[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 147 (Wednesday, August 1, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42091-42093]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-14860]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


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

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

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. The Federal Trade 
Commission (``FTC'') is seeking public comments on its proposal to 
extend through November 30, 2010 the current OMB clearance for 
information collection requirements contained in its Prescreen Opt-Out 
Disclosure Rule. That clearance expires on November 30, 2007.

DATES: Comments must be filed by October 1, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments. 
Comments should refer to ``Prescreen Opt-Out Disclosure Rule: FTC File 
No. P075417'' 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, with two complete 
copies, to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Room H 135 
(Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20580. Because 
paper mail in the Washington area and at the Commission is subject to 
delay, please consider submitting your comments in electronic form, as 
prescribed below. However, if the comment contains any material for 
which confidential treatment is requested, it must be filed in paper 
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.
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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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    Comments filed in electronic form should be submitted by using the 
following weblink: https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-PrescreenOpt-Out 
(and following the instructions on the Web-based form). To ensure that 
the Commission considers an electronic comment, you must file it on the 
Web-based form at the weblink: https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-PrescreenOpt-Out. If this notice appears at 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. 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 will be 
considered by the Commission and will be available to the public on the 
FTC website, to the extent practicable, at 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 website. 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 Katherine Armstrong, Attorney, Division of 
Privacy and Identity Protction, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal 
Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580, 
(202) 326-3250.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA''), 
44 U.S.C. 3501-3520, federal agencies must obtain approval from OMB for 
each collection of information they conduct

[[Page 42092]]

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 information 
collection requirements contained in the Commission's Prescreen Opt-Out 
Disclosure Rule (``Prescreen Rule'' or ``Rule''), 16 CFR Part 642.
    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. All comments should be filed as prescribed in 
the ADDRESSES section above, and must be received on or before October 
1, 2007.
    Section 615(d) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (``FCRA''), 15 
U.S.C. 1681m(d)(1), requires any person who uses a consumer report in 
order to make an unsolicited firm offer of credit or insurance to the 
consumer to provide with each written solicitation a clear and 
conspicuous statement that:

     (A) information contained in the consumer's consumer report was 
used in connection with the transaction; (B) the consumer received the 
offer of credit or insurance because the consumer satisfied the 
criteria for credit worthiness or insurability under which the consumer 
was selected for the offer; (C) if applicable, the credit or insurance 
may not be extended if, after the consumer responds to the offer, the 
consumer does not meet the criteria used to select the consumer for the 
offer or any applicable criteria bearing on credit worthiness or 
insurability or does not furnish any required collateral; (D) the 
consumer has a right to prohibit information contained in the 
consumer's file with any consumer reporting agency from being used in 
connection with any credit or insurance transaction that is not 
initiated by the consumer; and (E) the consumer may exercise the right 
referred to in subparagraph (D) by notifying a notification system 
established under section 604(e) [of the FCRA].

    Section 615(d)(1) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681m(d)(1).
    The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, Pub. L. 108-
159, 117 Stat. 1952 (``FACT Act'') was signed into law on December 4, 
2003. Section 213(a) of the FACT Act amended FCRA Section 615(d) to 
require that the statement mandated by Section 615(d) ``be presented in 
such format and in such type size and manner as to be simple and easy 
to understand, as established by the Commission, by rule, in 
consultation with the Federal banking agencies and the National Credit 
Union Administration.'' The Commission published the Final Rule in the 
Federal Register on January 31, 2005 and the Rule became effective 
August 1, 2005.
    The Rule adopted a ``layered'' notice approach that requires a 
short, simple, and easy-to-understand statement of consumers' opt-out 
rights on the first page of the prescreened solicitation, along with a 
longer statement containing additional details elsewhere in the 
solicitation. Specifically, the Rule required that a short notice be 
placed on the front side of the first page of the principal promotional 
document in the solicitation, or, if provided electronically, on the 
same page and in close proximity to the principal marketing message. 
The Rule specifies that the type size be larger than the type size of 
the principal text on the same page, but in no event smaller than 12-
point type, or if provided by electronic means, then reasonable steps 
shall be taken to ensure that the type size is larger than the type 
size of the principal text on the same page. The Rule further provides 
that the long notice, that appears elsewhere in the solicitation, be in 
a type size that is no smaller than the type size of the principal text 
on the same page, but in no event smaller than 8-point type. The long 
notice shall begin with a heading in capital letters and underlined, 
and identifying the long notice as the ``PRESCREEN & OPT-OUT NOTICE'' 
in a type style that is distinct from the principal type style used on 
the same page and be set apart from other text on the page. The Rule 
also includes model notices in English and Spanish.

Burden statement:

    Estimated total annual hours burden: 1,000 to 1,500 hours (rounded 
to the nearest thousand).
    Based on public comments received in response to the Commission's 
2004 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,\2\ when issuing the final Rule, the 
Commission estimated that the annual burden to industry would be 
between 43,600 and 45,600 hours.\3\ This estimate was comprised of 500 
to 750 companies each spending 8 hours to revise an existing 
solicitation plus 100 companies each needing an additional 396 hours to 
revise multiple solicitations ((500 companies x 8 burden hours + 39,600 
burden hours = 43,600 burden hours); (750 companies x 8 burden hours + 
39,600 burden hours = 45,600 burden hours)).\4\ The Commission further 
estimated that the total annual cost to industry would be between 
$1,157,894 and $1,213,329.\5\
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    \2\ 69 FR 58861 (Oct. 1, 2004).
    \3\ 70 FR 5022 (Jan. 31, 2005).
    \4\ The Commission estimated that each of the 100 companies 
would revise 99 additional solicitations and incur 4 hours of burden 
per solicitation (100 companies x 99 solicitations x 4 hours of 
burden = 39,600 burden hours).
    \5\ This estimate was based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data 
(as of July, 2002), as follows: 2 hours of managerial/professional 
time at $31.55 per hour; plus 6 hours of skilled technical labor at 
$26.44 per hour; multiplied by 500 and 750 companies, for a total of 
$110,870 and $166,305, respectively. Plus, an additional $1,047,024 
(39,600 hours of skilled technical labor at $26.44 per hour) for 
revising multiple solicitations.
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    The requirements of the Rule have not changed since OMB's 2004 
approval of the final Rule. The previous estimates included a one-time 
burden to reprogram and update systems to revise existing notices and 
to re-format solicitations to comply with the Rule. Because the Rule 
has been in effect since August 1, 2005, covered entities have already 
incurred the one time costs of transition to compliant notice formats. 
Accordingly, the annual PRA-related burden associated with the Rule is 
now reduced. FTC staff believes that the primary cost of continuing to 
comply with the Rule is limited to the legal review each entity 
determines is necessary to remain in compliance.
    FTC staff continues to estimate that between 500 and 750 entities 
make prescreened solicitations. However, since no additional revision 
or reformatting is necessary, staff has lowered the estimate of the 
burden hours to approximately 2 hours (one quarter of one business 
day), rather than 8 hours which was the estimate to revise and reformat 
solicitations when the Rule was promulgated. Accordingly, the total 
annual burden is between 1,000

[[Page 42093]]

and 1,500 hours (500 to 750 entities x 2 hours of annual burden). FTC 
staff has assumed that in-house legal counsel will handle most of the 
compliance review and has applied an average hourly wage of $250/hour 
for their labor. Accordingly, the total cost for all affected entities 
would be between $250,000 and $375,000 (1000 to 1,500 burden hours x 
$250 per hour of legal review time).

John D. Graubert
Acting General Counsel
[FR Doc. E7-14860 Filed 7-31-07: 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-S