[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 196 (Tuesday, October 12, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62538-62540]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-25476]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


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

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

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 February 
28, 2014, the current OMB clearance for information collection 
requirements contained in its Used Motor Vehicle Trade Regulation Rule 
(``Used Car Rule'' or ``Rule''). That clearance expires on February 28, 
2011.

DATES: Comments must be filed by December 13, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments 
electronically or in paper form by following the instructions in the 
Request for Comments part of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 
below. Comments in electronic form should be submitted by using the 
following weblink: https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/usedcarrulepra (and following the instructions on the web-based form). 
Comments filed in paper form 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, in the manner detailed in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 
below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be addressed to John C. Hallerud, Attorney, Midwest Region, 
Federal Trade Commission, 55 West Monroe, Suite 1825, Chicago, Illinois 
60603, (312) 960-5634.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Used Car Rule facilitates informed 
purchasing decisions by requiring used car dealers to disclose 
information about warranty coverage, if any, and the mechanical 
condition of used cars that they offer for sale. The Rule requires that 
used car dealers display a form called a ``Buyers Guide'' on each used 
car offered for sale that, among other things, discloses information 
about warranty coverage.

Request for Comments

    Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (``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 paperwork clearance for 
the regulations noted herein.
    The FTC invites comments on: (1) Whether the required collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information has practical utility; 
(2) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the required 
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.
    Comments should refer to ``Used Car Rule: FTC File No. P067609'' to 
facilitate the organization of comments. Please note that your 
comment--including your name and your state--will be placed on the 
public record of this proceeding, including on the publicly accessible 
FTC Web site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm.
    Because comments will be made public, they should not include any 
sensitive personal information, such as any 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 ``[t]rade secret or any 
commercial or financial information which is obtained from any person 
and which is privileged or confidential'' as provided in Section 6(f) 
of the Federal Trade Commission Act (``FTC Act''), 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and 
FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2). Comments containing matter 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\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 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).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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

[[Page 62539]]

using the following weblink https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/usedcarrulepra 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://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/usedcarrulepra. If this Notice appears 
at http://www.regulations.gov/search/index.jsp, 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 that 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 Web site, to the extent practicable, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. 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.shtm.

Burden statement

    Estimated total annual hours burden: 1,974,589 hours.
    The Rule has no recordkeeping requirements. The estimated burden 
relating solely to disclosure requirements is 1,974,589 hours. As 
explained in more detail below, this estimate is based on the number of 
used car dealers (53,735 \2\), the number of used cars sold by dealers 
annually (approximately 24,531,374 \3\), and the time needed to fulfill 
the information collection tasks required by the Rule.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ CNW Marketing Research, Inc. As of July 2010, CNW lists 
15,631 new vehicle franchised outlets with used car operations and 
38,104 independent used car outlets, for a total of 53,735 used car 
dealers.
    \3\ Id. This figure reflects total used car sales by franchised 
and independent dealers in 2009, the most recent complete annual 
figures available.
    \4\ Some dealers opt to contract with outside contractors to 
perform the various tasks associated with complying with the Rule. 
Staff assumes that outside contractors would require about the same 
amount of time and incur similar cost as dealers to perform these 
tasks. Accordingly, the hour and cost burden totals shown, while 
referring to ``dealers,'' incorporate the time and cost borne by 
outside companies in performing the tasks associated with the Rule. 
In addition, the time estimates that follow repeat those that the 
FTC published in the 2007 PRA clearance renewal-related Federal 
Register notices (72 FR 46487 (Aug. 20, 2007); 72 FR 71911-71912 
(Dec. 19, 2007)) without receiving public comment. Absent 
prospective specific industry estimates to the contrary, staff will 
continue to apply these estimates, which staff believes are 
reasonable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Rule requires that used car dealers display a one-page, double-
sided Buyers Guide on each used car that they offer for sale. The 
component tasks associated with the Rule's required display of Buyers 
Guides include: (1) Ordering and stocking Buyers Guides; (2) entering 
data on Buyers Guides; (3) displaying the Buyers Guides on vehicles; 
(4) revising Buyers Guides as necessary; and (5) complying with the 
Rule's requirements for sales conducted in Spanish.
    1. Ordering and Stocking Buyers Guides: Dealers should need no more 
than an average of two hours per year to obtain Buyers Guides, which 
are readily available from many commercial printers or can be produced 
by an office word-processing or desk-top publishing system.\5\ Based on 
a population of 53,735 dealers, the annual hours burden for producing 
or obtaining and stocking Buyers Guides is 107,470 hours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ Buyers Guides are also available online from the FTC's Web 
site, www.ftc.gov, as links to A Dealer's Guide to the Used Car Rule 
at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/autos/bus13.shtm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    2. Entering Data on Buyers Guides: The amount of time required to 
enter applicable data on Buyers Guides may vary substantially, 
depending on whether a dealer has automated the process. For used cars 
sold ``as is,'' copying vehicle-specific data from dealer inventories 
to Buyers Guides and checking the ``No Warranty'' box may take two to 
three minutes per vehicle if done by hand, and only seconds for those 
dealers who have automated the process or use pre-printed forms. Staff 
estimates that this task will require an average of two minutes per 
Buyers Guide. Similarly, for used cars sold under warranty, the time 
required to check the ``Warranty'' box and to add warranty information, 
such as the additional information required in the Percentage of Labor/
Parts and the Systems Covered/Duration sections of the Buyers Guide, 
will depend on whether the dealer uses a manual or automated process or 
Buyers Guides that are pre-printed with the dealer's standard warranty 
terms. Staff estimates that these tasks will take an average of one 
additional minute; i.e., cumulatively, an average total time of three 
minutes for each used car sold under warranty.
    Staff estimates that approximately fifty percent of used cars sold 
by dealers are sold ``as is,'' with the other half sold under warranty. 
Therefore, staff estimates that the overall time required to enter data 
on Buyers Guides consists of 408,856 hours for used cars sold without a 
warranty (24,531,374 vehicles x 50% x 2 minutes per vehicle) and 
613,284 hours for used cars sold under warranty (24,531,374 vehicles x 
50% x 3 minutes per vehicle) for a cumulative estimated total of 
1,022,140 hours.
    3. Displaying Buyers Guides on Vehicles: Although the time required 
to display the Buyers Guides on each used car may vary substantially, 
FTC staff estimates that dealers will spend an average of 1.75 minutes 
per vehicle to match the correct Buyers Guide to the vehicle and to 
display it on the vehicle. The estimated burden associated with this 
task is approximately 715,498 hours for the 24,531,374 vehicles sold in 
2009 (24,531,374 vehicles x 1.75 minutes per vehicle).
    4. Revising Buyers Guides as Necessary: If negotiations between the 
buyer and seller over warranty coverage produce a sale on terms other 
than those originally entered on the Buyers Guide, the dealer must 
revise the Buyers Guide to reflect the actual terms of sale. According 
to the original rulemaking record, bargaining over warranty coverage 
rarely occurs. Staff notes that consumers often do not need to 
negotiate over warranty coverage because they can find vehicles that 
are offered with the desired warranty coverage online or in other ways 
before ever contacting a dealer. Accordingly, staff assumes that the 
Buyers Guide will be revised in no more than two percent of sales, with 
an average time of two minutes per revision. Therefore, staff estimates 
that dealers annually will spend approximately 16,354 hours revising 
Buyers Guides (24,531,374 vehicles x 2% x 2 minutes per vehicle).
    5. Spanish Language Sales: The Rule requires that contract 
disclosures be made in Spanish if a sale is conducted in Spanish.\6\ 
The Rule permits displaying both an English and a Spanish language 
Buyers Guide to comply with this requirement.\7\ Many dealers with 
large numbers of Spanish-speaking customers likely will post both 
English and Spanish Buyers Guides to avoid potential compliance 
violations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ 16 CFR 455.5.
    \7\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Calculations from United States Census Bureau surveys indicate that 
approximately 6.5 percent of the United States population speaks 
Spanish at home, without also speaking fluent

