[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 29 (Friday, February 11, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7850-7851]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-3169]


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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: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 
44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, the FTC is seeking public comments on its proposal 
to extend through February 28, 2014, the current PRA clearance for 
information collection requirements contained in its Informal Dispute 
Settlement Procedures Rule. That clearance expires on February 28, 
2011. The FTC will submit the collection of information abstracted 
below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 14, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may submit written comments 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 this Web link: https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/idsrpra2. Comments in paper form 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for copies of the collection 
of information and supporting documentation should be addressed to 
Svetlana S. Gans, Attorney, Division of Marketing Practices, Bureau of 
Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Room H-286, 600 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-3708.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Informal Dispute Settlement Procedures Rule, 16 CFR part 
703.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0113.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: The Informal Dispute Settlement Procedures Rule (the 
Dispute Settlement Rule or the Rule) specifies the minimum standards 
which must be met by any informal dispute settlement mechanism (IDSM) 
that is incorporated into a written consumer product warranty and which 
the consumer must use before pursuing legal remedies under the Act in 
court. These minimum standards for IDSMs include requirements 
concerning the mechanism's structure (e.g., funding, staffing, and 
neutrality), the qualifications of staff or decision makers, the 
mechanism's procedures for resolving disputes (e.g., notification, 
investigation, time limits for decisions, and follow-up), 
recordkeeping, and annual audits. The Rule requires that IDSMs 
establish written operating procedures and provide copies of those 
procedures upon request. The Rule applies only to those firms that 
choose to be bound by it by requiring consumers to use an IDSM. A 
warrantor is free to set up an IDSM that does not comply with the Rule 
as long as the warranty does not contain a prior resort requirement.
    On November 24, 2010, the Commission sought comment on the 
information collection requirements associated with the Dispute 
Settlement Rule. 75 FR 71704. 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.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 13,000 hours rounded to nearest thousand 
(9,114 hours for recordkeeping + 3,038 hours for reporting + 1,114 for 
disclosures).
    Likely Respondents, Estimated Number of Respondents, Estimated 
Average Burden per Respondent:
    (a) Recordkeeping--IDSMs, 2, 30 minutes/case for 18,227 annual 
consumer cases;
    (b) Reporting--IDSMs, 2, 10 minutes/case for 18,227 annual consumer 
cases; and
    (c) Disclosures--Warrantors, 27, annual 30 hours; IDSMs, 2, 5 
minutes/case for 3,645 consumer cases.
    Frequency of Response: Periodic.
    Total Annual Labor Cost: 265,000 rounded to nearest thousand.
    Total Annual Capital or Other Non-Labor Cost: 322,000 rounded to 
the nearest thousand.

Request for Comments

    Interested parties are invited to submit written comments 
electronically or in paper form. Comments should refer to ``Warranty 
Rules: 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.
    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. Your comment should also 
not include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial 
information * * * which is privileged or confidential.'' See 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); \6\ 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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    \6\ 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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    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/idsrpra2, 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.
    A comment filed in paper form should include the ``Warranty Rules: 
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

[[Page 7851]]

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 should also 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. 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.
    The Commission will consider responsive public comments received on 
or before March 14, 2011.

Willard K. Tom,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2011-3169 Filed 2-10-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P