Department of Information Technology, the Division of Emergency Management in the Department of Public Safety, the North Carolina National Guard, and the North Carolina Local Government Information Systems Association. Provides for the Commission’s duties, including developing a cybersecurity strategy to make North Carolina governments secure, and to advise state and local officials on cybersecurity. Amends GS 143B-1322 to add administration of the Cyber Security Fund to the list of State CIO duties. 

    Effective July 1, 2023, appropriates $25 million for 2023-24 and $25 million for 2024-25 from the General Fund to the Cyber Security Fund. Directs federal funds received in the 2023-25 biennium to implement the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program to be credited to the Cyber Security Fund. 

    Adds new GS 143C-9-11 (Utility Securitization Trust Fund), which creates a fund administered by the State Treasurer to make awards to public utilities for upgrading and hardening the security of public utility infrastructure, for risk responsiveness, and personnel training. Directs the State Treasurer to manage the fund with input from the Department of Public Safety, State Bureau of Investigation, counties and cities, and the Public Utilities Commission. 

    Effective July 1, 2023, appropriates $25 million for 2023-24 and $25 million for 2024-25 from the General Fund to the Utility Securitization Trust Fund.