[[Page 62540]]

English.\8\ Staff therefore projects that approximately 6.5 percent of 
used car sales will be conducted in Spanish. Dealers will incur the 
additional burden of completing and displaying a second Buyers Guide in 
6.5 percent of sales assuming that dealers choose to comply with the 
Rule by posting both English and Spanish Buyers Guides. The annual 
burden hours associated with completing and posting Buyers Guides is 
1,737,638 hours (1,022,140 hours for entering data on Buyers Guides 
plus 715,498 hours for displaying Buyers Guides). Therefore, staff 
estimates that the additional burden caused by the Rule's requirement 
that dealers display Spanish language Buyers Guides when conducting 
sales in Spanish is 112,947 hours (1,737,638 hours x 6.5%). The other 
components of the annual hours burden, i.e., purchasing Buyers Guides 
and revising them for changes in warranty coverage, remain unchanged.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ U.S. Census Bureau, Table S1601. Language Spoken at Home. 
2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, available at: 
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-qr_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S1601&-geo_id=01000US&-ds_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-CONTEXT=st. The table indicates 
that 12.2% of the United States population 5 years or older speaks 
Spanish or Spanish Creole in the home and 46.7% of these in-home 
Spanish speakers speak English less than ``very well.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated annual cost burden: $26,301,525 in labor costs and 
$4,906,275 in non-labor costs
    1. Labor costs: Labor costs are derived by applying appropriate 
hourly cost figures to the burden hours described above. Staff has 
determined that all of the tasks associated with ordering forms, 
entering data on Buyers Guides, posting Buyers Guides on vehicles, and 
revising them as needed, including the corresponding tasks associated 
with Spanish Buyers Guides, are typically done by clerical or low-level 
administrative personnel. Using a clerical cost rate of $13.32 per hour 
\9\ and an estimated burden of 1,974,589 hours for disclosure 
requirements, the total labor cost burden would be approximately 
$26,301,525.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ The hourly rate is based on Bureau of Labor Statistics 
estimate of the mean hourly wage for office clerks, general, No. 43-
9061. Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2009, available at 
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes439061.htm#nat.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    2. Capital or other non-labor costs: Although the cost of Buyers 
Guides can vary considerably, based on industry input staff estimates 
that the average cost of each Buyers Guide is twenty cents. The 
estimated cost of Buyers Guides for the 24,531,374 used cars sold by 
dealers in 2009 is approximately $4,906,275. In making this estimate, 
staff conservatively assumes that all dealers will purchase preprinted 
forms instead of producing them internally, although dealers may 
produce them at minimal expense using current office automation 
technology. Capital and start-up costs associated with the Rule are 
minimal.

Christian S. White,
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2010-25476 Filed 10-8-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P