[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 18, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2906-2908]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-929]



FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


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

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission).

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

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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 January 31, 2014, the 
current PRA clearance for information collection requirements contained 
in its Rule Governing Pre-Sale Availability of

[[Page 2907]]

Written Warranty Terms. This clearance is scheduled to expire on 
January 31, 2011.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 21, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments 
electronically or in paper form, by following the instructions in the 
Request for Comments to 30-Day Notice part of the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section below. Comments in electronic form should be 
submitted by using the following Web link: https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/presaleavailabilitypra2 (and following 
the instructions on the Web-based form). Comments in paper form should 
be mailed or delivered to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H113 (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 copies of the collection 
of information and supporting documentation should be addressed to 
Allyson Himelfarb, Investigator, Division of Marketing Practices, 
Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Room H-286, 
600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-2505.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposed Information Collection Activities

    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).
    On September 16, 2010, the Commission sought comment on the 
information collection requirements associated with the Rule Governing 
Pre-Sale Availability of Written Warranty Terms, (the Pre-Sale 
Availability Rule), 16 CFR 702. No comments were received. Pursuant to 
the OMB regulations, 5 CFR Part 1320, that implement the PRA, the FTC 
is providing this second opportunity for public comment while seeking 
OMB approval to renew the pre-existing clearance for the Rule (OMB 
Control No. 3084-0112). All comments should be filed as prescribed 
below, and must be received on or before February 17, 2011.
    The Pre-Sale Availability Rule is one of three rules \1\ that the 
FTC implemented pursuant to requirements of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty 
Act, 15 U.S.C. 2301 et seq. (Warranty Act or Act).\2\ The Pre-Sale 
Availability Rule requires sellers and warrantors to make the text of 
any written warranty on a consumer product costing more than $15 
available to the consumer before sale. Among other things, the Rule 
requires sellers to make the text of the warranty readily available 
either by (1) displaying it in close proximity to the product or (2) 
furnishing it on request and posting signs in prominent locations 
advising consumers that the warranty is available. The Rule requires 
warrantors to provide materials to enable sellers to comply with the 
Rule's requirements and also sets out the methods by which warranty 
information can be made available before the sale if the product is 
sold through catalogs, mail order, or door-to-door sales.
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    \1\ The other two rules relate to the information that must 
appear in a written warranty on a consumer product costing more than 
$15 if a warranty is offered and minimum standards for informal 
dispute settlement mechanisms that are incorporated into a written 
warranty.
    \2\ 40 FR 60168 (Dec. 31, 1975).
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Request for Comments

    Interested parties are invited to submit written comments 
electronically or in paper form. Comments should refer to ``Pre-Sale 
Availability Rule: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P044403'' 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).
    Please also note that because your comments will be made public, 
you are solely responsible for ensuring that it does 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. It is also 
your own responsibility to ensure that your comment does not include 
any sensitive health information, such as medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment 
should not include any ``[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 FTC Act, 15 
U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2). No comment, 
whether it contains such material or not, will be given confidential 
treatment unless the comment has been filed with the FTC Secretary; the 
comment is accompanied by a written confidentiality request that 
complies fully with FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c);\3\ and the General 
Counsel, in his or her sole discretion, has determined to grant the 
request in accordance with applicable law and the public interest.
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    \3\ In particular, the written request for confidential 
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and 
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions 
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    Because postal mail addressed to the FTC is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening, please submit your comments in 
electronic form or send them by courier or overnight service. To ensure 
that the Commission considers an electronic comment, you must file it 
at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/presaleavailabilitypra2, by 
following the instructions on the Web-based form. If this Notice 
appears at http://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. You may also visit the 
FTC Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read the Notice and the news 
release describing it.
    A comment filed in paper form should include the ``Pre-Sale 
Availability Rule: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P044403'' 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-113 (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.
    Comments on any proposed recordkeeping, or disclosure requirements 
that are subject to Paperwork Reduction Act review by the OMB should 
additionally be submitted via facsimile to OMB at (202) 395-5167 and 
addressed as follows: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for Federal 
Trade Commission. Facsimile

