[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 204 (Tuesday, October 21, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62501-62502]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-25106]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


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

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'' or ``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 October 
31, 2011, the current PRA clearance for information collection 
requirements contained in the FTC rule on ``Labeling and Advertising of 
Home Insulation'' (``R-value Rule'' or ``Rule''). The current clearance 
expires on October 31, 2008.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before November 20, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments 
electronically or in paper form. Comments should refer to ``R-value 
Rule, PRA Comment, FTC File No. P094200'' to facilitate the 
organization of comments. Please note that comments will be placed on 
the public record of this proceeding--including on the publicly 
accessible FTC website, at (http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm)--and therefore should not include any sensitive or 
confidential information. In particular, comments should not include 
any sensitive personal information, such as an individual's Social 
Security Number; date of birth; driver's license number or other state 
identification number, or foreign country equivalent; passport number; 
financial account number; or credit or debit card number. Comments also 
should not include any sensitive health information, such as medical 
records or other individually identifiable health information. In 
addition, comments should not include any ``[t]rade secrets and 
commercial or financial information obtained from a person and 
privileged or confidential. . . .,'' as provided in Section 6(f) of the 
FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and Commission Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 
4.10(a)(2). Comments containing material for which confidential 
treatment is requested must be filed in paper form, must be clearly 
labeled ``Confidential,'' and must comply with FTC Rule 4.9(c).\1\
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    \1\ FTC 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 FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    Because paper mail addressed 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://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-rvaluePRA) (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-rvaluePRA). If this Notice 
appears at (http://www.regulations.gov/search/index.jsp), 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 to read the Notice and the 
news release describing it.
    A comment filed in paper form should include the ``R-value Rule, 
PRA Comment, FTC File No. P094200'' 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-135 
(Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580. 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.
    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/os/publiccomments.shtm). 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 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.shtm).
    All comments should additionally be submitted to: Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for 
the Federal Trade Commission. Comments should be submitted via 
facsimile to (202) 395-6974 because U.S. Postal Mail is subject to 
lengthy delays due to heightened security precautions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hampton Newsome, Attorney, Bureau of 
Consumer Protection, (202) 326-2889, Federal Trade Commission, 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C. 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, 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 PRA clearance for the R-
value Rule, 16 CFR Part 460 (OMB Control Number 3084-0109).
    The R-value Rule establishes uniform standards for the 
substantiation and disclosure of accurate, material product information 
about the thermal performance characteristics of home insulation 
products. The R-value of an insulation signifies the insulation's 
degree of resistance to the flow of heat.

[[Page 62502]]

This information tells consumers how well a product is likely to 
perform as an insulator and allows consumers to determine whether the 
cost of the insulation is justified.

