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MassDEP: cybersecurity assessments required; $2M grant fund offers up to $50,000 per water system
Summary
MassDEP said water systems must complete cybersecurity assessments as part of emergency response/sanitary survey requirements and announced a Cybersecurity Improvement Grant (administered with Clean Water Trust) offering up to $50,000 per system from a $2 million pool; 32 systems have been funded to date.
Gan Bubble, the cybersecurity coordinator for the drinking water program at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, told webinar attendees that cybersecurity assessments are integrated into sanitary-survey and emergency-response planning requirements and explained how systems can obtain assistance.
"How you can get a cyber security assessment? You can get a free cyber security assessment utilizing EPA's cybersecurity program... it takes 2 hours of your time virtually, and once you complete that... you get a mitigation plan," Gan said, adding that MassDEP prefers to review completed assessment reports via scheduled calls or secure remote meetings rather than receiving the documents by email.
Gan outlined eligibility and exceptions: small systems with no operational-technology (OT) at risk (for example, transient non-community systems) may submit a "no OT" form instead of a full assessment; systems scheduled for a sanitary survey this year should complete an assessment in advance so MassDEP staff can review results during the survey process.
On funding, Gan announced a Cybersecurity Improvement Grant launched in collaboration with the Clean Water Trust that provides up to $50,000 per water system. "Total amount we allocated for this grant was $2 million. So far 32 water systems already utilized this grant. We spent almost $1.2 million. Still we have some funding available and we are accepting applications on first come first serve basis," Gan said. Eligible uses include replacing outdated hardware and software, tabletop exercises, and developing incident-response and emergency-response plans.
MassDEP staff said organizers will post the webinar recording to MassDEP's official YouTube channel and will share materials and links to the EPA assessment tool and grant guidance in the event materials. Gan invited attendees with questions to reach out to the MassDEP drinking water program listed in the materials.
The information in this article is based on statements made by the MassDEP presenter during the webinar; applicants should consult MassDEP grant guidance linked in the event materials for application deadlines and eligibility details.
