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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Critical In-
frastructure Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF INFORMATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part II of the Federal Power Act 
(16 U.S.C. 824 et seq.) is amended by adding after section 
215 the following new section: 
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‘‘SEC. 215A. PROTECTION OF INFORMATION. 
‘‘(a) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.— 
‘‘(1) PROHIBITION OF PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF 
PROTECTED
ELECTRIC
SECURITY
INFORMATION.— 
Protected electric security information— 
‘‘(A) shall be exempt from disclosure under 
section 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code; 
and 
‘‘(B) shall not be made available by any 
State, local, or tribal authority pursuant to any 
State, local, or tribal law requiring disclosure of 
information or records. 
‘‘(2) INFORMATION SHARING.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 
promulgate such regulations and issue such or-
ders as necessary to designate protected electric 
security information and to prohibit the unau-
thorized disclosure of such protected electric se-
curity information. 
‘‘(B) SHARING OF PROTECTED ELECTRIC 
SECURITY INFORMATION.—The regulations pro-
mulgated and orders issued pursuant to sub-
paragraph (A) shall provide standards for and 
authorize the appropriate voluntary sharing of 
protected electric security information with, be-
tween, and by Federal, State, local, and tribal 
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authorities, the Electric Reliability Organiza-
tion, regional entities, Information Sharing and 
Analysis Centers established pursuant to Presi-
dential Decision Directive 63, owners, opera-
tors, and users of the bulk-power system in the 
United States, and other entities determined 
appropriate by the Commission. In promul-
gating such regulations and issuing such orders, 
the Commission shall take account of the role 
of State commissions in reviewing the prudence 
and cost of investments, determining the rates 
and terms of conditions for electric services, 
and ensuring the safety and reliability of the 
bulk-power system and distribution facilities 
within their respective jurisdictions. In promul-
gating such regulations and issuing such orders, 
the Commission may take into consideration the 
Controlled Unclassified Information framework 
established by the President. The Commission 
shall consult, as appropriate, with Canadian 
and Mexican authorities to develop protocols for 
the voluntary sharing of protected electric secu-
rity information with, between, and by appro-
priate Canadian and Mexican authorities and 
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owners, operators, and users of the bulk-power 
system outside the United States. 
‘‘(3) NO
REQUIRED
SHARING
OF
INFORMA-
TION.—Nothing in this section shall require a person 
or entity in possession of protected electric security 
information to share such information with Federal, 
State, local, or tribal authorities, or any other per-
son or entity. 
‘‘(4) SUBMISSION
OF
INFORMATION
TO
CON-
GRESS.—Nothing in this section shall permit or au-
thorize the withholding of information from Con-
gress, any committee or subcommittee thereof, or 
the Comptroller General. 
‘‘(5) DISCLOSURE OF NON-PROTECTED INFOR-
MATION.—In implementing this section, the Com-
mission shall protect from disclosure only the min-
imum amount of information necessary to protect 
the security and reliability of the bulk-power system 
and distribution facilities. The Commission shall seg-
regate protected electric security information within 
documents and electronic communications, wherever 
feasible, to facilitate disclosure of information that is 
not designated as protected electric security informa-
tion. 
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‘‘(6) DURATION
OF
DESIGNATION.—Informa-
tion may not be designated as protected electric se-
curity information for longer than 5 years, unless 
specifically redesignated by the Commission. 
‘‘(7) REMOVAL OF DESIGNATION.—The Com-
mission shall remove the designation of protected 
electric security information, in whole or in part, 
from a document or electronic communication if the 
Commission determines that the unauthorized disclo-
sure of such information could no longer be used to 
impair the security or reliability of the bulk-power 
system or distribution facilities. 
‘‘(8) JUDICIAL
REVIEW
OF
DESIGNATIONS.— 
Notwithstanding section 313(b), any determination 
by the Commission concerning the designation of 
protected electric security information under this 
subsection shall be subject to review under chapter 
7 of title 5, except that such review shall be brought 
in the district court of the United States in the dis-
trict in which the complainant resides, or has his 
principal place of business, or in the District of Co-
lumbia. In such a case the court shall examine in 
camera the contents of documents or electronic com-
munications that are the subject of the determina-
tion under review to determine whether such docu-
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