[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 141 (Wednesday, July 23, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42793-42794]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-17285]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 132 3204]


Engineered Plastic Systems, LLC; Analysis To Aid Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed Consent Agreement.

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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged 
violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both 
the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent 
order--embodied in the consent agreement--that would settle these 
allegations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 18, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/plasticlumberconsent online or on paper, 
by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Engineered Plastic 
Systems, Consent Agreement; File No. 132 3204'' on your comment and 
file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/plasticlumberconsent 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 D), 
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 D), Washington, DC 
20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Frisby, Bureau of Consumer 
Protection, (202-326-2098), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34, 
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement 
containing consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with 
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been 
placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The 
following Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the 
consent agreement, and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic 
copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained 
from the FTC Home Page (for July 17, 2014), on the World Wide Web, at 
http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before August 18, 2014. 
Write ``Engineered Plastic Systems, Consent Agreement; File No. 132 
3204'' 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

[[Page 42794]]

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).\1\ 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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    \1\ 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/plasticlumberconsent 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 ``Engineered Plastic 
Systems, Consent Agreement; File No. 132 3204'' 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 D), 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 D), 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 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 August 18, 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.

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') has 
accepted, subject to final approval, an agreement containing a consent 
order from Engineered Plastic Systems, LLC, a limited liability company 
(``Respondent'').
    The proposed consent order has been placed on the public record for 
thirty (30) days for receipt of comments by interested persons. 
Comments received during this period will become part of the public 
record. After thirty (30) days, the Commission will again review the 
agreement and the comments received, and will decide whether it should 
withdraw from the agreement or make final the agreement's proposed 
order.
    This matter addresses allegedly deceptive green claims that 
Respondent made while promoting its plastic lumber products. According 
to the FTC complaint, Respondent represented that some of its benches 
and tables are all, or virtually all, recycled plastic. The complaint 
also alleges that these products contained substantially less recycled 
plastic than Respondent represented. According to the complaint, from 
June 2011 to early 2014, Respondent's tables and benches, on average, 
contained only about 72% recycled plastic. Thus, the complaint alleges 
that the above claims were false, misleading, or unsubstantiated in 
violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act.
    The proposed consent order contains several provisions designed to 
prevent Respondent from engaging in similar acts and practices in the 
future. Part I prohibits Respondent from making representations 
regarding the recycled content or the environmental benefit of any 
product or package unless they are true, not misleading, and 
substantiated by competent and reliable evidence. Part I further 
provides that if, in general, experts in the relevant scientific field 
would conclude it necessary, such evidence must be competent and 
reliable scientific evidence. Consistent with the Guides for the Use of 
Environmental Marketing Claims (``Green Guides''), 16 CFR 260.13(b), 
Part I specifically requires Respondent to substantiate recycled 
content claims by demonstrating that such content is composed of 
materials that were recovered or otherwise diverted from the waste 
stream.
    Parts II through VI are reporting and compliance provisions. Part 
II requires Respondent to keep (and make available to the Commission on 
request): copies of advertisements and promotional materials containing 
the representations covered by the order; materials relied upon in 
disseminating those representations; and evidence that contradicts, 
qualifies, or calls into question the representations, or the basis 
relied upon for the representations. Part III requires dissemination of 
the order now and in the future to principals, officers, directors, and 
managers, and to all current and future employees, agents, and 
representatives having responsibilities relating to the subject matter 
of the order. It also requires Respondent to maintain and make 
available to the FTC all acknowledgments of receipt of the order. Part 
IV requires notification to the FTC of changes in corporate status. 
Part V mandates that Respondent submit an initial compliance report to 
the FTC and subsequent reports requested by the FTC. Part VI is a 
provision terminating the order after twenty (20) years, with certain 
exceptions.
    The purpose of this analysis is to aid public comment on the 
proposed consent order. It is not intended to constitute an official 
interpretation of the proposed order or to modify its terms in any way.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-17285 Filed 7-22-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P