Today’s LiveWire Spotlight examines the “Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST)”, a $300+ billion highway and transportation bill signed into law on December 4 by US President Barack Obama. In it, the Department of Energy (DOE) and FERC are directed to take action to protect critical infrastructure from electromagnetic pulses, geomagnetic storms, physical attacks, cyber-attacks, data theft, and severe weather.
The DOE and FERC have one year to develop new regulations addressing critical information handling, emergency response procedures, and the strategic transformer reserve. A status report is due to Congress in early June.