[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 37 (Friday, February 26, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11760-11762]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04007]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. RD21-2-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725B2); 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of information collection and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or 
FERC) is soliciting public comment on revisions to the reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements proposed for Reliability Standards CIP-013-2 
(Cyber Security--Supply Chain Risk Management), CIP-005-7 (Cyber 
Security--Electronic Security Perimeter(s)), and CIP-010-4 (Cyber 
Security--Configuration Change Management and Vulnerability

[[Page 11761]]

Assessments) in Docket No. RD21-2-000. The burden for the requirements 
will be included in FERC-725B2 (Mandatory Reliability Standards for 
Critical Infrastructure Protection [CIP] Reliability Standards).

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due APRIL 27, 
2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. RD21-2-
000) by any of the following methods:
     eFiling at Commission's Website: http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp
     U.S. Postal Service (USPS): Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.
     Other Carriers/Couriers: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
    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).
    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] and telephone at (202) 502-8663.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: FERC-725B2, Mandatory Reliability Standards for Critical 
Infrastructure Protection [CIP] Reliability Standards.\1\
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    \1\ The reporting and recordkeeping requirements proposed in 
Docket No. RD21-2-000 would normally be included in FERC-725B (OMB 
Control No. 1902-0248). However another unrelated item under FERC-
725B is pending review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), 
and only one item per OMB Control No. can be pending review at a 
time.
    We are submitting the additional requirements (and related 
burden estimates) described in Docket No. RD21-2-000 to OMB under 
the interim information collection number FERC-725B2 in order to 
submit the request to OMB timely. FERC-725B continues to cover the 
current requirements of the standards, before implementation of the 
additional requirements of Docket No. RD21-2-000.
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    OMB Control No.: 1902-0304.
    Type of Request: Approval of proposed changes as described in 
Docket No. RD21-2-000.
    Abstract: The FERC-725B2 contains the following information 
collection elements.
    Pursuant to Reliability Standard CIP-013-2 Requirement R1, 
responsible entities should update their supply chain risk management 
plans to include Electronic Access Control or Monitoring Systems and 
Physical Access Control Systems. The act of implementing the modified 
plans and procedures may result in additional documentation, as 
required by Reliability Standard CIP-013-2, Requirement R2. In addition 
to the above one-time paperwork requirements, pursuant to Reliability 
Standard CIP-013-1, Requirement R3, responsible entities are required 
to review their supply chain risk management plan and associated 
procedures every 15 months.
    Also, implementation of the technical requirements in Reliability 
Standard CIP-005-7, Requirement R3.1 and Requirement R3.2 is likely to 
result in initial documentation burden.
    Reliability Standard CIP-010-4, Requirement R1.6 will require 
modification of certain procedures, as well as initial implementation 
and documentation of said procedures. The compliance-related 
requirements of the above-mentioned standards will continue on an 
ongoing basis.
    If the modified Reliability Standards become effective by April 1, 
2021, the effective date of the approved Reliability Standards will be 
October 1, 2022.
    The NERC petition was filed with the Commission on December 14, 
2020. The docket was noticed on January 7 with a 21-day comment/
intervention period, ending on January 28, 2021. No comments or 
interventions were received.
    Type of Respondent: Businesses or other for-profit institutions; 
not-for-profit institutions
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \2\ The Commission estimates the total 
annual burden and cost \3\ for this information collection in the table 
below. For hourly cost (for wages and benefits) for the reporting 
requirements, we estimate that
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    \2\ ``Burden'' is 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, refer to Title 5 Code of Federal Regulations 1320.3.
    \3\ Costs (for wages and benefits) are based on wage figures 
from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for May 2019 (at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm) and benefits information 
issued March 19,2020 (at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm).
    \4\ There are 1,494 unique registered entities in the NERC 
compliance registry as of February 5, 2021. Of this total, we 
estimate that 343 entities (Balancing Authority [BA], Distribution 
Provider [DP], Generator Owner [GO], Generator Operator [GOP], 
Reliability Coordinator [RC], Transmission Owner [TO], and 
Transmission Operator [TOP]) will face an increased paperwork burden 
due to Docket No. RD21-2.
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     2% of the time is spent by Electrical Engineers (code 17-
2071, at $70.19/hr.),
     15% of the time is spent by Legal (code 23-0000, at 
$142.65/hr.),
     31.5% of the time is spent by Information Security 
Analysts (Occupation Code 15-1122, at $71.47/hr.),
     10% of the time is spent by Computer and Information 
Systems Managers (Occupation Code: 11-3021, at $101.58/hr.),
     10% of the time is spent by Management (Occupation Code: 
11-0000, at $97.15/hr.), and
     31.5% of the time is spent by Management Analyst (Code: 
43-0000 at $66.23/hr.). Therefore, for reporting requirements, we use 
the weighted hourly cost (for wages and benefits) of $86.05.
    For recordkeeping requirements, for hourly cost (for wages and 
benefits), we are using $41.03 for Information and Record Clerks (code 
43-4199).
    The proposed standards are not changing the reporting or 
recordkeeping requirements, however the proposed standards are 
expanding the types of assets to which the reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements apply.

