[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 187 (Tuesday, September 28, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57931-57932]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-21686]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') has 
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as 
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA''), the information 
collection requirements described below. The FTC is seeking public 
comments on its proposal to extend through October 28, 2007, the 
current PRA generic clearance for a group of consumer surveys that will 
examine the comprehensibility of various forms, disclosures, and 
notices required by The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 
2003 (``FACTA'' or ``the Act''), Pub. L. 108-159. That clearance 
expires on October 31, 2004.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 28, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments. 
Comments should refer to ``FACTA Surveys: Paperwork Comment, 
[P044804]'' 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 to the following address: 
Federal Trade Commission/Office of the Secretary, Room H-159 (Annex P), 
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\ 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.
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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 via facsimile to: 
Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the 
Federal Trade Commission, fax : (202) 395-6974.
    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, whether filed 
in paper or electronic form, will be considered by the Commission, and 
will be available to the public on the FTC Web site, 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be addressed to Lisa M. Harrison, (202) 326-3204, or William P. 
Golden, (202) 326-2494, Federal Trade Commission, Office of the General 
Counsel, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 28, 2004, the FTC submitted a 
request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for generic 
clearance of a group of consumer surveys that will examine

[[Page 57932]]

the comprehensibility of various forms, disclosures, and notices 
required by FACTA. The FTC asked for expedited processing of the 
clearance request because of the short deadline for completing many of 
the rulemakings mandated by FACTA. The FTC intends to use the consumer 
surveys in order to inform these rulemakings. The methodologies that 
may be employed for the surveys include personal interviews and/or 
focus groups, telephone interviews, and mall intercepts. The 
Commission's staff estimated that the total burden for all FACTA-
related surveys would be approximately 4000 hours.
    On May 12, 2004, OMB approved the collection of information through 
October 31, 2004, assigned OMB control number 3084-0130, and permitted 
the FTC to provide opportunity for public comment while the clearance 
was in effect. On June 18, 2004, the FTC sought comment on the 
information collection requirements associated with the group of 
consumer surveys. See 69 FR 34166 (June 18, 2004). The FTC also sought 
comment on its proposal to extend the clearance through October 28, 
2007. 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. In accordance with the terms of the 
clearance, the FTC will submit each survey instrument to OMB for review 
prior to conducting the survey.
    Description of the collection of information and proposed use: The 
FTC intends to use consumer survey research to develop and test the 
comprehensibility of disclosures regarding consumer rights and options 
that are mandated by various provisions in FACTA. The consumer surveys 
will involve individual interviews by telephone or focus groups and 
mall intercepts. For most of the surveys, the FTC is seeking consumers 
with open credit card accounts. Recent statistics indicate that 75% of 
adult consumers have credit cards. The FTC therefore estimates that, 
for example, a survey using 650 respondents will require roughly 870 
consumers to be screened. The FTC will ensure that the selected 
contractors screen potential respondents on a set of demographic 
characteristics that will result in a representative sample.
    The FTC will contract with a research firm for each of the surveys 
that will utilize mall intercept and telephone surveys (including 
screening). For mall intercepts, the contractor will screen consumers 
in up to 15 shopping malls that represent diverse geographic areas of 
the United States. Respondents may be shown sample solicitations and 
asked a series of questions about the disclosures contained in the 
solicitations. The results will allow the FTC to examine the 
comprehensibility of the disclosures. In addition, some of the surveys 
will utilize personal interviews or focus groups to assist the FTC in 
developing the disclosures to be tested.

Burden Statement

    Estimated annual hours burden: The surveys that the FTC proposes to 
conduct will use mall intercepts, telephone surveys (including 
screening), and, in some cases, personal interviews or focus groups. 
The telephone and mall intercepts will involve between 650 and 1,300 
respondents and will take between one minute (for screening purposes) 
and 30 minutes per respondent; the focus groups and personal interviews 
will involve approximately 150 respondents and will take up to one hour 
per respondent. The annual burden imposed by each survey would range 
from approximately 90 hours to 900 hours for a cumulative total 
estimated burden of approximately 3,500 hours.
    Estimated annual cost burden: The cost per respondent should be 
negligible. Participation is voluntary and will not require start-up, 
capital, or labor expenditures by respondents. The contractors retained 
by the FTC may pay respondents a token honorarium. The honorarium is 
provided as an incentive to encourage participation and to increase the 
survey response rate. The amount offered will be established at a level 
consistent with the contractor's usual practice. For shorter interviews 
(15 to 30 minutes), the amount will not exceed $10. For longer 
interviews, any fees will not exceed $40.
    For each survey, staff estimates that obtaining the services of a 
contractor to screen potential respondents, administer the survey, and 
tabulate the results will cost approximately $40,000. Also, each survey 
will require 400 attorney, economist and research analyst hours valued 
at approximately $25,000. Therefore, the expected cost to the Federal 
Government for each survey will be approximately $65,000.

William E. Kovacic,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 04-21686 Filed 9-27-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P