[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 16, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12858-12860]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-5184]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Energy Information Administration (EIA), Department of Energy 
(DOE).

ACTION: Agency information collection activities: proposed collection; 
comment request.

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SUMMARY: The DOE is soliciting comments on the proposed revisions and 
three-year extension to EIA-417, ``Emergency Incident and Disturbance 
Report.'' (The revised Form, sponsored by DOE's Office of Electricity 
and Energy Assurance, (EEA) will be renumbered as the EEA-417, 
``Emergency Incident and Disturbance Report.'')

DATES: Comments must be filed by May 16, 2005. If you anticipate 
difficulty in submitting comments within that period, contact the 
person listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Alice Lippert, U.S. Department of Energy, 
1000 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20585-0690. Alternatively, 
Ms. Lippert may be contacted by telephone at (202) 586-9600, FAX at 
(202) 586-2623, or e-mail at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of forms and instructions should be directed to Ms. Lippert at 
the address listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
II. Current Actions
III. Request for Comments

I. Background

    The Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.) authorizes the DOE 
to collect information on the generation, distribution, and 
transmission of electric energy. The DOE collects information on 
emergency situations in electric energy supply systems so that 
appropriate Federal emergency response measures can be implemented in a 
timely and effective manner.
    The DOE, as part of its effort to comply with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), provides 
the general public and other Federal agencies with opportunities to 
comment on collections of energy information. Any comments received 
help the DOE to prepare data requests that maximize the utility of the 
information collected, and to assess the impact of collection 
requirements on the public. Also, the DOE will later seek approval by 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under section 3507(a) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
    The purpose of this notice is to seek public comment on the revised 
Form EEA-417 used to report electric emergency incidents and 
disturbances to the DOE. The Form EEA-417 reports will enable the 
Department to monitor electric emergency incidents and disturbances in 
the United States (including all 50 States, the District of Columbia, 
Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Trust Territories) so 
Government may help prevent the physical or virtual disruption of the 
operation of any critical infrastructure.
    Currently, DOE's Office of Electricity and Energy Assurance (EEA) 
uses Form EIA-417, ``Emergency Incident and Disturbance Report,'' to 
monitor major system incidents on electric power systems and to conduct 
after-action investigations on significant interruptions of electric 
power. The information is used to meet DOE national security 
responsibilities and requirements contained in the National Response 
Plan. The information may also be used in developing legislative 
recommendations and reports to Congress; and coordinating Federal 
efforts regarding activities such as incidents/disturbances in critical 
infrastructure protection; continuity of electric industry operations; 
and the continuity of operations of the government.
    The information submitted may also be used by the Department's 
Office of Policy and International Affairs and the Energy Information 
Administration to analyze significant interruptions of electric power.

II. Current Actions

    The DOE is proposing changing the form number from EIA-417 to EEA-
417 to reflect the sponsorship of the form and to revise the reporting 
requirements. The revisions include the following: (1) Identifying 
which electric emergency incidents must be reported, on which schedule, 
and how soon after

[[Page 12859]]

an incident must the form be submitted; (2) changing reporting criteria 
and thresholds for incidents and disturbances; and (3) adding check-off 
boxes, (4) including optional data reporting; and (5) revising the 
confidentiality provisions. Each revision is discussed below.

(1) Schedule Requirements and Timelines

    The Form EEA-417, ``Electric Emergency Incident and Disturbance 
Report,'' will have the existing Schedule 1 broken into two parts, Part 
A and Part B. The proposed Part A of Schedule 1 (Emergency Alert 
Notice) will be for a subset of incidents and disturbances that need to 
be filed within one hour. The reporting requirement is that the Form 
EEA-417 must be submitted within 1 hour if the cause of the disturbance 
meets criteria 1-8 (The new criteria are discussed in the next 
section). The proposed Part B of Schedule 1 will contain essentially 
the same information as the existing form, but will be labeled Part B--
Normal/Update Alert Notice and will have an initial reporting 
requirement of 6 hours. The separation of Schedule 1 into two Parts 
reflects that the initial notification to the Federal Government about 
potential impacts of incidents on electrical system operations is not 
required of all incidents or disturbances within one hour. Schedule 2 
has been modified to request that the respondent identify the names of 
facilities affected and provide input about ``electrical islanding 
situations.'' (This occurs where part or parts of a power grid 
remain(s) operational in an otherwise blacked out area or within the 
partial failure of an integrated electrical system.)