[[Page 2908]]

submission is preferred over U.S. postal mail delivery by the OMB, as 
the latter type of delivery is subject to delays due to heightened 
security precautions. Still, in case it is needed, the OMB mail address 
is: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management 
and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Docket Library, Room 10102, 
725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503. The OMB requests that any 
comment filed in paper form be sent by courier or overnight service, if 
possible.
    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 on or before the deadline specified 
above in the DATES section, whether filed in paper or electronic form. 
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.
    Pre-Sale Availability Rule Burden Statement: Total annual hours 
burden: 2,490,000 rounded to the nearest thousand.
    In its 2007 submission to OMB, FTC staff estimated that the 
information collection burden of making the disclosures required by the 
Pre-Sale Availability Rule was approximately 2,328,000 hours per year. 
Although there has been no change in the Rule's information collection 
requirements since 2007, staff has adjusted its previous estimate of 
the number of manufacturers subject to the Rule based on recent Census 
data. From that, staff now estimates that there are approximately 478 
large manufacturers and 15,444 small manufacturers subject to the Rule. 
In addition, recent Census data suggests that there are an estimated 
6,892 large retailers and 452,553 small retailers impacted by the Rule.
    In its 2007 submission to OMB, staff took note that some online 
retailers had begun to make warranty information directly available on 
their Web sites, thereby reducing their paperwork burden under the 
Rule. As e-commerce continues to grow, it is likely that even more 
retailers are posting warranty information online than they were in 
2007. Nevertheless, because the staff assumes that only a small 
percentage of retailers would be significantly less burdened by posting 
warranty information online--namely, retailers with a large Internet 
presence or whose inventory is mainly composed of warranted products 
\4\--the staff has retained its previous estimates of the hour burden 
for retailers. Therefore, staff continues to estimate that large 
retailers spend an average of 20.8 hours per year and small retailers 
spend an average 4.8 hours per year to comply with the Rule.\5\ 
Accordingly, the total annual burden for retailers is approximately 
2,315,608 hours ((6,892 large retailers x 20.8 burden hours) + (452,553 
small retailers x 4.8 burden hours)).
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    \4\ In addition, many online retailers also operate ``brick-and-
mortar'' operations and still provide paper copies of warranties for 
review by customers who do not do business online.
    \5\ FTC staff recently contacted representatives from two 
retailer associations--the National Retail Federation and the North 
American Retail Dealers Association--but we have not received any 
additional information that indicated we need to update the hours 
estimates.
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    Staff also estimates that more manufacturers are beginning to 
provide retailers with warranty information in electronic form in 
fulfilling their obligations under the Rule. Therefore, staff finds it 
necessary at this time to adjust the hour burden for manufacturers as 
it did with retailers in its previous submission to OMB. Applying a 20% 
reduction to its previous estimates, the staff now assumes that large 
manufacturers spend an average of 42 hours per year and that small 
manufacturers spend an average of 10 hours per year to comply with the 
Rule.\6\ Accordingly, the total annual burden incurred by manufacturers 
is approximately 174,516 hours ((478 large manufacturers x 42 hours) + 
(15,444 small manufacturers x 10 hours)).
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    \6\ FTC staff recently contacted representatives from the 
Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, but we have 
not received any additional information that indicated we need to 
further adjust the current hour estimates.
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    Thus, the total annual burden for all covered entities is 
approximately 2,490,124 hours (2,315,608 hours for retailers + 174,516 
hours for manufacturers).
    Total annual labor cost: $47,000,000 rounded to the nearest 
thousand.
    The work required to comply with the Pre-Sale Availability Rule 
entails a mix of clerical work and work performed by sales associates. 
Staff estimates that half of the total burden hours would likely be 
performed by sales associates. At the manufacturing level, this work 
would entail ensuring that the written warranty accompanies every 
consumer product or that the required warranty information otherwise 
gets to the retailer. At the retail level, this work would entail 
ensuring that the written warranty is made available to the consumer 
prior to sale. The remaining half of the work required to comply with 
the Pre-Sale Availability Rule is clerical in nature, e.g., shipping or 
otherwise providing copies of manufacturer warranties to retailers and 
retailer maintenance of them. Applying a sales associate wage rate of 
$22/hour to half of the burden hours and a clerical wage rate of $16/
hour to half of the burden hours, the total annual labor cost burden is 
approximately $47,312,356 (1,245,062 hours x $22 per hour) + (1,245,062 
hours x $16 per hour).\7\
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    \7\ The wage rate used in this Notice reflect recent data from 
the Bureau of Labor Statistics National Compensation Survey (http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/sp/nctb1346.pdf).
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    Total annual capital or other non-labor costs: De minimis.
    The vast majority of retailers and warrantors already have 
developed systems to provide the information the Rule requires. 
Compliance by retailers typically entails keeping warranties on file, 
in binders or otherwise, and posting an inexpensive sign indicating 
warranty availability. Manufacturer compliance entails providing 
retailers with a copy of the warranties included with their products.

Willard K. Tom,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2011-929 Filed 1-14-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P