[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 210 (Monday, October 31, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67191-67192]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-28044]



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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


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

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

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 December 
31, 2014, the current OMB clearance for the information collection 
requirements contained in its Trade Regulation Rule on Disclosure 
Requirements and Prohibitions Concerning Franchising (``Franchise 
Rule'' or ``Rule''). That clearance expires on December 31, 2011.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by November 30, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Franchise Rule, PRA 
Comment, FTC File No. P094400'' on your comment, and file your comment 
online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/franchiserulePRA2 by 
following the instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file 
your comment on paper, mail or deliver your comment 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 additional information 
should be addressed to Craig Tregillus, Attorney, Division of Marketing 
Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., H-286, Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-2970.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Franchise Rule, 16 CFR part 436.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0107.
    Type of Review: Extension of currently approved collection.
    Abstract: On August 10, 2011, the Commission sought comment on the 
information collection requirements associated with the Franchise Rule. 
76 FR 49479. No comments were received. Pursuant to the OMB 
regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, that implement the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et 
seq., the FTC is providing a second opportunity for the public to 
comment while seeking OMB approval to renew the pre-existing clearance 
for the Rule.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 16,750 hours.
    Estimated Number of Respondents, Estimated Average Burden per Year 
per Respondent: (250 new franchisors x 30 hours of annual disclosure 
burden) + (2,250 established franchisors x 3 hours of average annual 
disclosure burden) + (2,500 franchisors x 1 hour of annual 
recordkeeping burden).\1\
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    \1\ The details and assumptions underlying these estimates and 
for estimated annual labor and non-labor costs were set forth in the 
August 10, 2011 Federal Register notice.
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    Estimated Annual Labor Cost: $3,597,500.
    Estimated Capital or Other Non-Labor Cost: $8,000,000.
    Request for Comment: You can file a comment online or on paper. For 
the FTC to consider your comment, we must receive it on or before 
November 30, 2011. Write ``Franchise Rule, PRA Comment, FTC File No. 
P094400'' on your comment. Your comment--including your name and your 
state--will be placed on the public record of this proceeding, 
including, to the extent practicable, on the public Commission Web 
site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of 
discretion, the Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact 
information from comments before placing them on the Commission Web 
site.
    Because your comment will be made public, you are solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive personal information, like anyone'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. You are also solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive health information, like medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do 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). If you want 
the Commission to give your comment confidential treatment, you must 
file it in paper form, with a request for confidential treatment, and 
you have to follow the procedure explained in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 
4.9(c).\2\ Your comment will be kept confidential only if the FTC 
General Counsel, in his or her sole discretion, grants your request in 
accordance with the law and the public interest.
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    \2\ 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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    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online, or to send them to the Commission by courier or 
overnight service. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/franchiserulePRA2 by following the instructions on the web-based 
form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you 
also may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Franchise Rule, PRA 
Comment, FTC File No. P094400'' on your comment and on the envelope, 
and mail or deliver it to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex J), 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580. If possible, submit your 
paper comment to the Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this 
Notice and the news release describing 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 on or before November 30, 2011. You can find more 
information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in 
the Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.
    Comments on the information collection requirements subject to 
review under the PRA should additionally be submitted to OMB. If sent 
by U.S. mail, they should be addressed to Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk 
Officer for the Federal Trade Commission, New Executive Office 
Building, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, 
DC 20503. Comments sent to OMB by U.S. postal mail, however, are 
subject to delays due to heightened security

[[Page 67192]]

precautions. Thus, comments instead should be sent by facsimile to 
(202) 395-5167.

Willard K. Tom,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2011-28044 Filed 10-28-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P