82 FR 8735 - Commission Information Collection Activities (Ferc-603); Comment Request; Extension

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 18 (January 30, 2017)

In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the currently approved information collection, FERC-603, Critical Energy/ Electric Infrastructure Information (CEII) Request.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 18 (Monday, January 30, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8735-8736]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-01909]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC17-3-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (Ferc-603); Comment 
Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.

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, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the 
currently approved information collection, FERC-603, Critical Energy/
Electric Infrastructure Information (CEII) Request.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due March 31, 
2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC17-3-
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], telephone at (202) 502-8663, and fax at (202) 
273-0873.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: FERC-603, Critical Energy/Electric Infrastructure 
Information (CEII) 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 individuals with a valid or legitimate need for access 
to Critical Energy/Electric Infrastructure Information (CEII), which is 
exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 
552), subject to a non-disclosure agreement.
    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 access due to 
the ongoing terrorism threat. Given that such information would 
typically be exempt from mandatory disclosure pursuant to FOIA, the 
Commission determined that it was important to have a process for 
individuals with a valid or legitimate need to access certain sensitive 
energy infrastructure information. As such, the Commission's CEII 
process is designed to limit the distribution of sensitive 
infrastructure information to those individuals with a need to know in 
order to avoid having sensitive information fall into the hands of 
those who may use it to attack the Nation's infrastructure.\1\ This 
collection was prepared as part of the implementation of the CEII 
request process.
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    \1\ The Commission 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.
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    On December 4, 2015, the President signed the Fixing America's 
Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) into law, which directed the 
Commission to issue regulations aimed at securing and sharing sensitive 
infrastructure information.\2\ On November 17, 2016, in Order No. 833 
(in Docket No. RM16-15), the Commission adopted a Final Rule 
implementing the FAST Act by amending its regulations that pertain to 
the designation, protection, and sharing of Critical Energy/Electric 
Infrastructure Information (CEII). The Final Rule will be effective on 
February 19, 2017.\3\
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    \2\ Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, Public Law 114-
94, 61,003, 129 Stat. 1312, 1773-1779 (2015) (to be codified at 16 
U.S.C. 824 et seq.) (FAST Act).
    \3\ Because the Final Rule is not yet effective, the sample CEII 
Request Form attached to this notice does not appear on the FERC Web 
site and will not be published in the Federal Register. The sample 
CEII Request Form will be posted with this Notice in Docket No. 
IC17-3 in eLibrary.
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    FERC-603, Critical Energy/Electric Infrastructure Information 
(CEII) request form is largely unchanged from the previously approved 
version. As in the previous version, a person seeking access to CEII 
must file a request for that information by providing information about 
their identity and the reason the individual needs the information. 
With that information, the Commission is able to assess the requester's 
need for the information against the sensitivity of the information. 
When Order No. 833 becomes effective, the form will be updated to refer 
to CEII as Critical Energy/Electric Infrastructure Information (CEII) 
as opposed to Critical Energy Infrastructure Information (CEII).\4\ The 
form will also be updated to provide clarification about the statement 
of need that CEII requesters must provide by referring individuals to 
the regulations.\5\ Compliance with these requirements is mandatory. A 
sample updated CEII request form is attached to this notice.
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    \4\ Section 215A(a)(3) of the FAST Act defined Critical Electric 
Infrastructure Information to include information that qualifies as 
critical energy infrastructure information under the Commission's 
regulations. The Commission therefore defined the term ``Critical 
Electric Infrastructure Information'' to include ``Critical Energy 
Infrastructure Information'' as defined under the Commission's 
existing regulations and determined to refer to both types of 
information, collectively, as CEII.
    \5\ Specifically, 18 CFR 388.113(g)(5)(i)(b) states that a 
Statement of Need must include: The extent to which a particular 
function is dependent upon access to the information; why the 
function cannot be achieved or performed without access to the 
information; an explanation of whether other information is 
available to the requester that could facilitate the same objective; 
how long the information will be needed; whether or not the 
information is needed to participate in a specific proceeding (with 
that proceeding identified); and an explanation of whether the 
information is needed expeditiously.
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    Type of Respondents: Persons seeking access to CEII.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \6\ The Commission estimates the total 
annual

[[Page 8736]]

burden and cost \7\ for this information collection as follows.
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    \6\ ``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.
    \7\ The Commission staff thinks that the average respondent for 
this collection is similarly situated to the Commission, in terms of 
salary plus benefits. Based upon FERC's 2016 annual average of 
$154,647 (for salary plus benefits), the average hourly cost is 
$74.50/hour.

                                          FERC-603--Critical Energy/Electric Infrastructure Information Request
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                                           Annual number
          Number of respondents            of responses    Total number     Average burden and cost per    Total annual burden hours and     Cost per
                                          per respondent   of responses              response                    total annual cost        respondent ($)
(1)                                                  (2)     (1)*(2)=(3)  (4)...........................  (3)*(4)=(5)...................         (5)/(1)
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200.....................................               1             200  0.3 hrs.; $22.35..............  60 hrs.; $4,470...............          $22.35
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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: January 23, 2017.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-01909 Filed 1-27-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P