Client Alert: COVID-19 Critical Infrastructure Services

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The recent quarantine announcements in California and New York both exempt “critical infrastructure sectors.”  These critical infrastructure sectors are defined here and the categories are reprinted below. Companies should become familiar with these categories to determine which of their business operations fall within these sectors. PLEASE NOTE that this designation is not an official regulatory action of the Federal Government; it is merely guidance for local and state governments and other policy makers.

16 Critical Infrastructure Sectors

There are 16 critical infrastructure sectors whose assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof. Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21): PPD-21 identifies 16 critical infrastructure sectors.

• Chemical Sector
• Commercial Facilities Sector
• Communications Sector
• Critical Manufacturing Sector
• Dams Sector
• Defense Industrial Base Sector
• Emergency Services Sector
• Energy Sector
• Financial Services Sector
• Food and Agriculture Sector
• Government Facilities Sector
• Healthcare and Public Health Sector
• Information Technology Sector
• Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste Sector
• Transportation Systems Sector
• Water and Wastewater Systems Sector

The broader definition of critical infrastructure is defined in the USA Patriot Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)). ‘Critical infrastructure are any “systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters.” This definition is appropriately broad to include a wide range of stakeholders who either directly or indirectly enable the functionality of infrastructure systems.’

Our Insights are published as a service to clients and friends. They are intended to be informational and do not constitute legal advice regarding any specific situation.