[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 106 (Monday, June 5, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25784-25785]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-11549]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

U.S. Energy Information Administration


Agency Information Collection Extension

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

ACTION: Notice and request for OMB review and comment.

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SUMMARY: The EIA has submitted an information collection request to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for extension under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The information 
collection requests a three-year extension of its CIPSEA 
Confidentiality Pledge Revision, OMB Control Number 1905-0211. The 
proposed collection will make permanent the modification to the 
confidentiality pledge that was approved on January 12, 2017, under the 
emergency clearance under OMB Control Number 1905-0211.

DATES: Comments regarding this proposed information collection must be 
received on or before July 5, 2017. If you anticipate that you will be 
submitting comments, but find it difficult to do so within the period 
of time allowed by this notice, please advise the DOE Desk Officer at 
OMB of your intention to make a submission as soon as possible. The 
Desk Officer may be telephoned at 202-395-4718.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to the DOE Desk Officer, 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and 
Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10102, 735 17th Street NW., 
Washington, DC 20503.
    And to [email protected] or Jacob Bournazian, U.S. Energy 
Information Administration, Mail Stop EI-23, Forrestal Building, 1000 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585 (Email is preferred).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jacob Bournazian, U.S. Energy 
Information Administration, 1000 Independence Avenue SW.,

[[Page 25785]]

Washington, DC 20585, phone: 202-586-5562 (this is not a toll-free 
number), email: [email protected]. Because of delays in the 
receipt of regular mail related to security screening, respondents are 
encouraged to use electronic communications. The survey forms and 
instructions are available on the Internet at https://www.eia.gov/survey/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request 
contains: (1) OMB No. 1905-0211; (2) Information Collection Request 
Title: CIPSEA Confidentiality Pledge Revision; (3) Type of Request: 
Three-year extension; (4) Purpose: Under 44 U.S.C. 3506(e), and 44 
U.S.C. 3501 (note), EIA revised the confidentiality pledge(s) it 
provides to respondents for surveys that protect information under the 
Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (44 
U.S.C. 3501 (note)) (CIPSEA). EIA's CIPSEA confidentiality pledge 
needed to be modified to be consistent with provisions of the Federal 
Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015 (Pub. L. 114-11, Division N, 
Title II, Subtitle B, Sec. 223), which permit and require the Secretary 
of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide Federal 
civilian agencies' information technology systems with cybersecurity 
protection for their Internet traffic. In 2004, EIA's original CIPSEA 
confidentiality pledge stated that the information respondents provide 
will be seen only by EIA personnel or their sworn agents, and be used 
only for statistical purposes. As part of the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2016 signed on December 17, 2015, 
the Congress included the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015 
(Pub. L. 114-11, Division N, Title II, Subtitle B, Sec. 223). This Act, 
among other provisions, permits and requires DHS to provide Federal 
civilian agencies' information technology systems with cybersecurity 
protection for their Internet traffic. The technology currently used to 
provide this protection against cyber malware is known as Einstein 3A; 
it electronically searches Internet traffic in and out of Federal 
civilian agencies in real time for malware signatures. When such a 
signature is found, the Internet packets that contain the malware 
signature are moved to a secured area for further inspection by DHS 
personnel. Because it is possible that such packets entering or leaving 
a statistical agency's information technology system may contain a 
small portion of confidential statistical data, statistical agencies no 
longer promise their respondents that their responses will be seen only 
by statistical agency personnel or their sworn agents. However, EIA 
does promise, in accordance with provisions of the Federal 
Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, that such monitoring will be 
used only to protect information and information systems from 
cybersecurity risks, thereby, in effect, providing stronger protection 
to the integrity of the respondents' submissions. Since it is possible 
that DHS personnel may see some portion of those confidential data in 
the course of examining the suspicious Internet packets identified by 
Einstein 3A sensors, EIA revised its confidentiality pledge on January 
12, 2017, under an emergency clearance, to reflect this process change. 
The submission of this request to OMB makes the change in EIA's CIPSEA 
confidentiality pledge permanent for all surveys that EIA protects 
under the CIPSEA statute. Therefore, EIA provides this notice to alert 
the public of this permanent change in its confidentiality pledge in an 
efficient and coordinated manner.

    Statutory Authority: Section 13(b) of the Federal Energy 
Administration Act of 1974, Pub. L. 93-275, codified as 15 U.S.C. 
772(b) and the DOE Organization Act of 1977, Pub. L. 95-91, codified 
at 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on May 8, 2017.
Nanda Srinivasan,
Director, Office of Survey Development and Statistical Integration, 
U.S. Energy Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 2017-11549 Filed 6-2-17; 8:45 am]
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