[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 151 (Wednesday, August 6, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46640-46642]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-19998]


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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 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 November 30, 2006 the 
current PRA clearance for information collection requirements contained 
in its Alternative Fuel Rule. That clearance expires on November 30, 
2003.

DATES: Comments must be filed by October 6, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Secretary, Federal Trade Commission, 600 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Room H-159, Washington, DC 20580 or by e-mail 
to [email protected]., as prescribed below. The submissions should include 
the submitter's name, address, telephone number and, if available, FAX 
number and e-mail address. All submissions should be captioned 
``Alternative Fuel Rule: Paperwork comment.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be addressed to Neil Blickman, Division of Enforcement, Bureau 
of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 601 New Jersey Ave., 
NW., Room NJ-2122, Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), 
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). As required by section 3506(c)(2)(A) 
of the PRA, the FTC is providing this opportunity for public comment 
before requesting that OMB extend the existing paperwork clearance for 
the Alternative Fuel Rule.
    The FTC invites comments on: (1) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways 
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who 
are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.
    Comments from members of the public are invited, and may be filed 
with the Commission in either paper or electronic form. A public 
comment filed in paper form should be mailed or delivered to the 
following address:

[[Page 46641]]

Federal Trade Commission/Office of the Secretary, Room 159-H, 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580. If the comment contains 
any material for which confidential treatment is requested, it must be 
filed in paper (rather than electronic) form, and the first page of the 
document must be clearly labeled ``Confidential.''\1\ A public comment 
that does not contain any material for which confidential treatment is 
requested may instead be filed in electronic form (in ASCII format, 
WordPerfect, or Microsoft Word), as part of or as an attachment to an 
email message sent to the following email box: [email protected]. Regardless 
of the form in which they are filed, all timely comments will be 
considered by the Commission, and will be available (with confidential 
material redacted) for public inspection and copying at the 
Commission's principal office and on the Commission web site at 
www.ftc.gov. 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 
web site.
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    \1\ FTC Rule 4.2(d), 16 CFR 4.2(d). The comment must also 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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    The Alternative Fuel Rule, 16 CFR part 309 (Control Number: 3084-
0094), issued under the Energy Policy Act of 1992, Pub. L. 102-486, 
requires disclosure of specific information on labels posted on fuel 
dispensers for non-liquid alternative fuels and on labels on 
alternative fueled vehicles (AFVs). To ensure the accuracy of these 
disclosures, the Rule also requires that sellers maintain records 
substantiating product-specific disclosures they include on these 
labels.

Burden Statement

    It is common practice for alternative fuel industry members to 
determine and monitor fuel ratings in the normal course of their 
business activities. This is because industry members must know and 
determine the fuel ratings of their products in order to monitor 
quality and to decide how to market them. ``Burden'' for PRA purposes 
is defined to exclude effort that would be expended regardless of any 
regulatory requirement. 5 CFR 1320.2(b)(2). Moreover, as originally 
anticipated when the Rule was promulgated in 1995, many of the 
information collection requirements and the originally-estimated hours 
were associated with one-time start up tasks of implementing standard 
systems and processes.
    Other factors also limit the burden associated with the Rule. 
Certification may be a one-time event or require only infrequent 
revision. Disclosures on electric vehicle fuel dispensing systems may 
be useable for several years. (Label specifications were designed to 
produce labels to withstand the elements for several years.) 
Nonetheless, there is still some burden associated with posting labels. 
There also will be some minimal burden associated with new or revised 
certification of fuel ratings and recordkeeping. The burden on vehicle 
manufacturers is limited because only newly-manufactured vehicles will 
require label posting and manufacturers produce very few new models 
each year. Finally, there will be some burden, also minor, associated 
with recordkeeping requirements.
    Estimated total annual hours burden: 2,100 total burden hours, 
rounded.

