Combating Critical Infrastructure Vandalism Act of 2026

This bill amends federal law to increase penalties for vandalism of copper, fiber, and coaxial cables used for telecommunications and information services. It updates existing criminal provisions to specifically target theft and damage to these critical infrastructure components.

Sec. 2, Communication lines, stations, or systems: The bill revises Section 1362 of title 18 to make it unlawful to willfully or maliciously injure, destroy, steal, or attempt to steal copper, fiber, or coaxial cables used for telecommunications or information services in interstate commerce. It adds a penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment and fines. The bill exempts customer premises equipment (equipment on a customer's property owned or leased by the customer) from these new provisions.