[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 231 (Monday, December 1, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72800-72802]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-28450]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'' or ``FTC'').

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The FTC plans to conduct a consumer study to research 
alternatives to existing lamp (i.e., light bulb) labeling requirements. 
This study is part of the Commission's rulemaking proceeding to examine 
the effectiveness of current light bulb package labeling as directed by 
Congress. Before conducting this research, the FTC is seeking public 
comments on the proposed study as part of its compliance with the 
Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'').

DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 30, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments 
electronically or in paper form. Comments should refer to ``Lamp 
Labeling Study, Project No. P084206'' 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-lampstudy) (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-lampstudy). 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 ``Lamp Labeling 
Study, Project No. P084206'' 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).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hampton Newsome, Attorney, 202-326-
2889, or Lemuel Dowdy, Attorney, 202-326-2981, Division of Enforcement, 
Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    In the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007,\2\ Congress 
directed the FTC to consider the effectiveness of current lamp 
labeling\3\ and alternative

[[Page 72801]]

labeling disclosures. In particular, the Act calls on the Commission to 
consider whether alternative labeling approaches will help consumers 
better understand new high-efficiency lamp products and help them 
choose lamps that meet their needs. As a first step toward fulfilling 
this mandate, the Commission published an Advance Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking on July 18, 2008 (73 FR 40988) that provided background 
about current labeling rules for lamps, the recent Congressional 
mandate, the purpose of the FTC labeling requirements, and various 
labeling considerations. Moreover, in the Notice and at a public 
roundtable held on September 15, 2008, the Commission sought comment 
concerning the effectiveness of current labeling requirements, as well 
as whether potential labeling alternatives would help consumers in 
their purchasing decisions. Specifically, the Commission asked for 
comment on whether labeling should address characteristics such as lamp 
brightness, energy use, operating cost, color temperature, and lamp 
life.
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    \2\ See Section 321(b) of the Energy Independence and Security 
Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-140 (Sec.  324(a))).
    \3\ The FTC's current rule requires disclosure of energy use (in 
watts), light output (in lumens), and life (in hours) on packaging 
for most consumer lamp products. The current requirements do not 
impose a uniform disclosure format. Instead, the labeling 
requirements provide manufacturers flexibility regarding the size, 
font, and style in which the information is presented. See 16 CFR 
Part 305.
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    The Commission also requested that commenters provide consumer 
research data related to lighting disclosures. However, no commenters 
submitted or identified any recent, comprehensive consumer research. 
The Commission, therefore, is planning to conduct a consumer research 
study to aid in determining what revisions, if any, it should make to 
existing labeling requirements. This Notice provides a description of 
that proposed research, an estimate of the burden hours associated with 
the collection of information for that activity, and an invitation for 
comment on these issues.

