[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 52 (Tuesday, March 18, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15123-15125]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-05847]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
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 for an additional three years the current Paperwork 
Reduction Act (``PRA'') clearance for information collection 
requirements contained in its Funeral Industry Practice Rule (``Funeral 
Rule'' or ``Rule''). That clearance expires on September 30, 2014.

DATES: Comments must be filed by May 19, 2014.

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 ``Paperwork Comment: FTC 
File No. P084401'' on your comment, and file your comment online at 
https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/funeralrulepra 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 or 
copies of the proposed information requirements for the Funeral Rule 
should be directed to Craig Tregillus, Attorney, Division of Marketing 
Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 
[email protected], (202) 326-2970.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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). As required by section 3506(c)(2)(A) 
of the PRA, the FTC is providing this opportunity for public comment 
before requesting that OMB extend the existing paperwork clearance for 
the Funeral Rule, 16 CFR part 453 (OMB Control Number 3084-0025). The 
Funeral Rule ensures that consumers who are purchasing funeral goods 
and services have access to accurate itemized price information so they 
can purchase only the funeral goods and services they want or need. In 
particular, the Rule requires a funeral provider to: (1) Give consumers 
a copy they can keep of the funeral provider's General Price List 
(``GPL'') that itemizes the goods and services they offer; (2) show 
consumers their Casket Price List (``CPL'') and their Outer Burial 
Container Price List (``OBCPL'') at the outset of any discussion of 
those items or their prices, and in any event before showing consumers 
caskets or burial containers;
    (3) provide price information from their price lists over the 
telephone; and (4) give consumers a Statement of Funeral Goods and 
Services Selected (``SFGSS'') after determining the funeral 
arrangements with the consumer (the ``arrangements conference''). The 
Rule requires that funeral providers disclose this information to 
consumers and maintain records to facilitate enforcement of the Rule.
    The estimated burden associated with the collection of information 
required by the Rule is 19,680 hours for recordkeeping, 102,021 hours 
for disclosure, and 39,360 hours for compliance training for a 
cumulative total of 161,061 hours. This estimate is based on the number 
of funeral providers (approximately 19,680),\1\ the number of funerals 
per year (an estimated 2,513,171),\2\ and the time needed to fulfill 
the information collection tasks required by the Rule.
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    \1\ The estimated number of funeral providers is from 2012 data 
provided on the National Funeral Directors Association (``NFDA'') 
Web site (see http://nfda.org/about-funeral-service-/trends-and-statistics.html).
    \2\ The estimated number of funerals conducted annually is 
derived from the National Center for Health Statistics (``NCHS''), 
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/. According to NCHS, 2,513,171 deaths 
occurred in the United States in 2011, the most recent year for 
which final data is available. See National Vital Statistics 
Reports, vol. 61, no. 06, ``Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2011,'' 
available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_06.pdf. Staff believes this is a conservative estimate because not 
all remains go to a funeral provider covered by the Rule (e.g., 
remains sent directly to a crematory that does not sell urns; 
remains donated to a medical school, etc.).
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    Recordkeeping: The Rule requires that funeral providers retain for 
one year copies of price lists and statements of funeral goods and 
services selected by consumers. Based on a maximum average burden of 
one hour per provider per year for this task, the total burden for the 
19,680 providers is 19,680 hours.
    Disclosure: As noted above, the Rule requires that funeral 
providers: (1) Maintain current price lists for funeral goods and 
services, (2) provide written documentation of the funeral goods and 
services selected by consumers making funeral arrangements, and (3) 
provide information about funeral prices in response to telephone 
inquiries.
    1. Maintaining accurate price lists may require that funeral 
providers revise their price lists occasionally (most do so once a 
year, some less frequently) to reflect price changes. Staff 
conservatively estimates that this task may require a maximum average 
burden of two and one-half hours per provider

[[Page 15124]]

