Limiting Liability for Critical Infrastructure Manufacturers Act
The Limiting Liability for Critical Infrastructure Manufacturers Act would grant broad immunity from both federal and state lawsuits to manufacturers of critical infrastructure equipment for losses related to wildfire incidents, unless the manufacturer can prove willful misconduct in the design or production of the equipment. The bill uses existing definitions of “critical infrastructure” (per the USA PATRIOT Act) and “manufacturer” (per the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act) to determine who is protected. In practice, this would significantly limit victims’ ability to sue these manufacturers for damages arising from wildfires linked to that equipment, shifting more risk onto other parties such as property owners, insurers, or government programs. The bill frames this immunity as a matter of national resilience, citing the need to strengthen and maintain secure, functioning, and resilient critical infrastructure. If enacted, the protection would preempt state-law claims as well as many federal claims, except in cases where willful misconduct in design or production is proven. The overall effect would be to reduce litigation exposure for manufacturers of essential infrastructure while potentially reducing avenues for wildfire-related accountability for downstream victims.
Key Points
- 1Immunity from liability: Any manufacturer of critical infrastructure equipment is immune from suit and liability under federal and state law for all claims arising from wildfire incidents.
- 2Willful misconduct exception: Immunity does not apply if there is proof the manufacturer engaged in willful misconduct in the design or production of the equipment.
- 3Definitions tied to other statutes:
- 4- Critical infrastructure is defined as in section 1016(e) of the USA PATRIOT Act (42 U.S.C. 5195(e)).
- 5- Manufacturer is defined as those entities within the critical manufacturing sector as defined by section 2220A(a)(2) of the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA) of 2022.
- 6Scope of claims: The immunity covers all loss claims that are “caused by, arising out of, relating to, or resulting from wildfire incidents.”
- 7Preemption of state law: The bill creates immunity under both federal and state law, effectively preempting state tort claims against qualifying manufacturers, except where willful misconduct is shown.