[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 194 (Monday, October 7, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62473-62474]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-25443]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

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, 2005 the current PRA clearance for information collection 
requirements contained in the regulations. That clearance expires on 
December 31, 2002.

DATES: Comments must be filed by November 6, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive 
Office Building, Room 10202, Washington, DC 20503, ATTN.: Desk Officer 
for the Federal Trade commission (comments in electronic form should be 
sent to [email protected]), and to Secretary, Federal Trade 
Commission, Room H-159, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 
20580 (comments in electronic form should be sent to: FuelRating 
[email protected]) as prescribed below.

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: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal 
agencies must obtain approval from OMB for each collection of 
information they conduct or sponsor. On July 24, 2002, 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 
67 FR 48471. 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.
    If a comment contains nonpublic information, it must be filed in 
paper form, and the first page of the document must be clearly labeled 
``confidential.'' Comments that do not contain any nonpublic 
information may instead be field in electronic form (in ASCII format, 
WordPerfect, or Microsoft Word) as part of or as an attachment to email 
messages directed to the following email box: Fuel Rating [email protected]. 
Such comments will be considered by the Commission and will be 
available for inspection and copying at its principal office in 
accordance with Section 4.9(b)(6)(ii) of the Commission's Rules of 
Practice, 16 CCR 4.9(b)(6)(ii).
    The Fuel Rating Rule 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 retain records showing how 
the ratings were determined, including delivery tickets or letters of 
certification.
    Estimated annual hours burden: 42,000 total burden hours (17,000 
recordkeeping hours + 25,000 disclosure hours).
    Recordkeeping: Based on industry sources, staff estimates that 
200,000 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 
17,000 hours, rounded.
    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 25,000 of 
200,000 members) incur this burden each year, resulting in a total 
annual burden of 25,000 hours.
    Estimated annual cost burden: $739,000, rounded ($672,000 in labor 
costs and $67,000 in non-labor costs).
    Labor costs: Staff estimates that the work associated with the 
Rule's recordkeeping and disclosure requirements is performed by 
skilled clerical employees at an average rate of $16.00 per hour. Thus, 
the annual labor cost to respondents of complying with the 
recordkeeping and disclosure requirements of the Rule is estimated to 
be $672,000 ((17,000 hours + 25,000 hours) x 16.00 per hours).
    Capital or other non-labor costs: $67,000, rounded up to the 
nearest thousand. 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

[[Page 62474]]

(approximately 175,000 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 thirty-
eight cents. Based on ranging industry estimates of a 6-10 year useful 
life per dispenser label, staff will conservatively factor into its 
calculation of labeling cost the shortest assumed useful life, i.e., 6 
years. Staff believes that the average retailers has six dispensers, 
with all of them being obtained either simultaneously or otherwise 
within the same year. Assuming that, in any given year, \1/6\ of all 
retailers (29,167 retailers) will replace their dispenser labels, staff 
estimates total labeling cost to be $66,500 (29,167 x 6 x .38).

John D. Graubert
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 02-25443 Filed 10-4-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-M