Critical Infrastructure Protection Act

2025-2026 Bill 4661: Critical Infrastructure Protection Act - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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H. 4661
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Pope and Chumley
Document Path: LC-0195HA26.docx
Introduced in the House on January 13, 2026
Currently residing in the House Committee on
Judiciary
Summary: Critical Infrastructure Protection Act
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

12/16/2025

House

Prefiled

12/16/2025

House

Referred to Committee on
Judiciary

1/13/2026

House

Introduced and read first time (
House Journal-page 48
)

1/13/2026

House

Referred to Committee on
Judiciary
(
House Journal-page 48
)

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
12/17/2025

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING ARTICLE
10 TO CHAPTER 11, TITLE 16, SO AS TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS, TO PROHIBIT PERSONS
FROM ENTERING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION, AND TO
PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS; AND BY ADDING SECTION
16-11-745
SO AS TO
PROHIBIT PERSONS FROM THREATENING INDIVIDUALS WITH THE INTENT TO OBSTRUCT THE
OPERATION OF AN ELECTRIC UTILITY SYSTEM.

B
e it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

S
ECTION 1.
C
hapter 11, Title 16 of the S.C. Code is amended by
adding:

A
rticle 10

C
ritical Infrastructure Protection

S
ection
16-11-1010
.
A
s used in this article:

(
1)
"Critical infrastructure" means a system or asset, whether physical or virtual,
so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of the system
or asset would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic
security, national public health, or national public safety.

(
2)
"Critical infrastructure facility" means a facility that contains critical
infrastructure. This includes, but is not limited to:

(
a)
a chemical, polymer, or rubber manufacturing facility;

(
b)
any plant, facility, assets, or equipment utilized for the generation,
transmission, distribution, or storage of electricity;

(
c)
any plant, facility, assets, or equipment utilized for natural gas terminals,
compressor, treatment, distribution, or storage;

(
d)
any plant, facility, assets, or equipment utilized for fuel or oil storage,
distribution, or refinery;

(
e)
a mining operation or infrastructure;

(
f)
a transportation facility such as a port, airport, railroad operating facility,
or trucking terminal;

(
g)
a wireline or wireless communications infrastructure;

(
h)
a steelmaking facility that uses an electric arc furnace;

(
i)
a dam that is regulated by state or federal government.

(
3)
"Critical infrastructure property" means any real or personal property
necessary to the operation of a critical infrastructure facility. This includes,
but is not limited to, any equipment, commodity, hardware, software, or other
digital or electronic property.

(
4)
"Fraudulent document for identification purposes" means a document that is
presented as being a bona fide document that provides personal identification
information but which, in fact, is false, forged, altered, or counterfeit.

(
5)
"Person" means an individual, trust, estate, corporation, partnership, limited
partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company, or
unincorporated nonprofit association having a separate legal existence under
state law.

(
6)
"Unmanned aircraft system" means a powered, aerial vehicle that does not carry
a human operator, uses aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, may fly
autonomously through an onboard computer or be piloted remotely, and may be
expendable or recoverable. "Unmanned aircraft system" does not include a
satellite orbiting the Earth or a spacecraft beyond Earth's atmosphere and may
not be construed to implicate the provider of a telecommunications link between
an owner or operator of an unmanned aircraft system and the unmanned aircraft
system.

S
ection
16-11-1020
.
(
A) It is unlawful
for a person to enter a critical infrastructure facility without authorization if
the person:

(
1)
intentionally enters without authority into any structure or onto any premises
belonging to another that constitutes in whole or in part a critical
infrastructure facility that is completely enclosed by any type of physical
barrier or is clearly marked with a sign or signs that are posted in a
conspicuous manner and indicate that unauthorized entry is forbidden;

(
2)
uses or attempts to use a fraudulent document for identification for the
purpose of entering a critical infrastructure facility;

(
3)
remains on the premises of a critical infrastructure facility after having been
forbidden to do so, either orally or in writing, by any owner, lessee, or
custodian of the property or by any other authorized person; or

(
4)
intentionally enters a restricted area of a critical infrastructure facility
which is marked as a restricted or limited access area that is completely
enclosed by any type of physical barrier when the person is not authorized to
enter the restricted or limited access area.

(
B)
A person who violates the provisions of subsection (A) is guilty of a Class D
felony, and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more than fifteen
years.

S
ection
16-11-1030
.
(
A) If, during the
commission of the crime of unauthorized entry of a critical infrastructure
facility, the person injures, removes, destroys, or breaks critical
infrastructure property, or otherwise interrupts or interferes with the
operations of a critical infrastructure asset, the person is guilty of a Class
B felony, and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more than
twenty-five years.

(
B)
If, during the commission of the crime of unauthorized entry of a critical
infrastructure facility, the person attempts to injure, remove, destroy, or
break critical infrastructure property, or otherwise attempts to interrupt or
interfere with the operations of a critical infrastructure asset, the person is
guilty of a Class B felony, and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not
more than twenty-five years.

S
ection
16-11-1040
. A person who violates the provisions of Section
16-11-1020
while
possessing or operating an unmanned aircraft system with an attached weapon,
firearm, explosive, destructive device, or ammunition is guilty of a Class C
felony, and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more than twenty
years.

S
ection
16-11-1050
.
(
A) Nothing in this
article shall be construed to prevent lawful assembly and peaceful and orderly
petition for the redress of grievances including, but not limited to, any labor
dispute between any employer and its employee.

(
B)
Nothing in this article shall be construed to prohibit the State, a county, or
a municipality from taking any lawful action on their respective rights-of-way.

S
ection
16-11-1060
. The penalties provided in this article are supplemental to any
other penalties provided by law.

S
ECTION 2.
A
rticle 7, Chapter 11, Title 16 of the S.C. Code is
amended by adding:

S
ection
16-11-745
. It is unlawful for a person to threaten an individual with a deadly
weapon or dangerous instrument with the intent to obstruct the operation of an electric
utility system, as defined in Section
16-11-740
(A), provided that the
individual is working under the procedures and within the scope of his or her
duties as an employee of the electric utility system and has properly
identified himself or herself when asked by stating his or her name, employer,
and purpose of work.

S
ECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on January 13, 2026 at 2:38 PM