(2) Changes to Reporting Criteria

    The Required Respondents criteria will be revised to properly 
address actual physical or cyber attacks that do damage to the Nation's 
infrastructure, from that of suspected or attempted actions. The 
reporting criteria are adjusted by adding two new lines (1 and 2), 
which are subsets of the current criteria 5 and 6. Lastly, proposed 
criterion 4 (electrical islanding) is also a subset of the current 
criterion 9 (full electrical system failure). The recommended changes 
provide for better reporting of an alert within one hour that describes 
actual events that have had an impact on electrical operations.
    The proposed format for criteria (1, 2, and 4) are included with 
the existing criteria (which are re-numbered so they are) ranked by 
severity of incident. The proposed criteria are:
    1. Actual physical attack that causes major interruptions or 
impacts to critical infrastructure facilities or to operations (subset 
of criterion 5 on current form).
    2. Actual cyber or communications attack that causes major 
interruptions of electrical system operations (subset of criterion 6 on 
current form).
    3. Complete operational failure or shut-down of the transmission 
and/or distribution electrical system (criterion 9 on current form).
    4. Electrical System Separation (Islanding) where part or parts of 
a power grid remain(s) operational in an otherwise blacked out area or 
within the partial failure of an integrated electrical system (subset 
of criterion 9 on current form).
    5. Uncontrolled loss of 300 Megawatts (MW) or more of firm system 
loads for more than 15 minutes from a single incident (criterion 1 on 
current form).
    6. Load shedding of 100 MW or more implemented under emergency 
operational policy (criterion 2 on current form).
    7. System-wide voltage reductions of 3 percent or more (criterion 3 
on current form).
    8. Public appeal to reduce the use of electricity for purposes of 
maintaining the continuity of the electric power system (criterion 4 on 
current form).
    9. Suspected physical attacks that could impact electric power 
system adequacy or reliability; or vandalism which target components of 
any security systems (subset of criterion 5 on current form).
    10. Suspected cyber or communications attacks that could impact 
electric power system adequacy or vulnerability (subset of criterion 6 
on current form).
    11. Loss of electric service to more than 25,000 customers for 1 
hour or more (modification of reporting requirement for criterion 8 on 
current form--see below).
    12. Fuel supply emergencies that could impact electric power system 
adequacy or reliability (criterion 7 on current form).
    With respect to Criterion 11 in Schedule 1, the threshold ``Loss of 
electric service to more than 25,000 customers for 1 hour or more'' has 
been reduced from 50,000 to 25,000 end-user customers. This change was 
made after DOE reviewed several years of filings and determined that a 
strong undercount exists for reporting by mid-sized and small 
utilities.
    Any utility, business entity, or energy concern that participates 
in the electric power industry could be notified by DOE that it needs 
to provide technical information concerning a particular incident. A 
new confidential question, covering a teleconferencing contact has been 
added to support this area. If DOE believes that the incident(s) 
warrants a conference discussion, the respondent will be requested to 
supply the teleconference/video number and password for that session on 
the Form EEA-417. These special investigations are infrequent and 
reports are released to the public. (The Department of Energy has 
initiated three special studies about incidents that happened in the 
1990s and none in the 1980s. The three studies are: The Cold Weather 
Snap of 1992; The Electric Power Outages in the Western United States, 
July 2-3, 1996 (DOE/PO-0050); and the Report of the U.S. Department of 
Energy's Power Outage Study Team (DOE/PO--March 2000 Final Report.)

(3) Check-Off Boxes

    Another proposed revision to the Form EEA-417 is to add more detail 
to the check-off boxes in Sections 19, 20, and 21, formerly Sections 
17, 18, and 19. The check-off boxes are grouped by events that 
describe: Type of Emergency, Cause of Incident, and Actions Taken. The 
respondent will continue to mark the form to indicate all known or 
suspected causes. In addition, check-off boxes have been added to 
indicate if high voltage transmission substations or switchyards (230 
kV+ for AC; 200 kV+ for DC) were impacted. (kV is kilovolt, AC is 
Alternating Current, and DC is Direct Current.) The classifications of 
Cause of Incident and Actions Taken were also adjusted to rank 
categories by severity.

(4) Optional Data Reporting

    The data will continue to be filed with the DOE's Emergency 
Operations Center. This DOE facility operates 24 hours a-day, 7-days a 
week. Electronic submission is the preferred method of notification. 
Fax, e-mail, and telephone contract are also accepted. However, changes 
to the information sharing process are under consideration as well as 
allowance for optional filing modes. The U. S. Department of Homeland 
Security and the North American Electric Reliability Council are 
developing a Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN) program that 
may change the data submission process. (The HSIN has been designated 
by DHS as its primary platform for the sharing of information and as 
the mechanism for collaboration on threats and vulnerabilities 
pertaining to U.S. critical infrastructure. HSIN will enable

