DHS Renews CIPAC Charter

Earlier this week DHS published a notice in the Federal Register announcing that the Secretary had renewed the charter of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Advisory Council. The CIPAC aids the coordination between government officials at the federal, state, and local levels and the private-sector owner-operators of critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR) identified in the National Infrastructure Protection Program. CIPAC was originally chartered in 2006. Because “of the sensitive nature of the subject matter involved in the CIPAC's activities” (CIPAC Charter, pg 1) the Secretary has exempted the Council from the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (PL 92-463). This means that most of the CIPAC meetings are not open to public participation or observation. Past meeting agendas are archived and accessible from the CIPAC web page The CIPAC Charter renewal notice also includes information on how the public can find out the membership of each of the 18 CIKR Committees (Council Members). Additionally, the notice outlines how the recently formed State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Government Coordinating Council has been represented in CIPAC.