I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2402 

To amend the Federal Power Act to prohibit the public disclosure of protected 

information, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 18, 2015 

Ms. LOFGREN (for herself and Mr. GOWDY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Power Act to prohibit the public 

disclosure of protected information, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Critical In5 frastructure Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF INFORMATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part II of the Federal Power Act 

8 (16 U.S.C. 824 et seq.) is amended by adding after section 

9 215 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 215A. PROTECTION OF INFORMATION. 

2 ‘‘(a) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.— 

3 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION OF PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF

4 PROTECTED ELECTRIC SECURITY INFORMATION.— 

5 Protected electric security information— 

6 ‘‘(A) shall be exempt from disclosure under 

7 section 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(B) shall not be made available by any 

10 State, local, or tribal authority pursuant to any 

11 State, local, or tribal law requiring disclosure of 

12 information or records. 

13 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION SHARING.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

15 promulgate such regulations and issue such or16 ders as necessary to designate protected electric 

17 security information and to prohibit the unau18 thorized disclosure of such protected electric se19 curity information. 

20 ‘‘(B) SHARING OF PROTECTED ELECTRIC

21 SECURITY INFORMATION.—The regulations pro22 mulgated and orders issued pursuant to sub23 paragraph (A) shall provide standards for and 

24 authorize the appropriate voluntary sharing of 

25 protected electric security information with, be26 tween, and by Federal, State, local, and tribal 


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1 authorities, the Electric Reliability Organiza2 tion, regional entities, Information Sharing and 

3 Analysis Centers established pursuant to Presi4 dential Decision Directive 63, owners, opera5 tors, and users of the bulk-power system in the 

6 United States, and other entities determined 

7 appropriate by the Commission. In promul8 gating such regulations and issuing such orders, 

9 the Commission shall take account of the role 

10 of State commissions in reviewing the prudence 

11 and cost of investments, determining the rates 

12 and terms of conditions for electric services, 

13 and ensuring the safety and reliability of the 

14 bulk-power system and distribution facilities 

15 within their respective jurisdictions. In promul16 gating such regulations and issuing such orders, 

17 the Commission may take into consideration the 

18 Controlled Unclassified Information framework 

19 established by the President. The Commission 

20 shall consult, as appropriate, with Canadian 

21 and Mexican authorities to develop protocols for 

22 the voluntary sharing of protected electric secu23 rity information with, between, and by appro24 priate Canadian and Mexican authorities and 


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1 owners, operators, and users of the bulk-power 

2 system outside the United States. 

3 ‘‘(3) NO REQUIRED SHARING OF INFORMA4 TION.—Nothing in this section shall require a person 

5 or entity in possession of protected electric security 

6 information to share such information with Federal, 

7 State, local, or tribal authorities, or any other per8 son or entity. 

9 ‘‘(4) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION TO CON10 GRESS.—Nothing in this section shall permit or au11 thorize the withholding of information from Con12 gress, any committee or subcommittee thereof, or 

13 the Comptroller General. 

14 ‘‘(5) DISCLOSURE OF NON-PROTECTED INFOR15 MATION.—In implementing this section, the Com16 mission shall protect from disclosure only the min17 imum amount of information necessary to protect 

18 the security and reliability of the bulk-power system 

19 and distribution facilities. The Commission shall seg20 regate protected electric security information within 

21 documents and electronic communications, wherever 

22 feasible, to facilitate disclosure of information that is 

23 not designated as protected electric security informa24 tion. 


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1 ‘‘(6) DURATION OF DESIGNATION.—Informa2 tion may not be designated as protected electric se3 curity information for longer than 5 years, unless 

4 specifically redesignated by the Commission. 

5 ‘‘(7) REMOVAL OF DESIGNATION.—The Com6 mission shall remove the designation of protected 

7 electric security information, in whole or in part, 

8 from a document or electronic communication if the 

9 Commission determines that the unauthorized disclo10 sure of such information could no longer be used to 

11 impair the security or reliability of the bulk-power 

12 system or distribution facilities. 