                                        FERC-725B2, Estimated Additional Annual Burden Due to Docket No. RD21-21
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                                  Type of
     Type and number of         reporting or    Annual number   Annual number   Total number of      Average annual burden      Estimated total annual
       respondents \4\         recordkeeping   of respondents   of responses    annual responses     hours & cost ($) per       burden hrs. & cost  ($)
                                requirement                    per respondent                              response
                                                          (A)             (B)    (A) x (B) = (C)  D.........................  (C) x (D)
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                                                             Reliability Standard CIP-013-2
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343 (BA, DP, GO, GOP, RC,     Reporting,                  343               1                343  136 hrs.; $11,702.80......  46,648 hrs.; $4,014,060.40
 TO, and TOP).                 Implementation
                               (one-time in
                               Year 1).

[[Page 11762]]

 
343 (BA, DP, GO, GOP, RC,     Reporting                   343               1                343  30 hrs.; $2,581.50........  10,290 hrs.; $885,454.50
 TO, and TOP).                 (ongoing
                               starting in
                               Year 2).
343 (BA, DP, GO, GOP, RC,     Recordkeeping               343               1                343  5 hrs.; $205.15...........  1,715 hrs.; $70,366.45
 TO, and TOP).                 (ongoing
                               starting in
                               Year 1).
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    Sub-Total for CIP-013-2.  ...............  ..............  ..............  .................  ..........................  58,653 hrs.; $4,969,881.35
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                                                             Reliability Standard CIP-005-7
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343 (BA, DP, GO, GOP, RC,     Reporting,                  343               1                343  12 hrs.; $1,032.60........  4,116 hrs.; $354,181.80
 TO, and TOP).                 Implementation
                               (one-time in
                               Year 1).
343 (BA, DP, GO, GOP, RC,     Recordkeeping               343               1                343  3 hrs.; $123.09...........  1,029 hrs.; $42,219.87
 TO, and TOP).                 (ongoing
                               starting in
                               Year 1).
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    Sub-Total for CIP-005-7.  ...............  ..............  ..............  .................  ..........................  5,145 hrs.; $396,401.67
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                                                             Reliability Standard CIP-010-4
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343 (BA, DP, GO, GOP, RC,     Reporting,                  343               1                343  12 hrs.; $1,032.60........  4116 hrs.; $354,181.80
 TO, and TOP).                 Implementation
                               (one-time in
                               Yr. 1).
343 (BA, DP, GO, GOP, RC,     Recordkeeping               343               1                343  3 hrs,; $123.09?..........  1,029 hrs.; $42,219.87
 TO, and TOP).                 (ongoing
                               starting in
                               Year 1).
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    Sub-Total for CIP-010-4.  ...............  ..............  ..............  .................  ..........................  5,145 hrs.; $396,401.67
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        Total Annual Burden   ...............  ..............  ..............  .................  ..........................  68,943 hrs.; $5,762,684.69
         Hrs. and Cost, due
         to RD21-2.
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    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: February 22, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-04007 Filed 2-25-21; 8:45 am]
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