[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 199 (Friday, October 15, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63476-63478]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-25983]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities; Request for OMB Review;
Comment Request
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission).
ACTION: Notice and request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The information collection requirements described below will
be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review,
as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The FTC is seeking
public comments on its proposal to extend through December 31, 2013,
the current PRA clearance for information collection requirements
contained in its Consumer Product Warranty Rule. Those clearances
expire on December 31, 2010.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 15, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments
electronically or in paper form, by following the instructions in the
Request for Comments part of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
below. Comments in electronic form should be submitted by using the
following Web link: (https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/consumerwarrantypra2) (and following the instructions on the Web-based
form). Comments in paper form should be mailed or delivered to the
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary,
Room H-135 (Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC
20580, in the
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manner detailed in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for copies of the collection
of information and supporting documentation should be addressed to
Allyson Himelfarb, Investigator, Division of Marketing Practices,
Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Room H-286,
600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-2505.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Proposed Information Collection Activities
Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, federal agencies must obtain
approval from OMB for each collection of information they conduct or
sponsor. ``Collection of information'' means agency requests or
requirements that members of the public submit reports, keep records,
or provide information to a third party. 44 U.S.C. 3502(3), 5 CFR
1320.3(c).
On July 1, 2010, the FTC sought comment on the information
collection requirements associated with the Rule Concerning Disclosure
of Written Consumer Product Warranty Terms and Conditions (the Warranty
Rule), 16 CFR part 701. No comments were received. Pursuant to the OMB
regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, that implement the PRA, the FTC is
providing this second opportunity for public comment while seeking OMB
approval to renew the pre-existing clearance for the Rule (OMB Control
No. 3084-0111). All comments should be filed as prescribed herein and
must be received on or before November 15, 2010.
The Warranty Rule is one of three rules \1\ that the FTC
implemented pursuant to requirements of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act,
15 U.S.C. 2301 et seq. (Warranty Act or Act).\2\ The Warranty Rule
specifies the information that must appear in a written warranty on a
consumer product costing more than $15. The Rule tracks Section 102(a)
of the Warranty Act,\3\ specifying information that must appear in the
written warranty and, for certain disclosures, mandates the exact
language that must be used.\4\ Neither the Warranty Rule nor the Act
requires that a manufacturer or retailer warrant a consumer product in
writing, but if they choose to do so, the warranty must comply with the
Rule.
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\1\ The other two rules relate to the pre-sale availability of
warranty terms and minimum standards for informal dispute settlement
mechanisms that are incorporated into a written warranty.
\2\ 40 FR 60168 (Dec. 31, 1975).
\3\ 15 U.S.C. 2302(a).
\4\ 40 FR 60168, 60169-60170.
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Request for Comments
Interested parties are invited to submit written comments
electronically or in paper form. Comments should refer to ``Warranty
Rules: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P044403'' to facilitate the
organization of comments. Please note that your comment--including your
name and your State--will be placed on the public record of this
proceeding, including on the publicly accessible FTC Web site, at
http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm.
Because comments will be made public, they should not include any
sensitive personal information, such as an individual's Social Security
Number; date of birth; driver's license number or other state
identification number, or foreign country equivalent; passport number;
financial account number; or credit or debit card number. Comments also
should not include any sensitive health information, such as medical
records or other individually identifiable health information. In
addition, comments should not include any ``[t]rade secret or any
commercial or financial information which is obtained from any person
and which is privileged or confidential'' as provided in Section 6(f)
of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and
Commission Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2). Comments containing
material for which confidential treatment is requested must be filed in
paper form, must be clearly labeled ``Confidential,'' and must comply
with FTC Rule 4.9(c).
Because paper mail addressed to the FTC is subject to delay due to
heightened security screening, please consider submitting your comments
in electronic form. Comments filed in electronic form should be
submitted by using the following Web link: https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/consumerwarrantypra2 (and following the
instructions on the Web-based form). If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov, you may also file an electronic comment through
that Web site. The Commission will consider all comments that
regulations.gov forwards to it.
