[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 18, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2906-2908]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-929]
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 January 31, 2014, the
current PRA clearance for information collection requirements contained
in its Rule Governing Pre-Sale Availability of
[[Page 2907]]
Written Warranty Terms. This clearance is scheduled to expire on
January 31, 2011.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 21, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments
electronically or in paper form, by following the instructions in the
Request for Comments to 30-Day Notice 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/presaleavailabilitypra2 (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 H113 (Annex J), 600
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580, in the 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 September 16, 2010, the Commission sought comment on the
information collection requirements associated with the Rule Governing
Pre-Sale Availability of Written Warranty Terms, (the Pre-Sale
Availability Rule), 16 CFR 702. 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. 3084-0112). All comments should be filed as prescribed
below, and must be received on or before February 17, 2011.
The Pre-Sale Availability 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 Pre-Sale
Availability Rule requires sellers and warrantors to make the text of
any written warranty on a consumer product costing more than $15
available to the consumer before sale. Among other things, the Rule
requires sellers to make the text of the warranty readily available
either by (1) displaying it in close proximity to the product or (2)
furnishing it on request and posting signs in prominent locations
advising consumers that the warranty is available. The Rule requires
warrantors to provide materials to enable sellers to comply with the
Rule's requirements and also sets out the methods by which warranty
information can be made available before the sale if the product is
sold through catalogs, mail order, or door-to-door sales.
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\1\ The other two rules relate to the information that must
appear in a written warranty on a consumer product costing more than
$15 if a warranty is offered and minimum standards for informal
dispute settlement mechanisms that are incorporated into a written
warranty.
\2\ 40 FR 60168 (Dec. 31, 1975).
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Request for Comments
Interested parties are invited to submit written comments
electronically or in paper form. Comments should refer to ``Pre-Sale
Availability Rule: 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).
Please also note that because your comments will be made public,
you are solely responsible for ensuring that it does not include any
sensitive personal information, such as any 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. It is also
your own responsibility to ensure that your comment does not include
any sensitive health information, such as medical records or other
individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment
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 FTC Act, 15
U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2). No comment,
whether it contains such material or not, will be given confidential
treatment unless the comment has been filed with the FTC Secretary; the
comment is accompanied by a written confidentiality request that
complies fully with FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c);\3\ and the General
Counsel, in his or her sole discretion, has determined to grant the
request in accordance with applicable law and the public interest.
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\3\ In particular, the written request for confidential
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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Because postal mail addressed to the FTC is subject to delay due to
heightened security screening, please submit your comments in
electronic form or send them by courier or overnight service. To ensure
that the Commission considers an electronic comment, you must file it
at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/presaleavailabilitypra2, by
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. You may also visit the
FTC Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read the Notice and the news
release describing it.
A comment filed in paper form should include the ``Pre-Sale
Availability Rule: 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-113 (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
[[Page 2908]]
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 on or before the deadline specified
above in the DATES section, whether filed in paper or electronic form.
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.
Pre-Sale Availability Rule Burden Statement: Total annual hours
burden: 2,490,000 rounded to the nearest thousand.
In its 2007 submission to OMB, FTC staff estimated that the
information collection burden of making the disclosures required by the
Pre-Sale Availability Rule was approximately 2,328,000 hours per year.
Although there has been no change in the Rule's information collection
requirements since 2007, staff has adjusted its previous estimate of
the number of manufacturers subject to the Rule based on recent Census
data. From that, staff now estimates that there are approximately 478
large manufacturers and 15,444 small manufacturers subject to the Rule.
In addition, recent Census data suggests that there are an estimated
6,892 large retailers and 452,553 small retailers impacted by the Rule.
In its 2007 submission to OMB, staff took note that some online
retailers had begun to make warranty information directly available on
their Web sites, thereby reducing their paperwork burden under the
Rule. As e-commerce continues to grow, it is likely that even more
retailers are posting warranty information online than they were in
2007. Nevertheless, because the staff assumes that only a small
percentage of retailers would be significantly less burdened by posting
warranty information online--namely, retailers with a large Internet
presence or whose inventory is mainly composed of warranted products
\4\--the staff has retained its previous estimates of the hour burden
for retailers. Therefore, staff continues to estimate that large
retailers spend an average of 20.8 hours per year and small retailers
spend an average 4.8 hours per year to comply with the Rule.\5\
Accordingly, the total annual burden for retailers is approximately
2,315,608 hours ((6,892 large retailers x 20.8 burden hours) + (452,553
small retailers x 4.8 burden hours)).
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\4\ In addition, many online retailers also operate ``brick-and-
mortar'' operations and still provide paper copies of warranties for
review by customers who do not do business online.
\5\ FTC staff recently contacted representatives from two
retailer associations--the National Retail Federation and the North
American Retail Dealers Association--but we have not received any
additional information that indicated we need to update the hours
estimates.
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Staff also estimates that more manufacturers are beginning to
provide retailers with warranty information in electronic form in
fulfilling their obligations under the Rule. Therefore, staff finds it
necessary at this time to adjust the hour burden for manufacturers as
it did with retailers in its previous submission to OMB. Applying a 20%
reduction to its previous estimates, the staff now assumes that large
manufacturers spend an average of 42 hours per year and that small
manufacturers spend an average of 10 hours per year to comply with the
Rule.\6\ Accordingly, the total annual burden incurred by manufacturers
is approximately 174,516 hours ((478 large manufacturers x 42 hours) +
(15,444 small manufacturers x 10 hours)).
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\6\ FTC staff recently contacted representatives from the
Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, but we have
not received any additional information that indicated we need to
further adjust the current hour estimates.
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Thus, the total annual burden for all covered entities is
approximately 2,490,124 hours (2,315,608 hours for retailers + 174,516
hours for manufacturers).
Total annual labor cost: $47,000,000 rounded to the nearest
thousand.
The work required to comply with the Pre-Sale Availability Rule
entails a mix of clerical work and work performed by sales associates.
Staff estimates that half of the total burden hours would likely be
performed by sales associates. At the manufacturing level, this work
would entail ensuring that the written warranty accompanies every
consumer product or that the required warranty information otherwise
gets to the retailer. At the retail level, this work would entail
ensuring that the written warranty is made available to the consumer
prior to sale. The remaining half of the work required to comply with
the Pre-Sale Availability Rule is clerical in nature, e.g., shipping or
otherwise providing copies of manufacturer warranties to retailers and
retailer maintenance of them. Applying a sales associate wage rate of
$22/hour to half of the burden hours and a clerical wage rate of $16/
hour to half of the burden hours, the total annual labor cost burden is
approximately $47,312,356 (1,245,062 hours x $22 per hour) + (1,245,062
hours x $16 per hour).\7\
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\7\ The wage rate used in this Notice reflect recent data from
the Bureau of Labor Statistics National Compensation Survey (http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/sp/nctb1346.pdf).
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Total annual capital or other non-labor costs: De minimis.
The vast majority of retailers and warrantors already have
developed systems to provide the information the Rule requires.
Compliance by retailers typically entails keeping warranties on file,
in binders or otherwise, and posting an inexpensive sign indicating
warranty availability. Manufacturer compliance entails providing
retailers with a copy of the warranties included with their products.
Willard K. Tom,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2011-929 Filed 1-14-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P