[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 219 (Tuesday, November 13, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67650-67651]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-27552]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


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

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The FTC intends to ask the Office of Management and Budget 
(``OMB'') to extend through November 30, 2015, the current Paperwork 
Reduction Act (``PRA'') clearance for the FTC's shared enforcement with 
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (``CFPB'') of the information 
collection requirements in subpart N of Regulation V. That clearance 
expires on November 30, 2012.

DATES: Comments must be filed by December 13, 2012.

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 ``Subpart N of 
Regulation V, PRA Comment, P125403,'' on your comment and file your 
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/SubpartNRegulationVPRA2 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: Tiffany George, Attorney, Division of 
Privacy and Identity Protection, Bureau of Consumer Protection, (202) 
326-3040, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform 
and Consumer Protection Act \1\ transferred rulemaking authority for 
several consumer financial protection laws to the CFPB. Accordingly, 
the Commission rescinded several rules under the Fair Credit Reporting 
Act, including the FTC's Free Annual File Disclosures Rule that 
appeared under 16 CFR Parts 610 and 698.
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    \1\ Public Law 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010). Title X comprises 
sections 1001-1100H (collectively, the ``Consumer Financial 
Protection Act of 2010'').
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    On December 21, 2011, the CFPB issued an interim final rule, 
Regulation V (Fair Credit Reporting), 12 CFR Part 1022, which 
incorporated within its subpart N (Duties of Consumer Reporting 
Agencies Regarding Disclosures to Consumers), with only minor changes 
(non-substantive, technical, formatting, and stylistic), the former 
Free Annual File Disclosures Rule, and in Appendix L to Part 1022, the 
associated model notice.\2\ Subpart N of Regulation V continues the 
disclosure requirements that had existed under the Free Annual File 
Disclosures Rule. Because the FTC shares enforcement authority with the 
CFPB for subpart N, the two agencies have split between them the 
related estimate of PRA burden for firms under their co-enforcement 
jurisdiction.
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    \2\ 76 FR 79307 (Dec. 21, 2011).
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    Subpart N requires nationwide consumer reporting agencies and 
nationwide consumer specialty reporting agencies to provide to 
consumers, upon request, one free file disclosure within any 12-month 
period. Generally, it requires the nationwide consumer reporting 
agencies, as defined in Section 603(p) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681a(p), 
to create and operate a centralized source that provides consumers with 
the ability to request their free annual file disclosures from each of 
the nationwide consumer reporting agencies through a centralized 
Internet Web site, toll-free telephone number, and postal address. 
Subpart N also requires the nationwide consumer reporting agencies to 
establish a standardized form for Internet and mail requests for annual 
file disclosures, and provides a model standardized form that may be 
used to comply with that requirement. It additionally requires 
nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies, as defined in Section 
603(w) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681a(w), to establish a streamlined 
process for consumers to request annual file disclosures. This 
streamlined process must include a toll-free telephone number for 
consumers to make such requests.
    On August 20, 2012, the FTC sought public comment on the 
information collection requirements associated with subpart N. 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 this second opportunity for public comment while seeking OMB 
approval to renew the pre-existing clearance for the Rule.
    Burden Statement: On August 20, 2012, the FTC sought public comment 
on the information collection requirements associated with subpart N 
(August 20, 2012 Notice \3\) and the FTC's associated PRA burden 
analysis. 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 this second opportunity for public comment while seeking 
OMB approval to renew the pre-existing clearance for the Rule. As 
before, the Commission specifically seeks more recent estimates of the 
number of requests consumers are making for free annual file 
disclosures. In addition to data on the number of requests, data on how 
the number of requests has changed over time, and how these requests 
are being received--by Internet, phone, or by mail--would be most 
helpful toward refining the FTC's burden estimates.
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    \3\ 77 FR 50106.
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    The following summarizes the FTC net burden estimates \4\ resulting 
from the analysis detailed in the August 20, 2012 Notice.
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    \4\ Because the FTC shares enforcement authority with the CFPB 
for subpart N, the two agencies are splitting between them the 
related estimate of PRA burden for firms under their co-enforcement 
jurisdiction.
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    Net burden hours: 170,905.
    Associated labor costs: $3,069,239.

[[Page 67651]]

    Non-labor/capital costs: $6,111,000.
    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 13, 2012. Write ``Subpart N of Regulation V, PRA 
Comment, P125403'' 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 * * * 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), 16CFR 
4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not 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).\5\ 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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    \5\ 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. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/SubpartNRegulationVPRA2, 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 ``Subpart N of Regulation 
V, PRA Comment, P125403'' 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 www.ftc.gov to read this Notice. 
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 13, 2012. 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 precautions. Thus, 
comments instead should be sent by facsimile to (202) 395-5167.

David C. Shonka,
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2012-27552 Filed 11-9-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P