[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 217 (Wednesday, November 9, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69739-69740]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29016]


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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 and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 
the FTC is seeking public comments on its request to OMB for a three-
year extension of the current PRA clearance for information collection 
requirements contained in its Trade Regulation Rule entitled Labeling 
and Advertising of Home Insulation (R-value Rule or Rule) (OMB Control 
Number 3084-0109). That clearance expires on November 30, 2011.

DATES: Comments must be filed by December 9, 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/rvaluerulepra2. 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: Hampton Newsome, Attorney, Division of 
Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 
600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-2889.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 69740]]

    Title: R-value Rule, 16 CFR Part 460.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0109.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: The R-value Rule sets uniform standards for the 
substantiation and disclosure of accurate, material product information 
about the thermal performance characteristics of home insulation 
products. The R-value of an insulation is its resistance to the flow of 
heat. This tells consumers how well a product is likely to perform as 
an insulator and allows consumers to determine whether the cost of the 
insulation is justified.
    On August 12, 2011, the Commission sought comment on the 
information collection requirements in the R-value Rule. 76 FR 50218. 
No comments were received. As required by OMB regulations, 5 CFR Part 
1320, the FTC is providing this second opportunity for public comment.
    Estimated Annual Hours Burden: 126,827 hours.
    Likely Respondents and Estimated Burden:
    Installation manufacturers, installers, new home sellers and 
retailers.
    (a) Installation manufacturers.

 Testing by installation manufacturers - 15 new products/year x 
2 hours each = 30 hours; and
 Disclosures by installation manufacturers - [(144 
manufacturers x 20 hours) + (6 largest manufacturers x 80 hours each] = 
3,360 hours.
 Recordkeeping by installation manufacturers - 150 
manufacturers x 1 hour each = 150 hours.

    (b) Installers.

 Disclosures by retrofit installers (manufacturer's insulation 
fact sheet) - 2 million retrofit installations/year x 2 minutes each = 
66,667 hours.
 Disclosures by installers (advertising) - 1,615 installers x 1 
hour each = 1,615 hours.
 Recordkeeping by installers - 1,615 installers x 5 minutes 
each = 134 hours.

    (c) New home sellers.

 Disclosures by new home sellers - 586,900 new home sales/year 
x 30 seconds each = 4,871 hours.

    (d) Retailers.

 Disclosures by retailers - [25,000 retailers x 1 hour each 
(fact sheets) + 25,000 retailers x 1 hour each (advertising disclosure) 
= 50,000 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Periodic.
    Total Annual Labor Cost: $2,517,036 per year [approximately $780 
for testing, based on 30 hours for manufacturers (30 hours x $26 per 
hour for skilled technical personnel); $3,976 for manufacturers' and 
installers' compliance with the Rule's recordkeeping requirements, 
based on 284 hours (284 hours x $14 per hour for clerical personnel); 
$47,040 for manufacturers' compliance with third-party disclosure 
requirements, based on 3,360 hours (3,360 hours x $14 per hour for 
clerical personnel); and $2,465,240 for disclosure compliance by 
installers, new home sellers, and retailers (123,262 hours x$20 per 
hour for sales persons).]

Request For Comment

    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before December 9, 
2011. Write ``R-value Rule: FTC File No. R811001'' 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 doesn't 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 doesn't include any 
sensitive health information, like medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, don't 
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). In 
particular, don't include competitively sensitive information such as 
costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, patterns, devices, 
manufacturing processes, or customer names. 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). 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.
    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/rvaluerulepra2, by following the instructions on the web-based 
form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov, you also 
may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``R-value Rule: FTC File 
No. R811001'' 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 December 9, 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.shtm.
    Comments on the information collection requirements subject to 
review under the PRA should also be submitted to OMB. If sent by U.S. 
mail, address comments 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 precautions. Thus, comments instead 
should be sent by facsimile to (202) 395-5167.

Willard K. Tom,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2011-29016 Filed 11-8-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P