[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 89 (Thursday, May 8, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26428-26429]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-10518]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection: 
Comment Request

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

ACTION: Notice; Request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The FTC plans to conduct a consumer study to examine fuel 
economy advertising. The study is part of the Commission's regulatory 
review of the Guide Concerning Fuel Economy Advertising for New 
Automobiles (``Fuel Economy Guide'' or ``Guide''). This is the first of 
two notices required under the Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'') in 
which the FTC seeks public comments on its proposed consumer research 
before requesting Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') review of, 
and clearance for, the collection of information discussed herein.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 7, 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 ``Fuel Economy Consumer 
Study, Project No. P134202'' on your comment, and file your comment 
online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/fueleconomystudypra, 
by following the instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to 
file your comment on paper, mail your comment to the following address: 
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania 
Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610, (Annex J), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver 
your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office 
of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, 
Suite 5610, (Annex J), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hampton Newsome, 202-326-2889, 
Division of Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade 
Commission, Room M-8102B, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The Commission issued the Guide Concerning Fuel Economy Advertising 
for New Automobiles (``Fuel Economy Guide'' or ``Guide'') (16 CFR Part 
259) in 1975 to prevent deceptive fuel economy advertising and to 
facilitate the use of fuel economy information in advertising. The 
Guide helps advertisers avoid unfair or deceptive claims under Section 
5 of the FTC Act.\1\ To accomplish this goal, the Guide advises 
marketers to disclose established Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
fuel economy estimates (e.g., miles per gallon or ``mpg'') whenever 
they make any fuel economy claim based on those estimates. In addition, 
if advertisers make fuel economy claims based on non-EPA tests, the 
Guide directs them to disclose also EPA-derived fuel economy estimates 
and provide details about the non-EPA tests such as the source of the 
test, driving conditions, and vehicle configurations.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 45(a). The Commission's industry guides, such as 
the Fuel Economy Guide, are administrative interpretations of the 
application of Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 45(a) to 
advertising claims. The Commission issues industry guides to provide 
guidance for the public to conform with legal requirements. These 
guides provide the basis for voluntary abandonment of unlawful 
practices by industry members. 16 CFR part 17. The Guides do not 
have the force and effect of law and are not independently 
enforceable. However, failure to follow industry guides may result 
in enforcement action under Section 5 of the FTC Act. The 
Commission, therefore, can take action under the FTC Act if a 
business makes fuel economy marketing claims inconsistent with the 
Guides. In any such enforcement action, the Commission must prove 
that the act or practice at issue is unfair or deceptive.
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    On April 28, 2009 (74 FR 19148), the Commission published a Notice 
of Proposed Rulemaking (``NPRM'') soliciting comments on proposed 
amendments to the Guide. The Commission then postponed its review of 
the Guide in a June 1, 2011 Notice (76 FR 31467) pending new fuel 
economy labeling requirements from the EPA and completion of the FTC's 
review of its Alternative Fuels Rule (16 CFR Part 309). The Commission 
explained that issuance of a final Fuel Economy Guide would be 
premature before the conclusion of these regulatory proceedings. With 
those proceedings completed,\2\ the Commission now resumes its review 
of the Fuel Economy Guide.
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    \2\ The Commission announced final revisions to the Alternative 
Fuels Rule in an April 23, 2013 Notice (78 FR 23832). In 2011, EPA 
completed revisions to its fuel economy labeling requirements, 
which, among other things, addressed labels for alternative fueled 
vehicles (AFVs) not specifically addressed in past EPA requirements. 
See 76 FR 39478 (July 6, 2011).
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II. FTC's Proposed Study

A. Study Description

    The FTC plans to conduct Internet-based consumer research to 
explore consumer perceptions of certain fuel economy claims to enhance 
the Commission's knowledge of how consumers understand such claims. 
Specifically, using a treatment-effect methodology, the proposed study 
will compare participant responses regarding their understanding of a 
variety of claim types, such as general fuel economy claims (e.g., 
``this car gets great gas mileage''), specific MPG claims (e.g., ``39 
mpg''), and driving range claims. To aid in developing possible changes 
to the Fuel Economy Guide, FTC staff will consider the consumer 
research results in conjunction with the broad range of issues raised 
by commenters during the Guide review.

[[Page 26429]]

    Having considered the costs and benefits of various data collection 
methods, FTC staff has concluded that an Internet panel with nationwide 
coverage will provide the most efficient way to collect data to meet 
the research objectives within a feasible budget. Thus, the FTC 
proposes to collect responses from U.S. automobile consumers 
representing a broad spectrum of the U.S. adult population. 
Participants will be drawn from an Internet panel maintained by a 
commercial firm that operates the panel. All participation will be 
voluntary. While the results will not be generalizable to the U.S. 
population, the Commission believes that they will provide useful 
insights into consumer understanding of the claims being considered.

B. PRA Burden Analysis

    Staff estimates that respondents to the Internet questionnaire will 
require, on average, approximately 20 minutes to complete it. Staff 
will pretest the questionnaire with approximately 100 respondents to 
ensure that all questions are easily understood. Allowing for an extra 
three minutes for questions unique to the pretest, the pretest will 
total approximately 38 hours cumulatively (100 respondents x 23 minutes 
each). Once the pretest is completed, the FTC plans to seek information 
from up to 3,600 respondents for approximately 20 minutes each. Thus, 
cumulatively, for all respondents, responding to the FTC's pretest and 
questionnaire will consume approximately 1,238 hours. The cost per 
respondent should be negligible. Participation will not require start 
up, capital, or labor expenditures by respondents.

III. Request for Comment

    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 regulations noted 
herein.
    Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC invites 
comments on: (1) Whether the reporting 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 the collection of information.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before July 7, 2014. 
Write ``Fuel Economy Consumer Study, Project No. P134202'' 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 discussed 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, 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 CFR 4.9(c).\3\ 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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    \3\ 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/fueleconomystudypra, 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 ``Fuel Economy Consumer 
Study, Project No. P134202'' on your comment and on the envelope, and 
mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, 
Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610, 
(Annex J), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the 
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610, (Annex 
J), Washington, DC 20024. 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. 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 July 7, 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.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-10518 Filed 5-7-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P