SB 322

SB322 INTRODUCED
1 SB322
2 MS277WH-1
3 By Senator Williams
4 RFD: Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development
5 First Read: 25-Feb-26
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MS277WH-1 02/24/2026 JWB (L)bm 2026-1048
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4 SYNOPSIS:
5Under existing law, it is a crime to enter a
6critical infrastructure facility without authorization.
7This bill would exclude reservoirs that meet the
8definition of public waters from the list of critical
9infrastructure facilities.
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11
12A BILL
13TO BE ENTITLED
14AN ACT
15
16Relating to crimes and offenses; to amend Section
17 13A-7-4.3, Code of Alabama 1975, as last amended by Act
18 2025-64, 2025 Regular Session; to revise the crime of
19 unauthorized entry to a critical infrastructure facility to
20 remove reservoirs that meet the definition of public waters
21 from the list of critical infrastructure facilities.
22 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
23Section 1. Section 13A-7-4.3, Code of Alabama 1975, as
24 last amended by Act 2025-64, 2025 Regular Session, is amended
25 to read as follows:
26"§13A-7-4.3
27(a) For the purposes of this section, the following
28 terms have the following meanings:
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29(1) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE. A system or asset, whether
30 physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the
31 incapacity or destruction of the system or asset would have a
32 debilitating impact on security, national economic security,
33 national public health, or national public safety.
34(2) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY. The term
35 includes, but is not limited to, any of the following,
36 including any critical infrastructure located on or in any of
37 the following types of facilities:
38a. A chemical, polymer, or rubber manufacturing
39 facility.
40b. A pipeline.
41c. A refinery.
42d. An electrical power generating facility.
43e. The area surrounding an electrical power generating
44 facility.
45f. An electrical transmission tower.
46g. An electrical substation or distribution substation.
47h. An electric utility control center.
48i. Electrical communication equipment.
49j. An electrical switching station.
50k. Electric power lines, power storage equipment, or
51 other utility equipment.
52l. Any portion of a public water system or public
53 wastewater treatment system, except for any reservoir that
54 meets the definition of public waters pursuant to Section
55 9-11-80.
56m. A natural gas transmission compressor station.
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57n. A liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal or storage
58 facility.
59o. A natural gas distribution facility, including, but
60 not limited to, a pipeline interconnection, a city gate or
61 town border station, a metering station, aboveground piping, a
62 regular station, or a natural gas or hydrocarbon storage or
63 production facility.
64p. A mining operation.
65q. Beneficiation infrastructure or mining
66 infrastructure.
67r. A transportation facility such as a port, airport,
68 railroad operating facility, or trucking terminal.
69s. Communications service infrastructure or facilities,
70 as defined under Section 37-17-1.
71t. A gas processing plant, including a plant used in
72 the processing, treatment, or fractionation of natural gas or
73 natural gas liquids.
74u. A steelmaking facility that uses an electric arc
75 furnace.
76v. A dam that is regulated by the state or federal
77 government.
78w. A crude oil or refined products storage or
79 distribution facility, including, but not limited to, a valve
80 site, a pipeline interconnection, a pump station, a metering
81 station, below ground piping, above ground piping, or a truck
82 loading or offloading facility.
83x. A defense contractor facility.
84y. A pulp and paper manufacturing facility.
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85(3) FRAUDULENT DOCUMENTS FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES. A
86 document that is presented as being a bona fide document that
87 provides personal identification information but which, in
88 fact, is false, forged, altered, or counterfeit.
89(4) PERSON. An individual, trust, estate, corporation,
90 partnership, limited partnership, limited liability
91 partnership, limited liability company, or unincorporated
92 nonprofit association having a separate legal existence under
93 state law.
94(5) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM. A powered, aerial vehicle
95 that does not carry a human operator, uses aerodynamic forces
96 to provide vehicle lift, may fly autonomously through an
97 onboard computer or be piloted remotely, and may be expendable
98 or recoverable. The term does not include a satellite orbiting
99 the Earth or a spacecraft beyond Earth's atmosphere and may
100 not be construed to implicate the provider of a
101 telecommunications link between an owner or operator of an
102 unmanned aircraft system and the unmanned aircraft system.
103(b) A person commits the crime of unauthorized entry of
104 a critical infrastructure facility if the person does any of
105 the following:
106(1) Intentionally enters without authority into any
107 structure or onto any premises belonging to another that
108 constitutes in whole or in part a critical infrastructure
109 facility that is completely enclosed by any type of physical
110 barrier or clearly marked with a sign or signs that are posted
111 in a conspicuous manner and indicate that unauthorized entry
112 is forbidden.
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113(2) Uses or attempts to use a fraudulent document for
114 identification for the purpose of entering a critical
115 infrastructure facility.
116(3) Remains on the premises of a critical
117 infrastructure facility after having been forbidden to do so,
118 either orally or in writing, by any owner, lessee, or
119 custodian of the property or by any other authorized person.
120(4) Intentionally enters into a restricted area of a
121 critical infrastructure facility which is marked as a
122 restricted or limited access area, or which is completely
123 enclosed by any type of physical barrier, when the person is
124 not authorized to enter the restricted or limited access area.
125(c) A person who commits the crime of unauthorized
126 entry of a critical infrastructure facility is guilty of a
127 Class A misdemeanor.
128(d) If a person intentionally, recklessly, or with
129 criminal negligence injures, removes, destroys, or breaks
130 critical infrastructure property, or otherwise interrupts or
131 interferes with the operations of a critical infrastructure
132 asset, the person is guilty of a Class C felony.
133(e) A person who commits the crime of unauthorized
134 entry of a critical infrastructure facility while possessing
135 or operating an unmanned aircraft system with an attached
136 weapon, firearm, explosive, destructive device, or ammunition
137 is guilty of a Class C felony.
138(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to
139 prevent lawful assembly and peaceful and orderly petition for
140 the redress of grievances, including, but not limited to, any
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141 labor dispute between any employer and its employee.
142(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to
143 prohibit the state, a county, or a municipality from taking
144 any lawful action on their respective rights-of-way.
145(h) Nothing in subsection (b) or (d) shall apply to any
146 act committed by a person within the scope of his or her
147 employment. For purposes of this subsection, the scope of a
148 person's employment shall include the performance of actions
149 that are necessary for the performance of a lawful work
150 assignment."
151Section 2. This act shall become effective on October
152 1, 2026.
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