[[Page 12860]]

industry sectors designated as owners and operators of ``critical 
infrastructure'' under HSPD-7 to receive, submit, share and collaborate 
on information pertaining to incidents, threats, vulnerabilities and 
infrastructure security. HSIN will be financed by DHS and controlled by 
the industry sectors. HSIN runs on a highly secure backbone network, 
and includes the following components: (a) Industry sector portals with 
the ability to report incidents via secure protocol, post community 
updates and store sensitive documents; (b) Collaboration Tools enabling 
members to engage in real-time dialogue around planning and response to 
incidents; and (c) Broadcasting/Narrowcasting of alerts, threats and 
warnings. The proposed reporting process is intended to reduce 
duplicative reporting and establish a common reporting format by 
providing another option on how the Form EEA-417 can be filed with DOE. 
As this concept is developed, the status will be addressed in future 
informational releases or Federal Register notices.

(5) Confidentiality

    DOE will treat the entire narrative on Form EEA-417, Schedule 2, as 
confidential. The requested information will provide a brief 
description of the incident or expected system problem, names of 
facilities affected, and actions taken to resolve it. If released, this 
could affect the economic operations of various electricity markets; 
cause competitive harm; and/or identify concerns that could be or are 
being reviewed by law enforcement agencies. Contact information for a 
respondent will continue to be treated as confidential (Lines 4-9 of 
Schedule 1). This includes the proposed Line 9 covering 
teleconferencing/video contact information.
    The following is the provision for confidentiality of information 
for data in the possession of DOE that will be applied to the data 
submitted in the narrative in Schedule 2.
    The information reported on Form EEA-417 will be kept confidential 
and not disclosed to the public to the extent that it satisfies the 
criteria for exemption under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 
U.S.C. 552, the DOE regulations, 10 CFR 1004.11, implementing the FOIA, 
and the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. 1905. The DOE will protect your 
information in accordance with its confidentiality and security 
policies and procedures.
    The Federal Energy Administration Act requires the DOE to provide 
company-specific data to other Federal agencies when requested for 
official use. The information reported on this form may also be made 
available, upon request, to another component of the DOE; to any 
Committee of Congress, the General Accounting Office, or other Federal 
agencies authorized by law to receive such information. A court of 
competent jurisdiction may obtain this information in response to an 
order. The information may be used for any nonstatistical purposes such 
as administrative, regulatory, law enforcement, or adjudicatory 
purposes.
    Officials in the Critical Infrastructure Protection Branch of the 
Department of Homeland Security have requested access to the EEA-417 
submissions.

III. Request for Comments

    Prospective respondents and other interested parties should comment 
on the actions discussed in item II. The following guidelines are 
provided to assist in the preparation of comments.
    General Issues:
    A. Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency and does the 
information have practical utility? Practical utility is defined as the 
actual usefulness of information to or for an agency, taking into 
account its accuracy, adequacy, reliability, timeliness, and the 
agency's ability to process the information it collects.
    B. What enhancements can be made to the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected?
    As a potential respondent to the request for information:
    A. Are the instructions and definitions clear and sufficient? If 
not, which instructions need clarification?
    B. Can the information be submitted by the due date?
    C. Public reporting burden for this collection is estimated to 
average 10 minutes for the Emergency Incident Report (Schedule 1, Part 
A) that is to be filed within 1 hour; the overall public reporting 
burden for the form is estimated at 2 hours to cover any detailed 
reporting in the Normal/Update Report (Schedule 1, Part B and Schedule 
2) that would be filed later (up to 48 hours), if required. In your 
opinion, how accurate is this estimate?
    D. The agency estimates that the only cost to a respondent is for 
the time it will take to complete the collection. Will a respondent 
incur any start-up costs for reporting, or any recurring annual costs 
for operation, maintenance, and purchase of services associated with 
the information collection?
    E. What additional actions could be taken to minimize the burden of 
this collection of information? Such actions may involve the use of 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    F. Does any other Federal, State, or local agency collect similar 
information? If so, specify the agency, the data element(s), and the 
methods of collection.
    G. Is the proposed treatment for narrative information as 
confidential appropriate? Is it appropriate for another data element? 
If so, then specify the data element(s) and provide an explanation for 
the proposed confidential status. Is the delayed release of information 
effective in addressing competitive market concerns?
    As a potential user of the information to be collected:
    A. Is the information useful at the levels of detail to be 
collected?
    B. For what purpose(s) would the information be used? Be specific.
    C. Are there alternate sources for the information and are they 
useful? If so, what are their weaknesses and/or strengths?
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the form. They also 
will become a matter of public record.

    Statutory Authority: Section 3507(h)(1) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).

    Issued in Washington, DC, March 10, 2005.
Jay H. Casselberry,
Agency Clearance Officer, Energy Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 05-5184 Filed 3-15-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P