    Estimated annual hours burden: 117,000 hours, rounded

    The Rule's requirements include product testing, recordkeeping, and 
third-party disclosures on labels, fact sheets, advertisements, and 
other promotional materials. Based on information provided by members 
of the insulation industry, staff estimates that the Rule affects: (1) 
150 insulation manufacturers and their testing laboratories; (2) 1,615 
installers who sell home insulation; (3) 125,000 new home builders/
sellers of site-built homes and approximately 5,500 dealers who sell 
manufactured housing; and (4) 25,000 retail sellers who sell home 
insulation for installation by consumers.
    Under the Rule's testing requirements, manufacturers must test each 
insulation product for its R-value. Based on past industry input, staff 
estimates that the test takes approximately 2 hours. Approximately 15 
of the 150 insulation manufacturers in existence introduce one new 
product each year. Their total annual testing burden is therefore 
approximately 30 hours.
    Staff further estimates that most manufacturers require an average 
of approximately 20 hours per year regarding third-party disclosure 
requirements in advertising and other promotional materials. Only the 
five or six largest manufacturers require additional time, 
approximately 80 hours each. Thus, the annual third-party disclosure 
burden for manufacturers is approximately 3,360 hours [(144 
manufacturers x 20 hours) + (6 manufacturers x 80 hours)].
    While the Rule imposes recordkeeping requirements, most 
manufacturers and their testing laboratories keep their testing-related 
records in the ordinary course of business. Staff estimates that no 
more than one additional hour per year per manufacturer is necessary to 
comply with this requirement, for an annual recordkeeping burden of 
approximately 150 hours (150 manufacturers x 1 hour).
    Installers are required to show the manufacturers' insulation fact 
sheet to retail consumers before purchase. They must also disclose 
information in contracts or receipts concerning the R-value and the 
amount of insulation to install. Staff estimates that two minutes per 
sales transaction is sufficient to comply with these requirements. 
Approximately 1,520,000 retrofit insulations (an industry source's 
estimate) are installed by approximately 1,615 installers per year, 
and, thus, the related annual burden total is approximately 50,667 
hours (1,520,000 sales transactions x 2 minutes). Staff anticipates 
that one hour per year per installer is sufficient to cover required 
disclosures in advertisements and other promotional materials. Thus, 
the burden for this requirement is approximately 1,615 hours per year. 
In addition, installers must keep records that indicate the 
substantiation relied upon for savings claims. The additional time to 
comply with this requirement is minimal--approximately 5 minutes per 
year per installer--for a total of approximately 135 hours.
    New home sellers must make contract disclosures concerning the 
type, thickness, and R-value of the insulation they install in each 
part of a new home. Staff estimates that no more than 30 seconds per 
sales transaction is required to comply with this requirement, for a 
total annual burden of approximately 10,833 hours (an estimated 1.3 
million new home sales\2\ x 30 seconds). New home sellers who make 
energy savings claims must also keep records regarding the 
substantiation relied upon for those claims. Because few new home 
sellers make these claims, and the ones that do would likely keep these 
records regardless of the R-value Rule, staff believes that the 30 
seconds covering disclosures would also encompass this recordkeeping 
element.
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    \2\ Based on U.S. census data from 2007. See (http://www.census.gov/const/www/quarterly_starts_completions.pdf.) 
Figures for new housing starts show a continuing decline from 2005, 
when the Commission last sought PRA clearance for the Rule, through 
2007. See id.
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    The Rule requires that the approximately 25,000 retailers who sell 
home insulation make fact sheets available to consumers before 
purchase. This can be accomplished by, for example, placing copies in a 
display rack or keeping copies in a binder on a service desk with an 
appropriate notice. Replenishing or replacing fact sheets should 
require no more than approximately one hour per year per retailer, for 
a total of 25,000 annual hours, industry-wide.
    The Rule also requires specific disclosures in advertisements or 
other promotional materials to ensure that the claims are fair and not 
deceptive. This burden is very minimal because retailers typically use 
advertising copy provided by the insulation manufacturer, and even when 
retailers prepare their own advertising copy, the Rule provides some of 
the language to be used. Accordingly, approximately one hour per year 
per retailer should suffice to meet this requirement, for a total 
annual burden of approximately 25,000 hours.
    Retailers who make energy savings claims in advertisements or other 
promotional materials must keep records that indicate the 
substantiation they are relying upon. Because few retailers make these 
types of promotional claims and because the Rule permits retailers to 
rely on the insulation manufacturer's substantiation data for any 
claims that are made, the additional recordkeeping burden is de 
minimis. The time calculated for disclosures, above, would be more than 
adequate to cover any burden imposed by this recordkeeping requirement.
    To summarize, staff estimates that the Rule imposes a total of 
116,790 burden hours, as follows: 150 recordkeeping and 3,390 testing 
and disclosure hours for manufacturers; 135 recordkeeping and 52,282 
disclosure hours for installers; 10,833 disclosure hours for new home 
sellers; and 50,000 disclosure hours for retailers. Rounded to the 
nearest thousand, the total burden is 117,000 burden hours.
    Estimated annual cost burden: $2,650,000, rounded to the nearest 
thousand (solely related to labor costs)
    The total annual labor cost for the Rule's information collection 
requirements is $2,649,720, derived as follows: $690 for testing, based 
on 30 hours for manufacturers (30 hours x $23 per hour for skilled 
technical personnel); $3,705 for manufacturers' and installers' 
compliance with the Rule's recordkeeping requirements, based on 285 
hours (285 hours x $13 per hour for clerical personnel); $43,680 for 
manufacturers' compliance with third-party disclosure requirements, 
based on 3,360 hours (3,360 hours x $13 per hour for clerical 
personnel); and $2,601,645 for disclosure compliance by installers, new 
home sellers, and retailers (113,115 hours x $23 per hour for sales 
persons).
    There are no significant current capital or other non-labor costs 
associated with this Rule. Because the Rule has been in effect since 
1980, members of the industry are familiar with its requirements and 
already have in place the equipment for conducting tests and storing 
records. New products are introduced infrequently. Because the required 
disclosures are placed on packaging or on the product itself, the 
Rule's additional disclosure requirements do not cause industry members 
to incur any significant additional non-labor associated costs.

William Blumenthal,
General Counsel
[FR Doc. E8-25106 Filed 10-20-08: 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-S