GovTrack’s Bill Summary
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H.R. 5026 (111th): GRID Act
- Introduced:
- Apr 14, 2010 (111th Congress, 2009–2010)
- Sponsor:
- Rep. Edward “Ed” Markey [D-MA7]
- Status:
- Died (Passed House)
The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.
Library of Congress Summary
The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.
9/27/2010--Reported to Senate amended.
Amends the Federal Power Act to direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to issue rules or orders to protect critical electric infrastructure from cyber security vulnerabilities.
Authorizes FERC to issue such rules or orders without prior notice or hearing if it determines that a rule or order must be issued immediately to protect critical electric infrastructure from a cyber security vulnerability.
Directs FERC, before issuing a rule or order, to consult with specified entities and federal agencies regarding implementation of actions that will effectively address the identified cyber security vulnerabilities.
Requires the rule or order issued to address a cyber security vulnerability to expire on the effective date of a certain standard developed to address the cyber security vulnerability.
Empowers the Secretary of Energy to require, by order, with or without notice, persons subject to FERC jurisdiction to take such actions as the Secretary determines will best avert or mitigate an immediate cyber security threat.
Encourages the Secretary to consult and coordinate with officials in Canada and Mexico responsible for the protection of cyber security of the interconnected North American electricity grid.
Directs FERC to establish a mechanism that permits public utilities to recover prudently incurred costs required to implement immediate actions ordered by the Secretary under this Act. States that any such expedited or emergency rules or orders issued without prior notice or hearing shall remain effective for not more than 90 days unless, during such 90-day period, FERC:
(1) gives interested persons an opportunity to submit written data, views, or arguments (with or without opportunity for oral presentation); and
(2) affirms, amends, or repeals the rule or order.
Applies this Act to any entity that owns, controls, or operates critical electric infrastructure.
Excludes Alaska and Hawaii from the scope of this Act. Directs the Secretary of Defense to prepare a comprehensive plan that identifies the emergency measures or actions to be taken to protect the reliability of the electric power supply of national defense facilities located in Alaska, Hawaii, and the Territory of Guam in the event of an imminent cybersecurity threat.
Directs the Secretary and FERC to:
(1) prescribe regulations prohibiting disclosure of information obtained or developed in ensuring cyber security if such disclosure would be detrimental to the security of critical electric infrastructure; and
(2) establish procedures governing the release of critical infrastructure information to enable to entities subject to this Act to implement rules or orders of FERC or the Secretary.
House Republican Conference Summary
The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/111/2/hr5026.
Background
The U.S. electric power grid consists of interconnected transmission lines, local distribution systems, generation facilities and related communications systems. The bulk-power system in the U.S. and Canada includes more than 200,000 miles of transmission lines and serves over 300 million people. According to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, concerns about the vulnerability of the electric grid have increased in recent years, particularly with respect to cyber-attacks.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 required the development of mandatory reliability standards for the bulk-power system, including standards addressing the potential for cyber-attacks. Under current law, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) designates an electric reliability organization, which then develops reliability standards that are subject to FERC approval. FERC has designated the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) as the electric reliability organization. FERC is responsible for enforcing the NERC standards.
Summary
H.R. 5026 would authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to address threats to the U.S. electric grid with emergency orders and direct FERC to issue new regulations to protect against future vulnerabilities to the power grid.
Emergency Procedures: H.R. 5026 would permit FERC to issue emergency measures to protect critical electrical infrastructure from a threat, if the president notifies FERC of any imminent grid security threat. The emergency measures issued by FERC would apply to the electric reliability organization, a regional electric entity, or any owner, user or operator of the bulk-power system within the U.S. The bill would permit FERC to create a mechanism to allow owners, operators or users of the bulk-power system to recover any "substantial costs" that are incurred as a result of complying with the emergency procedures in the event of a grid security threat.
The emergency measures would be effective for one year, unless the president or FERC issues a determination that measures are no longer needed to address any grid security threat.
Grid Reliability Standards: The bill would allow FERC to issue regulations to protect against any grid security vulnerability that the agency determines has not been adequately addressed. Such vulnerabilities would include cyber attacks or an electromagnetic pulse that would pose a substantial risk of disruption to the bulk-power system. The measure also requires FERC to issue regulations that address a vulnerability in which an attacker could hack into the control system infrastructure connected to the electric grid and cause severe physical damage to the equipment.
Critical Defense Facilities: The bill would direct the president to designate up to 100 facilities in the U.S. that are critical to defense and vulnerable to interruption of the supply of electricity. If FERC determines that such facilities have not addressed vulnerabilities with respect to power interruptions, the agency would have the authority to issue regulations requiring that such vulnerabilities be addressed.
Protected Information: H.R. 5026 would permit FERC to designate certain "protected information" that would be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act or under state or local disclosure laws.
Judicial Review: H.R. 5026 specifies that any party seeking judicial review of provisions included in the bill would have to file legal actions in the federal appeals court for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Technical Assistance: The bill would direct the Department of Energy to provide technical assistance to owners, operators and users of electrical systems to help protect the grid against attacks using electronic communication or electromagnetic pulse.
Cost
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that implementing the version of H.R. 5026 being considered on the floor would have a "negligible effect on net direct spending over the 2010-2020 period."
House Democratic Caucus Summary
The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.
So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.
We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.
The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:
United States Code
The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)
- Title 5: GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
- Part I: THE AGENCIES GENERALLY
- Chapter 5: ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE
- Subchapter II: ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE
- Section 552: Public information; agency rules, opinions, orders, records, and proceedings
- Title 6: DOMESTIC SECURITY
- Chapter 1: HOMELAND SECURITY ORGANIZATION
- Subchapter II: INFORMATION ANALYSIS AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION
- Part B: Critical Infrastructure Information
- Section 131: Definitions
- Section 133: Protection of voluntarily shared critical infrastructure information
- Title 16: CONSERVATION
- Chapter 12: FEDERAL REGULATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF POWER
- Subchapter II: REGULATION OF ELECTRIC UTILITY COMPANIES ENGAGED IN INTERSTATE COMMERCE
- Section 824: Declaration of policy; application of subchapter