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The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (“Eighth Circuit”) granted a stay of a United States Environmental Protection Agency interpretive rule associated with a March 3rd memorandum titled:

Addressing PWS Cybersecurity and Sanitary Surveys or an Alternate Process (“Memorandum”)

The EPA Memorandum expressed concern that some public water systems (“PWS”) had failed to adopt basic security best practices. It purported to clarify that states must:

. . . evaluate the cybersecurity of operational technology used by a PWS when conducting PWS sanitary surveys or through other state programs.

The Memorandum provided what EPA characterized as “various approaches” to include cybersecurity in PWS sanitary surveys or other state programs.

The Arkansas, Missouri, and Iowa Attorney Generals had filed on April 17th a Petition for Review in the Eighth Circuit challenging the Memorandum. Their Petition argued that the Memorandum was in fact a rule that was promulgated without the required public notice procedures.

Trade associations such as the American Water Works Association and National Rural Water Association also filed petitions challenging the Memorandum.

A copy of the American Water Works Association news release describing the Eighth Circuit’s granting of the stay can be found here and a copy of the EPA Memorandum here.