per year. Thus, the total burden for 19,680 providers is 49,200 hours.
    2. Staff retains its prior estimate that 13% of funeral providers 
prepare written documentation of funeral goods and services selected by 
consumers specifically due to the Rule's mandate. The original 
rulemaking record indicated that 87% of funeral providers provided 
written documentation of funeral arrangements, even absent the Rule's 
requirements.\3\ According to the rulemaking record, the 13% of funeral 
providers who did not provide written documentation prior to enactment 
of the Rule are typically the smallest funeral homes. The written 
documentation requirement can be satisfied through the use of a 
standard form, an example of which the FTC has provided to all funeral 
providers in its compliance guide.\4\ Based on an estimate that these 
smaller funeral homes arrange, on average, approximately twenty 
funerals per year and that it would take each of them about three 
minutes to record prices for each consumer on the standard form, FTC 
staff estimates that the total burden associated with the written 
documentation requirement is one hour per provider, for a total of 
2,558 hours [(19,680 funeral providers x 13%) x (20 statements per year 
x 3 minutes per statement)].
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    \3\ In a 2002 public comment, the National Funeral Directors 
Association asserted that nearly every funeral home had been 
providing consumers with some kind of final statement in writing 
even before the Rule took effect. Nonetheless, in an abundance of 
caution, staff continues to retain its prior estimate based on the 
original rulemaking record.
    \4\ The compliance guide is available at http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus05-complying-funeral-rule.
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    3. The Funeral Rule also requires funeral providers to answer 
telephone inquiries about the provider's offerings or prices. 
Information received in 2002 from the NFDA indicates that only about 
12% of funeral purchasers make telephone inquiries, with each call 
lasting an estimated ten minutes.\5\ Thus, assuming that the average 
purchaser who makes telephone inquiries places one call per funeral to 
determine prices,\6\ the estimated burden is 50,263 hours (2,513,171 
funerals per year x 12% x 10 minutes per inquiry). This burden likely 
will decline over time as consumers increasingly rely on the Internet 
for funeral price information.
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    \5\ No more recent information thus far has been available. The 
Commission invites submission of more recent data or studies on this 
subject.
    \6\ Although consumers who pre-plan their own arrangements may 
comparison shop and call more than one funeral home for pricing and 
other information, consumers making ``at need'' arrangements after a 
death are less likely to take the time to seek pricing information 
from more than one home. Many fail to seek any pricing information 
by telephone. Staff therefore believes that an average of one call 
per funeral is a conservative assumption.
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    In sum, the burden due to the Rule's disclosure requirements totals 
102,021 hours (49,200 + 2,558 + 50,263).
    Training: In addition to the recordkeeping and disclosure-related 
tasks noted above, funeral homes may also have training requirements 
specifically attributable to the Rule. Staff believes that annual 
training burdens associated with the Rule should be minimal because 
Rule compliance is generally included in continuing education 
requirements for state licensing and voluntary certification programs. 
Staff estimates that, industry-wide, funeral homes would incur no more 
than 39,360 hours related to training specific to the Rule each year. 
This estimate is consistent with staff's assumption for the current 
clearance that an ``average'' funeral home consists of approximately 
five employees (full-time and part-time employment combined), but with 
no more than four of them having tasks specifically associated with the 
Funeral Rule. Staff retains its estimate that each of the four 
employees per firm would each require one-half hour, at most, per year, 
for such training.\7\ Thus, total estimated time for training is 39,360 
hours (4 employees per firm x \1/2\ hour x 19,680 providers).
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    \7\ Funeral homes, depending on size and/or other factors, may 
be run by as few as one owner, manager, or other funeral director to 
multiple directors at various compensation levels. Extrapolating 
from past NFDA survey input, staff has theorized an ``average'' 
funeral home of approximately four employees (a funeral services 
manager, funeral director, embalmer, and a clerical receptionist) 
having tasks and training associated with Funeral Rule compliance. 
Compliance training for other employees (e.g., drivers, maintenance 
personnel, attendants) would not be necessary.
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    Labor costs: Labor costs are derived by applying appropriate hourly 
cost figures to the burden hours described above. The hourly rates used 
below are averages.
    Clerical personnel, at an hourly rate of $13.00,\8\ can perform the 
recordkeeping tasks required under the Rule. Based on the estimated 
hours burden of 19,680 hours, estimated labor cost for recordkeeping is 
$255,840.
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    \8\ http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ocwage.pdf: Bureau of 
Labor Statistics, Economic News Release, March 29, 2013, Table 1, 
``National employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment 
Statistics survey by occupation, May 2012.'' Clerical estimates are 
derived from the above source data, rounded upward, for 
``receptionists and information clerks.''
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    The two and one-half hours required of each provider, on average, 
to update price lists should consist of approximately one and one-half 
hours of managerial or professional time, at $38.42 per hour,\9\ and 
one hour of clerical time, at $13.00 per hour, for a total of $70.63 
per provider [($38.42 per hour x 1.5 hours) + ($13.00 per hour x 1 
hour)]. Thus, the estimated total labor cost burden for maintaining 
price lists is $1,389,998 ($70.63 per provider x 19,680 providers).
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    \9\ Bureau of Labor Statistics, ``May 2012 National Industry-
Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates,'' NAICS 
812200--Death Care Services: http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_812200.htm# 11-0000.
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    The incremental cost to the 13% of small funeral providers who 
would not otherwise supply written documentation of the goods and 
services selected by the consumer, as previously noted, is 2,558 hours. 
Assuming managerial or professional time for these tasks at 
approximately $38.42 per hour, the associated labor cost would be 
$98,278.
    As previously noted, staff estimates that 50,263 hours of 
managerial or professional time is required annually to respond to 
telephone inquiries about prices.\10\ The associated labor cost at 
$38.42 per hour is $1,931,104.
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    \10\ Although some funeral providers may permit staff who are 
not funeral directors to provide price information by telephone, the 
great majority reserve that task to a licensed funeral director.
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    Based on past consultations with funeral directors, FTC staff 
estimates that funeral homes will require no more than two hours of 
training per year of licensed and non-licensed funeral home staff to 
comply with the Funeral Rule,\11\ with four employees of varying types 
each spending one-half hour on training. Applying the assumptions 
stated above,\12\ FTC staff further assumes labor costing as follows 
for the affected employees' time for compliance training:
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    \11\ Rule compliance is generally included in continuing 
education requirements for licensing and voluntary certification 
programs. Moreover, as noted above, the FTC provides its compliance 
guide to all funeral providers at no cost, and it is available on 
the FTC Web site. See supra note 4. Additionally, the NFDA provides 
online guidance for compliance with the Rule: http://www.nfda.org/onlinelearning-ftc.html.
    \12\ See note 7 and accompanying text.
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    (a) Funeral service manager ($38.42 per hour); (b) non-manager 
funeral director ($25.19); (c) embalmer ($21.03 per hour); and (d) a 
clerical receptionist or administrative staff member, at $13 per 
hour.\13\ This amounts to $960,778, cumulatively, for all funeral homes 
[($38.42 + $25.19 + $21.03 + $13) x \1/2\

