[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 90 (Friday, May 9, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26738-26739]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-10611]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC14-7-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-603); Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Comment request.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D), the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (Commission or FERC) is submitting the information 
collection FERC-603, Critical Energy Infrastructure Information 
Request, to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review of the 
information collection requirements. Any interested person may file 
comments directly with OMB and should address a copy of those comments 
to the Commission as explained below. The Commission issued a Notice in 
the Federal Register (79 FR 8181, 2/11/2014) requesting public 
comments. FERC received one comment in response to the notice and has 
addressed the comment below and in the supporting statement submitted 
to OMB.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due by June 9, 
2014.

ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB, identified by the OMB Control No. 
1902-0197, should be sent via email to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs: [email protected]. Attention: Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission Desk Officer. The Desk Officer may also be 
reached via telephone at 202-395-4718.
    A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, identified by the Docket No. IC14-7-000, by 
either of the following methods:
     eFiling at Commission's Web site: http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp.
     Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20426.
    Instructions: All submissions must be formatted and filed in 
accordance with submission guidelines at: http://www.ferc.gov/help/submission-guide.asp. For user assistance contact FERC Online Support 
by email at [email protected], or by phone at: (866) 208-3676 
(toll-free), or (202) 502-8659 for TTY.
    Docket: Users interested in receiving automatic notification of 
activity in this docket or in viewing/downloading comments and 
issuances in this docket may do so at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/docs-filing.asp.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brown may be reached by email at 
[email protected], by telephone at (202) 502-8663, and by fax at 
(202) 273-0873.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: FERC-603, Critical Energy Infrastructure Information 
Request.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0197.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-603 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting 
requirements.
    Abstract: This collection is used by the Commission to implement 
procedures for gaining access to critical energy infrastructure 
information (CEII) that would not otherwise be available under the 
Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552). On February, 21, 2003, the 
Commission issued Order No. 630 (66 FR 52917) to address the 
appropriate treatment of CEII in the aftermath of the September 11, 
2001 terrorist attacks and to restrict unrestrained general access due 
to the ongoing terrorism threat. These steps enable the Commission to 
keep sensitive infrastructure information out of the public domain, 
decreasing the likelihood that such information could be used to plan 
or execute terrorist attacks. The process adopted in Order No. 630 is a 
more efficient alternative for handling requests for previously public 
documents than FOIA. The Commission has defined CEII to include 
information about ``existing or proposed critical infrastructure that 
(i) relates to the production, generation, transportation, 
transmission, or distribution of energy; (ii) could be useful to a 
person planning an attack on critical infrastructure; (iii) is exempt 
from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, and 
(iv) does not simply give the location of the critical infrastructure. 
Critical infrastructure means existing and proposed systems and assets, 
whether physical or virtual, the incapacity or destruction of which 
would negatively affect security, economic security, public health or 
safety, or any combination of those matters. A person seeking access to 
CEII may file a request for that information by providing information 
about their identity and reason as to the need for the information. 
Through this process, the Commission is able to review the requester's 
need for the information against the sensitivity of the information. 
Compliance with these requirements is mandatory.
    The CEII request form (hard copy and electronic version) and other 
materials are located at http://www.ferc.gov/legal/ceii-foia/ceii.asp.
    Type of Respondents: Persons seeking access to CEII.

[[Page 26739]]

    Estimate of Annual Burden: \1\ The Commission estimates the total 
Public Reporting Burden for this information collection as:
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    \1\ The Commission defines burden as the total time, effort, or 
financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, 
retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal 
agency. For further explanation of what is included in the 
information collection burden, reference 5 Code of Federal 
Regulations 1320.3.

                                              FERC-603--Critical Energy Infrastructure Information Request
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                                                                                         Number of                       Average burden
                                                                        Number of      responses per   Total number of     hours per     Estimated total
                                                                       respondents       respondent       responses         response      annual burden
                                                                                (A)              (B)    (A) x (B) = (C)            (D)                (C) x (D)
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Persons seeking access to CEII.....................................             200                1              200              0.3               60
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    The total estimated annual cost burden per respondents is 
approximately $21 (0.3 hours * $70.50/hour \2\ = $21.15). The total 
estimated annual cost burden is $4,230 (60 hours * $70.50/hour = 
$4,230).
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    \2\ $70.50/hour is the FERC staff average, including benefits. 
Staff assumes that respondents for this collection are in a similar 
wage category.
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    Comment received in response to initial notice: Southern Company 
Services, Inc. (SCS) submitted comments. SCS, as agent for Alabama 
Power Company, Georgia Power Company, Gulf Power Company, Mississippi 
Power Company, and Southern Power Company, serves the electricity needs 
of more than 4.4 million retail customers in the southeastern United 
States. SCS is a NERC-registered entity subject to the mandatory NERC 
reliability standards for generation and transmission owners and 
operators as well as other NERC-registered functions.
    SCS states that it agrees with Acting Chairman LaFleur's recent 
statement on the publication of the Wall Street Journal article about 
Grid Security (March 12, 2014), as well as her call for a more clearly 
defined exemption under FOIA for CEII. SCS states that until such an 
exemption is legislatively created, one additional step the Commission 
should consider to protect CEII and other sensitive information would 
be to only collect such information when absolutely necessary. Instead, 
where appropriate, the Commission may consider alternatives such as on-
site reviews, webinars, and other technological solutions that allow 
the Commission to view such information without having to possess the 
information in its records. Such steps may mitigate the chances that 
CEII and other sensitive information could end up in the wrong hands or 
be released to the public, thereby endangering the reliability of the 
electric grid.
    SCS also states that the more steps the Commission can take to 
minimize inappropriate public access to CEII and other sensitive 
information, the less likely it is that such information can be used to 
harm the electric reliability of the grid, thereby imposing additional 
costs on generation and transmission owners and operators, and thus the 
ratepayer. By leveraging emerging technologies in ways that allow the 
Commission to view sensitive CEII and other information, without 
necessarily collecting or possessing it, the Commission should be able 
to fulfill its compliance and enforcement responsibilities while 
avoiding the risk of public disclosure of sensitive information under 
FOIA requests in ways that could harm or create risk to the reliability 
of the electric grid.
    Response: The Commission is committed to ensuring security by 
pursuing the practices that SCS advocates. The Commission is conducting 
an ongoing assessment of how best to keep CEII secure while allowing 
those in the industry who need the information to access it.
    Comments: Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Commission, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden and 
cost of the collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information collection; and (4) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.

    Dated: May 1, 2014.
Kimberly D. Bose,
 Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-10611 Filed 5-8-14; 8:45 am]
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