On March 19 the U.S. Department of Homeland Security first published guidelines to help identify essential 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.” On March 28, Christopher Krebs, Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued additional guidance in his Memorandum on Identification of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers During COVID-19 Response.
Definition of What is Considered an Essential Business:
The CISA’s publication provides a list of 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.”
These sectors include:
- Healthcare/Public Health
- Law Enforcement, Public Safety, First Responders
- Food and Agriculture
- Energy
- Water and Wastewater
- Transportation and Logistics
- Public Works
- Communications and Information Technology
- Other Community-Based Government Operations and Essential Functions
- Critical Manufacturing
- Hazardous Materials
- Financial Services
- Chemical
- Defense Industrial Base
The CISA publication is intended to help state, local, and industry partners in “identifying the essential workers needed to maintain the services and functions Americans depend on daily and need to be able to operate resiliently during the COVID-19 pandemic response.” These industries are generally defined to encompass not only the businesses that fall squarely within their definitions, but also those businesses that are critical to sustaining their ongoing functions.
For more information regarding how these orders impact your business, contact the following attorneys based on your location:
Indiana: Heather L. Wilson
Kentucky: Trey Grayson
Michigan: Terrence J.L. Reeves
Ohio: Catherine F. Burgett
Pennsylvania: Kevin L. Colosimo
Tennessee: Lynda M. Hill
Texas: Daniel P. Novakov
Virginia: Cory J. Skolnick
West Virginia: Carte P. Goodwin