[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 110 (Friday, June 6, 2008)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32259-32260]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-12739]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

16 CFR Part 317

[Project No. P082900]
RIN 3084-AB12


Prohibitions On Market Manipulation and False Information in 
Subtitle B of Title VIII of The Energy Independence and Security Act of 
2007

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Extension of period to submit comments in response to the 
Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: In a Federal Register notice issued and announced on May 1, 
2008,\1\ and published in the Federal Register on May 7, 2008 
(``Notice''),\2\ the Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'' or 
``FTC'') requested comment on its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
(``ANPR'') in connection with its rulemaking pursuant to Section 811 of 
the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (``EISA''). The ANPR 
stated that comments must be submitted on or before June 6, 2008. In 
response to a request to extend the comment period received on May 19, 
2008, the Commission has determined to extend the comment period for an 
additional 15 days.
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    \1\ The Notice was announced in a press release on May 1, 2008, 
available at: (http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/05/anpr.shtm.)
    \2\ Federal Trade Commission, Prohibitions On Market 
Manipulation and False Information in Subtitle B of the Energy 
Independence and Security Act of 2007, 73 FR 25614 (May 7, 2008).

DATES: Comments addressing the Market Manipulation ANPR must be 
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received on or before June 23, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Comments should refer to ``Market Manipulation Rulemaking, 
P082900'' to facilitate the organization of comments. Comments 
containing material for which confidential treatment is requested must 
be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled ``Confidential,'' and 
must comply with Commission Rule 4.9(c).\3\
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    \3\ 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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    Because paper mail in the Washington area, and specifically to the 
FTC, is subject to delay due to heightened security screening, please 
consider submitting your comments in electronic form. Comments filed in 
electronic form should be submitted by using the following weblink: 
(https://

[[Page 32260]]

secure.commentworks.com/ftc-marketmanipulationANPR/)(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-marketmanipulationANPR/). If this notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov, you may also file an electronic comment through 
that website. The Commission will consider all comments that 
regulations.gov forwards to it. You may also visit the FTC website at 
(http://www.ftc.gov/opa/index.shtml)to read the ANPR and the news 
release describing it.
    A comment filed in paper form should include the ``Market 
Manipulation Rulemaking, P082900'' reference both in the text and on 
the envelope, and should be mailed to the following address: Federal 
Trade Commission, Market Manipulation Rulemaking, P.O. Box 2846, 
Fairfax, VA 22031-0846. This address does not accept courier or 
overnight deliveries. Courier or overnight deliveries should be 
delivered to: Federal Trade Commission/Office of the Secretary, Room H-
135 (Annex G), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580.
    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, whether filed in paper or electronic 
form. Comments received will be available to the public on the FTC 
website, 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 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: James Mongoven, Deputy Assistant 
Director of Policy & Coordination, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade 
Commission, Market Manipulation Rulemaking, P.O. Box 2846, Fairfax, VA 
22031-0846, (202) 326-3772.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 7, 2008, the Commission published an 
ANPR pursuant to the authority granted to it in Section 811 of the EISA 
to promulgate regulations prohibiting ``market manipulation'' in the 
petroleum industry. In that Notice, the Commission solicited comment on 
a variety of topics including the scope of a proposed Rule; the impact 
of other agencies' extant rules against market manipulation on a 
proposed Rule; and the effectiveness of monetary penalties in curbing 
behavior proscribed by a proposed Rule. The ANPR stated that the period 
for submitting initial comments would close on June 6, 2008.
    On May 19, 2008, the Commission received a letter from counsel for 
the American Petroleum Institute (``API'') requesting that the 
Commission extend the comment deadline in the ANPR proceeding for an 
additional 60 days, resulting in a 90-day comment period. In its 
request, API advances three arguments in support of an extension of the 
comment period. First, API argues that additional time is needed to 
canvass its more than 400 members and to ``consolidate and present that 
information for the Commission's consideration.'' Second, API contends 
that the extension is necessary to ensure that there is ``sufficient 
time for thoughtful deliberation'' about the ``many novel and complex 
issues'' addressed in the ANPR. Third, API opines that ``defining 
`manipulation' is inherently difficult and not within the Commission's 
traditional antitrust or consumer protection experience,'' and thus 
providing additional time to commenters will yield more carefully 
considered comments, which will be beneficial to the Commission as it 
proceeds.
    The Commission is sympathetic to the concerns raised by API. The 
Commission, however, is not persuaded that a full 60-day extension--
which would triple the time allocated by the Commission for the receipt 
of comments--is necessary to ensure that interested parties have an 
adequate opportunity to prepare and submit thoughtful responses at this 
stage in the proceeding. The Commission believes that a 15-day 
extension of the initial 30-day comment period should be sufficient to 
enable API and all other commenters to finalize and submit comments in 
response to the ANPR while avoiding unnecessary delay. Further, in the 
event that the Commission determines to issue a Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking in this proceeding, interested parties will be afforded an 
additional period of time in which to submit comments in response to a 
proposed Rule. Accordingly, the Commission has determined to extend the 
comment period set forth in the ANPR until June 23, 2008.\4\
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    \4\ Under Commission Rule 4.3(a), the 15-day comment period 
begins on Monday, June 9, 2008, the first business day after the 
date on which the comment period is currently scheduled to end. 16 
CFR 4.3(a).
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    By direction of the Commission.

Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-12739 Filed 6-5-08: 8:45 am]
[BILLING CODE 6750-01-S]