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hour per employee x 19,680 funeral homes].
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    \13\ Bureau of Labor Statistics, ``May 2012 National Industry-
Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates,'' NAICS 
812200--Death Care Services: http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_812200.htm# 11-0000 (mean hourly wages for funeral service manager, 
funeral director, embalmer). See supra note 8 and accompanying text 
regarding the mean hourly wage for ``receptionists and information 
clerks.''
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    The total labor cost of the three disclosure requirements imposed 
by the Funeral Rule is $3,419,380 ($1,389,998 + $98,278 + $1,931,104). 
The total labor cost for recordkeeping is $255,840. The total labor 
cost for disclosure, recordkeeping, and training is $4,635,998 
($3,419,380 for disclosure + $255,840 for recordkeeping + $960,778 for 
training).
    Capital or other non-labor costs: The Rule imposes minimal capital 
costs and no current start-up costs. The Rule first took effect in 1984 
and the revised Rule took effect in 1994, so funeral providers should 
already have in place necessary equipment to carry out tasks associated 
with Rule compliance. Moreover, most funeral homes already have access, 
for other business purposes, to the ordinary office equipment needed 
for compliance, so the Rule likely imposes minimal additional capital 
expense.
    Compliance with the Rule, however, does entail some expense to 
funeral providers for printing and duplication of required disclosures. 
Assuming, as required by the Rule, that one copy of the general price 
list is provided to consumers for each funeral or cremation conducted, 
at a cost of 25[cent] per copy,\14\ this would amount to 2,513,171 
copies per year at a cumulative industry cost of $628,293 (2,513,171 
funerals per year \15\ x 25[cent] per price list). In addition, the 
funeral providers that furnish consumers with a statement of funeral 
goods and services solely because of the Rule's mandate will incur 
additional printing and copying costs. Assuming that those 2,558 
providers (19,680 funeral providers x 13%) use the standard two-page 
form shown in the compliance guide, at twenty-five cents per copy, at 
an average of twenty funerals per year, the added cost burden would be 
$12,790 (2,558 providers x 20 funerals per year x 25[cent]). Thus, 
estimated non-labor costs total $641,083.
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    \14\ Although copies of the casket price list and outer burial 
container price list must be shown to consumers, the Rule does not 
require that they be given to consumers. Thus, the cost of printing 
a single copy of these two disclosures to show consumers is de 
minimis, and is not included in this estimate of printing costs. 
Moreover, the general price list need not exceed, and may be still 
shorter than, the two-page model provided in the compliance guide.
    \15\ See note 2 and accompanying text.
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    Request for Comment: Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, 
the FTC invites comments on: (1) Whether the disclosure requirements 
are necessary, including whether the information will be practically 
useful; (2) the accuracy of our burden estimates, including whether the 
methodology and assumptions used are valid; (3) ways to enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and 
(4) ways to minimize the burden of providing the required information 
to consumers.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before May 19, 2014. 
Write ``Paperwork Comment: FTC File No. P084401'' 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).\16\ Your comment will be kept confidential only if 
the FTC General Counsel grants your request in accordance with the law 
and the public interest.
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    \16\ 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/funeralrulepra, 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 ``Paperwork Comment: FTC 
File No. P084401'' 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.
    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 May 19, 2014. 
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.

David C. Shonka,
Principal Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2014-05847 Filed 3-17-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P