II. FTC's Proposed Consumer Research

    The FTC proposes to collect information from consumers to gather 
data on the effectiveness of current lamp labels and possible 
alternative label designs.\4\ The proposed study will involve a sample 
of approximately 5,600 respondents who are at least 18 years old and 
are recent or likely light bulb purchasers.\5\ The FTC and its 
contractor will use a nationwide Internet panel to conduct and 
administer questions online.\6\ As discussed below, the study will 
involve asking respondents to consider various label variations and 
explore their labeling preferences, as well as their understanding of 
relevant lighting concepts.
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    \4\ The FTC has contracted with Synovate, Inc., a consumer 
research firm.
    \5\ The FTC will pretest the study on 25 individuals to ensure 
that all questions are easily understood. The pretest participants 
will be drawn from the sample population. The contractor will 
identify respondents using any relevant, preexisting data in its 
Internet panel database and any necessary additional screener 
questions. The screener questions will help to ensure that the 
demographic composition of the sample reasonably matches that of the 
target population. Allowing for non-responses, up to approximately 
15,000 respondents will answer screener questions. That number of 
respondents should enable the FTC to obtain its target sample size 
of 5,600 individuals.
    \6\ The FTC expects to study a stratified sample of the adult 
United States population that is broadly representative of consumer 
group characteristics (e.g., geographic location, housing 
characteristics, gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity) based 
on the most recent Census Bureau's Current Population Survey and 
Department of Energy's Residential Energy Consumption Survey.
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    Label Variations: The study will employ standard consumer survey 
methodologies, which may include copy testing and choice experiments to 
explore how different labels impact consumer decision making regarding 
light bulb products. In the study, respondents will view one of several 
labels which will be assigned to them randomly. For example, one group 
will view a label with the current lamp disclosures while another group 
will view alternative disclosures. Respondents may then answer a series 
of questions about the characteristics of the products described in the 
labels and their preferences pertaining to the products. The 
questionnaire may ask respondents to identify certain product 
attributes communicated by the labels such as energy use, operating 
cost, and brightness. In addition, questions may explore whether 
various labeling disclosures help to impart accurately intended 
information or inadvertently convey other information (e.g., whether 
respondents incorrectly interpret certain types of energy use 
disclosures as indicia of product quality). The questions may also 
attempt to address whether alternative approaches create confusion with 
other government programs. For example, the study may explore how 
various labels impact respondents' ability to identify ENERGY STAR 
products correctly.
    In analyzing the study results, the FTC will conduct a statistical 
comparison of respondent answers across different test label 
components. If there are differences in accuracy rates for particular 
label approaches, the direction and statistical significance of these 
differences will aid the FTC in assessing whether one type of label 
design is more comprehensible than alternative designs.
    Lighting Concepts and Consumer Preferences: In addition to 
questions involving different label comparisons, the study will seek 
information about respondents' understanding of different lighting 
concepts such as lumens (i.e., light output) and color temperature 
(e.g., warm white, soft white, etc.). The study will also explore 
whether respondents believe certain types of information (e.g., 
operating cost or color temperature) are important in their purchasing 
decisions. Finally, the study will seek to gauge whether respondents 
have preferences regarding how certain types of information are 
communicated (e.g., whether energy use is communicated in operating 
cost as opposed to watts).

III. Estimated Burden Hours

    The Commission estimates that the cumulative total burden hours for 
the study will be approximately 2,972 hours.\7\ This total estimate is 
derived as follows. First, the FTC plans to conduct a pretest of 25 
persons that will take approximately 30 minutes on average per person, 
resulting in a total of approximately 13 burden hours (25 respondents x 
30 minutes). Second, once the pretest is complete, the FTC and its 
contractor will ask screener questions of approximately 15,000 
respondents in order to obtain the FTC's target sample size of 5,600 
individuals. The FTC estimates that it will take respondents one minute 
to respond to the screener questions. Thus, the total burden related to 
the screener questions will be approximately 250 hours (15,000 
respondents x 1 minute). Finally, those respondents that pass the 
screener questions will answer the entire questionnaire. Using a 
conservative estimate of 6,500 individuals,\8\ the FTC further 
estimates that participating in the study will require an additional 
2,709 hours as a whole (6,500 respondents x 25 minutes). Finally, the 
cost per respondent should be negligible. Participation is voluntary 
and will not require start-up, capital, or labor expenditures by 
respondents.
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    \7\ All fractions are rounded up to provide conservative 
estimates.
    \8\ Although the target sample is 5,600 individuals, the 
procedures used by the contractor may result in collection of 
information from a slightly higher number of individuals.
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IV. Request for Comment

    As required by Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-21, 
the FTC is providing this opportunity for public comment before 
requesting the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') approval of 
information collection activities associated with the study.

[[Page 72802]]

Under the PRA, federal agencies must obtain OMB approval 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).
    Specifically, the FTC invites comments on: (1) whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the FTC, including whether the information will have 
practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the FTC's estimate of the burden 
of the proposed collection of information; (3) ways to enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and 
(4) ways to minimize the burden of collecting information on those who 
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 January 
30, 2009.
    By direction of the Commission.

Donald S. Clark
Secretary
[FR Doc. E8-28450 Filed 11-28-08: 8:45 am]
[BILLING CODE 6750-01-S]