2023 New York Laws › EXC - Executive › Article 26 - Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services › 713 - Protection of Critical Infrastructure Including Energy Generating and Transmission Facilities.

§   713.   Protection  of  critical  infrastructure  including  energy
generating and transmission facilities.   1. Notwithstanding  any  other
provision  of law, the commissioner of the division of homeland security
and emergency services shall conduct a review and analysis  of  measures
being  taken  by  the  public service commission and any other agency or
authority of the state or any political subdivision thereof and, to  the
extent  practicable, of any federal entity, to protect the security, and
cyber security, of critical infrastructure related to energy  generation
and  transmission  located  within  the  state.  The commissioner of the
division of homeland security and  emergency  services  shall  have  the
authority  to  review  any  audits or reports related to the security of
such critical infrastructure, including audits or reports  conducted  at
the  request  of  the  public  service commission or any other agency or
authority of the state or any political subdivision thereof or,  to  the
extent  practicable,  of any federal entity. The owners and operators of
such energy generating or transmission facilities shall,  in  compliance
with  any  federal and state requirements regarding the dissemination of
such information, provide access to the commissioner of the division  of
homeland  security  and  emergency  services  to  such audits or reports
regarding such critical infrastructure provided, however, that exclusive
custody and control of such audits and reports shall remain solely  with
the  owners  and  operators  of  such  energy generating or transmission
facilities. For  the  purposes  of  this  article,  the  term  "critical
infrastructure"  has  the  meaning  ascribed to that term in subdivision
five of section eighty-six of the public officers law.
2. (a) On or before December thirty-first, two thousand four, and  not
later than three years after such date, and every five years thereafter,
the  commissioner  of  the  division  of homeland security and emergency
services shall report to the governor, the temporary  president  of  the
senate,  the  speaker  of  the  assembly,  the chairperson of the public
service  commission  and  the  chief  executive  of  any  such  affected
generating  or  transmission company or his or her designee. Such report
shall review  the  security  measures  being  taken  regarding  critical
infrastructure related to energy generating and transmission facilities,
assess  the  effectiveness  thereof,  and include recommendations to the
legislature or the public service commission if the commissioner of  the
division  of  homeland  security  and emergency services determines that
additional measures are required to be implemented,  considering,  among
other  factors,  the unique characteristics of each energy generating or
transmission facility.
(b) Before the receipt of such report identified in paragraph  (a)  of
this   subdivision,   each   recipient  of  such  report  shall  develop
confidentiality protocols, which shall be binding upon the recipient who
issues the protocols and anyone to whom the recipient shows  a  copy  of
the  report,  in  consultation  with the commissioner of the division of
homeland security and emergency services for the maintenance and use  of
such  report  so  as to ensure the confidentiality of the report and all
information contained therein, provided, however,  that  such  protocols
shall not be binding upon a person who is provided access to such report
or  any information contained therein pursuant to section eighty-nine of
the public officers law after a final determination that access to  such
report or any information contained therein could not be denied pursuant
to  subdivision  two of section eighty-seven of the public officers law.
The commissioner of the division  of  homeland  security  and  emergency
services  shall  also develop protocols for his or her office related to
the  maintenance  and  use  of  such  report  so  as   to   ensure   the
confidentiality  of the report and all information contained therein. On
each report, the commissioner of the division of homeland  security  and

emergency  services  shall  prominently display the following statement:
"this report may contain information that if  disclosed  could  endanger
the  life  or  safety  of the public, and therefore, pursuant to section
seven  hundred  eleven  of  the  executive  law,  this  report  is to be
maintained and used in a manner consistent with protocols established to
preserve the confidentiality of the information contained  herein  in  a
manner consistent with law".
(c)  Except  in  the  case  of  federally licensed electric generating
facilities, the public service commission shall have the  discretion  to
require  that the recommendations of the commissioner of the division of
homeland security and emergency services be implemented by any owner  or
operator   of   an   energy   generating   or   transmission   facility.
Recommendations  regarding  federally   licensed   electric   generating
facilities  shall  instead only be made available by the commissioner of
the  division  of  homeland  security  and  emergency  services  to  the
appropriate  federal  agency  in  compliance  with any federal and state
requirements regarding the dissemination of such information.
3. Any reports prepared pursuant to this article shall not be  subject
to  disclosure  pursuant  to section eighty-eight of the public officers
law.