[Federal Register: November 18, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 222)]
[Notices]
[Page 69969-69970]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18no05-54]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Extension
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'').
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The FTC has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget
(``OMB'') for review under the Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'')
information collection requirements contained in its Automotive Fuel
Ratings, Certification and Posting Rule (``Fuel Rating Rule'' or
``Rule''). The FTC is seeking public comments on the proposal to extend
through December 31, 2008 the current PRA clearance for information
collection requirements contained in the regulations. That clearance
expires on December 31, 2005.
DATES: Comments must be filed by December 19, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments.
Comments should refer to ``Fuel Rating Rule: FTC File No. R811005'' to
facilitate the organization of comments. A comment filed in paper form
should include this reference both in the text and on the envelope and
should be mailed or delivered, with two complete copies, to the
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Room H 135 (Annex J), 600
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20580. Because paper mail in the
Washington area and at the Commission is subject to delay, please
consider submitting your comments in electronic form, (in ASCII format,
WordPerfect, or Microsoft Word) as part of or as an attachment to e-
mail messages directed to the following e-mail box:
paperworkcomment@ftc.gov. However, if the comment contains
any material for which confidential treatment is requested, it must be
filed in paper form, and the first page of the document must be clearly
labeled ``Confidential.'' \1\
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\1\ Commission Rule 4.2(d), 16 CFR 4.2(d). The comment must be
accompanied by an explicit request for confidential treatment,
including the factual and legal basis for the request, and must
identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from
the public record. The request will be granted or denied by the
Commission's General Counsel, consistent with applicable law and the
public interest. See Commission Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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All comments should additionally be submitted to: Office of
Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Trade
Commission. Comments should be submitted via facsimile to (202) 395-
6974 because U.S. Postal Mail is subject to lengthy delays due to
heightened security precautions.
The FTC Act and other laws the Commission administers permit the
collection of public comments to consider and use in this proceeding as
appropriate. All timely and responsive public comments will be
considered by the Commission and will be available to the public on the
FTC website, to the extent practicable, at http://www.ftc.gov. As a matter of
discretion, the FTC makes every effort to remove home contact
information for individuals from the public comments it receives before
placing those comments on the FTC Web site. More information, including
routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, may be found in the FTC's
privacy policy at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.
[[Page 69970]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or
copies of the proposed information requirements should be sent to Neil
Blickman, Attorney, Division of Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer
Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-3038.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 25, 2005, the FTC sought comment
on the information collection requirements associated with the Fuel
Rating Rule, 16 CFR Part 306 (OMB Control Number: 3084-0068). See 70 FR
49925. No comments were received. Pursuant to the OMB regulations that
implement the PRA (5 CFR Part 1320), the FTC is providing this second
opportunity for public comment while seeking OMB approval to extend the
existing paperwork clearance for the Rule. All comments should be filed
as prescribed in the ADDRESSES section above, and must be received on
or before December 19, 2005.
The Fuel Rating Rule, 16 CFR Part 306 (OMB Control Number: 3084-
0068), establishes standard procedures for determining, certifying, and
disclosing the octane rating of automotive gasoline and the automotive
fuel rating of alternative liquid automotive fuels, as required by the
Petroleum Marketing Practices Act. 15 U.S.C. 2822(a)-(c). The Rule also
requires refiners, producers, importers, distributors, and retailers to
keep records showing how the ratings were determined, including
delivery tickets or letters of certification.
Estimated annual hours burden: \2\ 40,000 total burden hours
(16,000 recordkeeping hours + 24,000 disclosure hours).
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\2\ All numbers pertaining to hours and cost burden estimates
have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
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Recordkeeping: Based on industry sources, staff estimates that
195,000 fuel industry members each incur an average annual burden of
approximately five minutes to ensure retention of relevant business
records for the period required by the Rule, resulting in a total of
16,000 hours.
Disclosure: Staff estimates that affected industry members incur an
average burden of approximately one hour to produce, distribute, and
post octane rating labels. Because the labels are durable, only about
one of every eight industry members (i.e., approximately 24,000 of
195,000 industry members) incur this burden each year, resulting in a
total annual burden of 24,000 hours.
Estimated annual cost burden: $804,000 ($720,000 in labor costs and
$84,000 in non-labor costs).
Labor costs: Staff estimates that the work associated with the
Rule's recordkeeping and disclosure requirements is performed by
skilled information and record clerks at an average rate of $18.00 per
hour. Thus, the annual labor cost to respondents of complying with the
recordkeeping and disclosure requirements of the Rule is estimated to
be $720,000 ((16,000 hours + 24,000 hours) x $18.00 per hour).
Capital or other non-labor costs: $84,000.
Staff believes that there are no current start-up costs associated
with the Rule. Because the Rule has been effective since 1979 for
gasoline, and since 1993 for liquid alternative automotive fuels,
industry members already have in place the capital equipment and other
means necessary to comply with the Rule. Retailers (approximately
170,000 industry members), however, do incur the cost of procuring (and
replacing) fuel dispenser labels to comply with the Rule. According to
industry input, the price per label is about fifty cents. Industry
estimates of the useful life of dispenser labels range from 6 to 10
years. The estimate is based on the bottom of that range, i.e., 6
years. Based on industry input, staff believes that the average
retailer has six dispensers, all being obtained or replaced in the same
year. Assuming that, in any given year, \1/6\th of all retailers
(28,000 retailers) will replace their dispenser labels, staff estimates
total labeling cost to be $84,000 (28,000 x 6 x .50 ).
William Blumenthal,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 05-22848 Filed 11-17-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P