13 ‘‘(8) JUDICIAL REVIEW OF DESIGNATIONS.— 

14 Notwithstanding section 313(b), any determination 

15 by the Commission concerning the designation of 

16 protected electric security information under this 

17 subsection shall be subject to review under chapter 

18 7 of title 5, except that such review shall be brought 

19 in the district court of the United States in the dis20 trict in which the complainant resides, or has his 

21 principal place of business, or in the District of Co22 lumbia. In such a case the court shall examine in 

23 camera the contents of documents or electronic com24 munications that are the subject of the determina25 tion under review to determine whether such docuVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:01 May 23, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2402.IH H2402

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1 ments or any part thereof were improperly des2 ignated or not designated as protected electric secu3 rity information. 

4 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

5 ‘‘(1) BULK-POWER SYSTEM; ELECTRIC RELI6 ABILITY ORGANIZATION; REGIONAL ENTITY.—The 

7 terms ‘bulk-power system’, ‘Electric Reliability Or8 ganization’, and ‘regional entity’ have the meanings 

9 given such terms in section 215. 

10 ‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTION FACILITIES.—The term 

11 ‘distribution facilities’ means facilities used in the 

12 local distribution of electric energy. 

13 ‘‘(3) ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE.—The term 

14 ‘electromagnetic pulse’ means one or more pulses of 

15 electromagnetic energy emitted by a device capable 

16 of disabling, disrupting, or destroying electronic 

17 equipment by means of such a pulse. 

18 ‘‘(4) GRID SECURITY THREAT.—The term ‘grid 

19 security threat’ means a substantial likelihood of— 

20 ‘‘(A)(i) a malicious act using electronic 

21 communication or an electromagnetic pulse that 

22 could disrupt the operation of those electronic 

23 devices or communications networks, including 

24 hardware, software, and data, that are essential 


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1 to the security or reliability of the bulk-power 

2 system; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) disruption of the operation of such 

4 devices or networks, with significant adverse ef5 fects on the security or reliability of the bulk6 power system, as a result of such act or event; 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(B)(i) a direct physical attack on, or in9 tentional interference with, the bulk-power sys10 tem; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) significant adverse effects on the se12 curity or reliability of the bulk-power system as 

13 a result of such physical attack or interference. 

14 ‘‘(5) GRID SECURITY VULNERABILITY.—The 

15 term ‘grid security vulnerability’ means a weakness 

16 in the bulk-power system that, in the event of— 

17 ‘‘(A) a malicious act using electronic com18 munication or an electromagnetic pulse, would 

19 pose a substantial risk of disruption to the op20 eration of those electronic devices or commu21 nications networks, including hardware, soft22 ware, data, and facilities, that are essential to 

23 the security or reliability of the bulk-power sys24 tem; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) a direct physical attack, or inten2 tional interference with, the bulk-power system, 

3 would pose a substantial risk of significant ad4 verse effects on the security or reliability of the 

5 bulk-power system. 

6 ‘‘(6) PROTECTED ELECTRIC SECURITY INFOR7 MATION.—The term ‘protected electric security in8 formation’— 

9 ‘‘(A) means information generated by or 

10 provided to the Commission, other than classi11 fied national security information, that is des12 ignated as protected electric security informa13 tion by the Commission under subsection 

14 (a)(2)— 

15 ‘‘(i) that specifically discusses or iden16 tifies grid security threats, grid security 

17 vulnerabilities, or plans, procedures, or 

18 measures to address such threats or 

19 vulnerabilities; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the unauthorized disclosure of 

21 which could be used in a malicious manner 

22 to impair, attack, or interfere with the se23 curity or reliability of the bulk-power sys24 tem or distribution facilities; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) includes data, modeling, or represen2 tations related to grid security that could be 

3 used to generate information described in sub4 paragraph (A). 

5 ‘‘(7) SECURITY.—The definition of ‘security’ in 

6 section 3(16) shall not apply to the provisions in this 

7 section.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

9 (1) JURISDICTION.—Section 201(b)(2) of the 

10 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824(b)(2)) is amend11 ed by inserting ‘‘215A,’’ after ‘‘215,’’ each place it 

12 appears. 

13 (2) PUBLIC UTILITY.—Section 201(e) of the 

14 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824(e)) is amended 

15 by inserting ‘‘215A,’’ after ‘‘215,’’. 

Æ 


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