A comment filed in paper form should include the ``Warranty Rules:
Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P044403'' reference both in the text
and on the envelope, and should be mailed or delivered to the following
address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-135
(Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580. The FTC
is requesting that any comment filed in paper form be sent by courier
or overnight service, if possible, because U.S. postal mail in the
Washington area and at the Commission is subject to delay due to
heightened security precautions.
Comments on any proposed recordkeeping, or disclosure requirements
that are subject to Paperwork Reduction Act review by the OMB should
additionally be submitted via facsimile to OMB at (202) 395-5167 and
addressed as follows: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for Federal
Trade Commission. Facsimile submission is preferred over U.S. postal
mail delivery by the OMB, as the latter type of delivery is subject to
delays due to heightened security precautions. Still, in case it is
needed, the OMB mail address is: Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office
Building, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington,
DC 20503. The OMB requests that any comment filed in paper form be sent
by courier or overnight service, if possible.
The FTC Act and other laws the Commission administers permit the
collection of public comments to consider and use in this proceeding as
appropriate. The Commission will consider all timely and responsive
public comments that it receives, whether filed in paper or electronic
form. Comments received will be available to the public on the FTC's
Web site, to the extent practicable, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the Commission makes
every effort to remove home contact information for individuals from
the public comments it receives before placing those comments on the
FTC's 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.shtm.
Warranty Rule Burden Statement: Total annual hours burden: 127,000
hours, rounded to the nearest thousand.
In its 2007 submission to OMB, the FTC estimated that the
information collection burden of including the disclosures required by
the Warranty Rule was approximately 107,000 hours per year. Although
the Rule's information collection requirements have not changed, this
estimate increases the number of manufacturers subject to the Rule
based on recent Census data. Nevertheless, because most
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warrantors would now disclose this information even if there were no
statute or rule requiring them to do so, staff's estimates likely
overstate the PRA-related burden attributable to the Rule. Moreover,
the Warranty Rule has been in effect since 1976, and warrantors have
long since modified their warranties to include the information the
Rule requires.
Based on conversations with various warrantors' representatives
over the years, staff has concluded that eight hours per year is a
reasonable estimate of warrantors' PRA-related burden attributable to
the Warranty Rule.\5\ This estimate takes into account ensuring that
new warranties and changes to existing warranties comply with the Rule.
Based on recent Census data, staff now estimates that there are 15,922
manufacturers covered by the Rule.\6\ This results in an annual burden
estimate of approximately 127,376 hours (15,922 manufacturers x 8 hours
of burden per year).
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\5\ FTC staff recently contacted two manufacturing
associations--the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers and
the National Association of Manufacturers--but we have not received
any additional information that further clarifies this estimate.
\6\ Because some manufacturers likely make products that are not
priced above $15 or not intended for household use--and thus would
not be subject to the Rule--this figure is likely an overstatement.
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Total annual labor costs: $16,941,000, rounded to the nearest
thousand.
Labor costs are derived by applying appropriate hourly cost figures
to the burden hours described above. The work required to comply with
the Warranty Rule--ensuring that new warranties and changes to existing
warranties comply with the Rule--requires a mix of legal analysis and
clerical support. Staff estimates that half of the total burden hours
(63,688 hours) requires legal analysis at an average hourly wage of
$250 for legal professionals,\7\ resulting in a labor cost of
$15,922,000. Assuming that the remaining half of the total burden hours
requires clerical work at an average hourly wage of $16, the resulting
labor cost is approximately $1,019,008. Thus, the total annual labor
cost is approximately $16,941,008 ($15,922,000 for legal professionals
+ $1,019,008 for clerical workers).
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\7\ Staff has derived an hourly wage rate for legal
professionals based upon industry knowledge. The clerical wage rate
used in this Notice is based on recent data from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics National Compensation Survey.
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Total annual capital or other nonlabor costs: $0.
The Rule imposes no appreciable current capital or start-up costs.
As stated above, warrantors have already modified their warranties to
include the information the Rule requires. Rule compliance does not
require the use of any capital goods, other than ordinary office
equipment, which providers would already have available for general
business use.
Willard K. Tom,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2010-25983 Filed 10-14-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P