The Federal Power Act (FPA), the Energy Policy Act of 2005 added a new section 215 to the FPA, which requires a Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization to develop mandatory and enforceable Reliability Standards, including requirements for cybersecurity protection. Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Reliability Standards currently consist of 13 standards specifying a set of requirements that entities must follow to ensure the cyber and physical security of the Bulk-Power System. The Commission directed NERC, to develop modifications to the Reliability Standards to require responsible entities to implement controls to protect, at a minimum, communications links and sensitive bulk electric system data communicated between bulk electric system Control Centers âin a manner that is appropriately tailored to address the risks posed to the bulk electric system by the assets being protected (i.e., high, medium, or low impact).â
The Annual Number of Responses has an overall increase of 16,199 responses and 43,188 Annual Burden Hours. The changes were due to the increase in the number of Unique NERC Registered Entities, adjusting the average burden hours and/or number of responses for better accuracy, and a the removal of the one time burden from RM17-11 and RM17-13 (Program Change). Also, each CIP standard has been added to the the IC list separately for ease of adjusting the burden in the future.
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.