OMB files this
comment in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.11(c) of the Paperwork
Reduction Act and is withholding approval of this collection at
this time. This OMB action is not an approval to conduct or sponsor
an information collection under the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995. The agency shall examine public comment in response to the
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and will include in the supporting
statement of the next ICR, to be submitted to OMB at the final rule
stage, a description of how the agency has responded to any public
comments on the ICR. It is requested that FERC work with the small
entity respondents affected by this proposed rule to explore ways
of minimizing the burden for small entities in the final
rulemaking.
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
06/30/2015
36 Months From Approved
06/30/2015
1,501
0
1,501
850,680
0
850,680
5,444
0
5,444
On August 8, 2005, The Electricity
Modernization Act of 2005, which is Title XII of the Energy Policy
Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), was enacted into law. EPAct 2005 added a
new section 215 to the Federal Power Act (FPA), which requires a
Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) to
develop mandatory and enforceable Reliability Standards, which are
subject to Commission review and approval. Once approved the
Reliability Standards may be enforced by the ERO, subject to
Commission oversight. On January 18, 2008, the Commission issued
Order No. 706, which approved the CIP version 1 Standards to
address cyber security of the Bulk-Power System. In Order No. 706,
the Commission approved eight CIP Reliability Standards (CIP-002-1
through CIP-009-1). While approving the CIP version 1 Standards,
the Commission also directed NERC to develop modifications to the
CIP version 1 Standards, intended to enhance the protection
provided by the CIP Reliability Standards. Subsequently, NERC filed
the CIP version 2 and CIP version 3 Standards in partial compliance
with Order No. 706. The Commission approved these standards in
September 2009 and March 2010, respectively. On April 19, 2012, the
Commission issued Order No. 761, which approved the CIP version 4
Standards (CIP-002-4 through CIP-009-4). Reliability Standard
CIP-002-4 (Critical Cyber Asset Identification) sets forth 17
uniform bright line criteria for identifying Critical Assets. The
Commission also accepted NERC's proposed implementation schedule
for the CIP version 4 Standards, which are scheduled for full
implementation and enforceability beginning April 2014. In its
petition to the Commission to approve the CIP version 5 standards,
NERC states that it took into consideration 4 years of experience
since the first CIP standards were implemented, as well as FERC
directives developed the proposed CIP Version 5 standards to better
protect the reliability of the nation's Bulk Electric System (BES)
from cyber-attacks. The information collection requirements in the
CIP Version 5 standards apply to the following functional entities:
balancing authorities, distribution providers, generator operators,
generator owners, interchange coordinators (or interchange
authorities), reliability coordinators, transmission operators, and
transmission owners. Based on the NERC registry, FERC estimates
there are 1,475 entities registered for at least one of the
functions listed above. The cyber security policy, process, and
procedure documentation required by the CIP standards are the
principal components of a cyber-security program. The main use for
the information generated is to achieve and maintain a cyber-secure
operational state, a process which requires vigilant monitoring of
activity against documented policies and procedures. Similarly, the
applicable compliance enforcement authority (regional entity or
NERC) uses the information to measure an entity's compliance with a
given requirement. If the information collection requirements did
not exist then it would be difficult to monitor and enforce
compliance with the standards, which could lead entities to relax
their compliance with the requirements. Also, creating and
maintaining documentation is integral to the task of performing
cyber security, as reflected in the fact that some of the
reliability standards' requirements actually require an entity to
create a document (as opposed to documenting compliance with a
requirement). Without such information collection an entity may
fail to perform actions that may affect the reliability and
security of the grid.
FERC is averaging the estimated
burden hours across the first three years in to create an annual
figure to provide to OMB. This annual figure is 780,107 hrs
[(418,048 hrs + 1,162,788 hrs + 757,948 hrs)/3 = 779,595 hrs].
After the first three years, entities will have completed
implementation of CIP version 5 and the total burden will be
reduced by 383,543 hours/year. FERC proposes to add the annual
hours from the NOPR, 779,595 hours, to an adjusted baseline of
burden hours under the existing CIP standards. FERC is adjusting
the existing hours based upon careful review of the assumptions. In
particular, one of the assumptions was that entities would incur
the full burden of preparing for an audit each year instead of
every 3-5 years. A small fraction of entities may be responsible
for multiple functions and be audited on a more frequent basis. We
account for that in the adjusted figure. Also, the assumptions did
not include some of the yearly burden required to keep documents up
to date for future audits. Finally, there are 26 fewer entities now
than there were the last time OMB approved this collection (a
reduction from 1,501 to 1,475), but 61 unique distribution
providers are required to comply for the first time. The adjustment
in entities is -87. The general reason for the reduction in
entities is caused by some entities merging and some entities
dropping from the market. FERC does not consider there to be any
additional non-labor costs for CIP version 5. The adjustment in the
annual cost burden is due to fewer applicable entities.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
V3-V5 burden and explanation of adjustment 7-9-13.xlsx
FINAL CIP v5 NOPR (RM13-5) SuppStmt 7-10.docx
Errata Notice 5-3-13.doc
FERC News Release on CIP v5 (RM13-5) 4-18-13.pdf
FERC-725B, Mandatory Reliability Standards for Critical Infrastructure Protection