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.
table that charts list comparision
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