[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 359 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 559
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 359
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 30 (legislative day, September 29), 2020
Received; read twice and placed on the calendar
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To provide for certain programs and developments in the Department of
Energy concerning the cybersecurity and vulnerabilities of, and
physical threats to, the electric grid, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Enhancing Grid Security through
Public-Private Partnerships Act''.
SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO PROMOTE AND ADVANCE PHYSICAL SECURITY AND
CYBERSECURITY OF ELECTRIC UTILITIES.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Energy, in coordination with
relevant Federal agencies and in consultation with State regulatory
authorities, industry stakeholders, and the Electric Reliability
Organization, as the Secretary determines appropriate, shall carry out
a program to--
(1) develop, and provide for voluntary implementation of,
maturity models, self-assessments, and auditing methods for
assessing the physical security and cybersecurity of electric
utilities;
(2) provide training to electric utilities to address and
mitigate cybersecurity supply chain management risks;
(3) increase opportunities for sharing best practices and
data collection within the electric sector;
(4) assist with cybersecurity training for electric
utilities;
(5) advance the cybersecurity of third-party vendors that
work in partnerships with electric utilities; and
(6) provide technical assistance for electric utilities
subject to the program.
(b) Scope.--In carrying out the program under subsection (a), the
Secretary of Energy shall--
(1) take into consideration different sizes of electric
utilities and the regions that such electric utilities serve;
(2) prioritize electric utilities with fewer available
resources due to size or region; and
(3) to the extent practicable, utilize and leverage
existing Department of Energy programs.
(c) Protection of Information.--Information provided to, or
collected by, the Federal Government pursuant to this section--
(1) shall be exempt from disclosure under section 552(b)(3)
of title 5, United States Code; and
(2) shall not be made available by any Federal, State,
political subdivision or tribal authority pursuant to any
Federal, State, political subdivision, or tribal law requiring
public disclosure of information or records.
SEC. 3. REPORT ON CYBERSECURITY AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Energy, in coordination with
relevant Federal agencies and in consultation with State regulatory
authorities, industry stakeholders, and the Electric Reliability
Organization, as the Secretary determines appropriate, shall submit to
Congress a report that assesses--
(1) priorities, policies, procedures, and actions for
enhancing the physical security and cybersecurity of
electricity distribution systems to address threats to, and
vulnerabilities of, such electricity distribution systems; and
(2) implementation of such priorities, policies,
procedures, and actions, including an estimate of potential
costs and benefits of such implementation, including any
public-private cost-sharing opportunities.
(b) Protection of Information.--Information provided to, or
collected by, the Federal Government pursuant to this section--
(1) shall be exempt from disclosure under section 552(b)(3)
of title 5, United States Code; and
(2) shall not be made available by any Federal, State,
political subdivision or tribal authority pursuant to any
Federal, State, political subdivision, or tribal law requiring
public disclosure of information or records.
SEC. 4. ELECTRICITY INTERRUPTION INFORMATION.
(a) Interruption Cost Estimate Calculator.--The Secretary of
Energy, in coordination with relevant Federal agencies and in
consultation with State regulatory authorities, industry stakeholders,
and the Electric Reliability Organization, as the Secretary determines
appropriate, shall update the Interruption Cost Estimate Calculator, as
often as appropriate and feasible, but not less than once every 2
years.
(b) Indices.--The Secretary of Energy, in coordination with
relevant Federal agencies and in consultation with State regulatory
authorities, industry stakeholders, and the Electric Reliability
Organization, as the Secretary determines appropriate, shall, as often
as appropriate and feasible, update the following:
(1) The System Average Interruption Duration Index.
(2) The System Average Interruption Frequency Index.
(3) The Customer Average Interruption Duration Index.
(c) Survey.--The Administrator of the Energy Information
Administration shall collect information on electricity interruption
costs, if available, from a representative sample of owners of electric
grid assets through a biennial survey.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In the Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) Electric reliability organization.--The term ``Electric
Reliability Organization'' has the meaning given such term in
section 215(a)(2) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C.
824o(a)(2)).
(2) Electric utility.--The term ``electric utility'' has
the meaning given such term in section 3 of the Federal Power
Act (16 U.S.C. 796).
(3) State regulatory authority.--The term ``State
regulatory authority'' has the meaning given such term in
section 3 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796).
Passed the House of Representatives September 29, 2020.
Attest:
CHERYL L. JOHNSON,
Clerk.
Calendar No. 559
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 359
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To provide for certain programs and developments in the Department of
Energy concerning the cybersecurity and vulnerabilities of, and
physical threats to, the electric grid, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
September 30 (legislative day, September 29), 2020
Received; read twice and placed on the calendar