Non-Liquid Alternative Fuels

    Recordkeeping: Staff estimates that all 1,800 industry members will 
be subject to the Rule's recordkeeping requirements (associated with 
fuel rating certification) and that compliance will require 
approximately one-tenth hour each per year for a total of 180 hours.
    Certification: Staff estimates that the rule's fuel rating 
certification requirements will affect approximately 550 industry 
members (compressed natural gas producers and distributors and 
manufacturers of electric vehicle fuel dispensing systems) and consume 
approximately one hour each per year for a total of 550 hours.
    Labeling: Staff estimates that labeling requirements will affect 
approximately nine of every ten industry members (or roughly 1,600 
members), but that the number of annually affected members is only 320 
because labels may remain effective for several years (staff assumes 
that in any given year approximately 20% of 1,600 industry members will 
need to replace their labels). Staff estimates that industry members 
require approximately one hour each per year for labeling their fuel 
dispensers for a total of 320 hours.
    Sub-total: 12,050 hours (180 + 550 + 320).

AFV Manufacturers

    Recordkeeping:  Staff estimates that all 58 manufacturers will 
require 30 minutes to comply with the Rule's recordkeeping requirements 
for a total of 29 hours.
    Producing levels: Staff estimates 2.5 hours as the average time 
required of manufacturers to produce labels for each of the five new 
AFV models introduced among them each year for a total of 12.5 hours.
    Posting labels: Staff estimates 2 minutes as the average time to 
comply with the posting requirements for each of the approximately 
30,000 new AFVs manufactured each year for a total of 1,000 hours.
    Sub-total: approximately 1,041 hours (29 + 12.5 + 1,000).
    Thus, total burden for these industries combined is approximately 
2,100 hours (1,050 + 1,041).
    Estimated labor costs: $47,000, rounded.
    Labor costs are derived by applying appropriate hourly cost figures 
to the burden hours described above. According to Bureau of Labor 
Statistics staff, the average compensation for producers and 
distributors in the fuel industry is $18.98 per hour and $8.56 per hour 
for service station employees; the average compensation for workers in 
the vehicle industry is $27.80 per hour.

Non-Liquid Alternative Fuels

    Certification and labeling: Generally, all of the estimated hours 
except for recordkeeping will be performed by producers and 
distributors of fuels. Thus, the associated labor costs would be 
$16,512.60 (870 hours x $18.98).
    Recordkeeping: only 1/6 of the total 180 hours will be performed by 
the producers and distributors of fuels; the other 5/6 is attributable 
to service station employees (1/6 = 30 hours x $18.98 = $569.40 + (5/6 
= 150 hours x $8.56 = $1,284.00) = $1,853.40, for an estimated labor 
cost to the entire industry of $18,366.00.

AFV Manufacturers

    The maximum labor cost to the entire industry is approximately 
$28,939.80 per year for recordkeeping and producing and posting labels 
(1,041 total hours x $27.80/hour). Thus, estimated total labor cost for 
both industries for all paperwork requirements is $47,000 ($18,366.00 + 
$28.939.80) per year, rounded to the nearest thousand.
    Estimated annual non-labor cost burden: $12,000, rounded.

Non-Liquid Alternative Fuels

    Staff believes that there are no current start-up costs associated 
with the Rule, inasmuch as the Rule has been effective since 1995. 
Industry members, therefore, have in place the capital

[[Page 46642]]

equipment and means necessary, especially to determine automotive fuel 
ratings and comply with the Rule. Industry members, however, incur the 
cost of procuring fuel dispenser and AFV labels to comply with the 
Rule. The estimated annual fuel labeling cost, based on estimates of 
500 fuel dispensers (assumptions: an estimated 20% of 1,250 total 
retailers need to replace labels in any given year given an 
approximately five-year life for labels--i.e., 250 retailers--
multiplied by an average of two dispensers per retailer) at thirty-
eight cents for each label (per industry sources), is $190.00.

AFV Manufacturers

    Here, too, staff believes that there are no current start-up costs 
associated with the Rule, for the same reasons as stated immediately 
above regarding the non-liquid alternative fuel industry. However, 
based on the labeling of an estimated 30,000 new and used AFVs each 
year at thirty-eight cents for each label (per industry sources), the 
annual AFV labeling costs is estimated to be $11,400. Estimated total 
annul non-labor cost burden associated with the Rule, therefore, would 
be $12,000 ($190.00 + $11,400.00), rounded to the nearest thousand.

William E. Kovacic,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 03-19998 Filed 8-5-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-M