[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 175 (Friday, September 9, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62501-62502]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-21675]



[[Page 62501]]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


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

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 the information 
collection requirements contained in the Contact Lens Rule. That 
clearance expires on September 30, 2016.

DATES: Comments must be received by October 11, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comments part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Contact Lens Rule: FTC 
File No. P054510'' on your comment, and file your comment online at 
https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/contactlensrulepra2 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, 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: Requests for copies of the collection 
of information and supporting documentation should be addressed to 
Alysa S. Bernstein, Attorney, Division of Advertising Practices, Bureau 
of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania 
Avenue NW., Mail Drop CC-10528, Washington, DC 20580, at (202) 326-
3289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Contact Lens Rule (Rule), 16 CFR part 315.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0127.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: The FTC promulgated the Rule pursuant to the Fairness to 
Contact Lens Consumers Act (FCLCA), Public Law 108-164 (Dec. 6, 2003), 
which was enacted to enable consumers to purchase contact lenses from 
the seller of their choice. The Rule became effective on August 2, 
2004. As mandated by the FCLCA, the Rule requires the release and 
verification of contact lens prescriptions and contains recordkeeping 
requirements applying to both prescribers and sellers of contact 
lenses.
    Specifically, the Rule requires that prescribers provide a copy of 
the prescription to the consumer upon completion of a contact lens 
fitting and verify or provide prescriptions to authorized third 
parties. The Rule also mandates that a contact lens seller may sell 
contact lenses only in accordance with a prescription that the seller 
either: (a) Has received from the patient or prescriber; or (b) has 
verified through direct communication with the prescriber. In addition, 
the Rule imposes recordkeeping requirements on contact lens prescribers 
and sellers. For example, the Rule requires prescribers to document in 
their patients' records the medical reasons for setting a contact lens 
prescription expiration date of less than one year. The Rule requires 
contact lens sellers to maintain for three years records of all direct 
communications involved in obtaining verification of a contact lens 
prescription, as well as prescriptions, or copies thereof, that they 
receive directly from customers or prescribers.
    The information retained under the Rule's recordkeeping 
requirements is used by the Commission to determine compliance with the 
Rule and may also provide a basis for the Commission to bring an 
enforcement action. Without the required records, it would be difficult 
either to ensure that entities are complying with the Rule's 
requirements or to bring enforcement actions for Rule violations.
    On May 20, 2016, the Commission sought comment on the Rule's 
information collection requirements.\1\ The Commission received 
comments from the American Optometric Association (``AOA'') and 1-800 
CONTACTS, Inc., a seller of contact lenses. The AOA states in its 
comment that the FTC should (1) increase the estimate of time required 
for a prescriber to respond to a verification request from 3 minutes to 
5 minutes, (2) include in its estimate the time prescribers spend 
addressing issues that may arise as a result of the Rule, and (3) 
include wages for ophthalmologists in the estimate for labor cost. The 
AOA also states that the FTC's description of the time required to 
provide a copy of the prescription to the patient mischaracterizes the 
assessment, fitting, and prescription process.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See 81 FR 31938.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    1-800 CONTACTS states in its comment its belief that the current 
information costs of the Rule are reasonable and justified. However, it 
states that the FTC has overestimated the number of hours that 
prescribers spend releasing prescriptions because certain states 
require that prescriptions be valid for two years and because some 
prescribers are not releasing prescriptions. The company also opined 
that increased compliance would lessen the Rule's burden, requested 
increased enforcement, and suggested a change to the Rule to improve 
compliance.
    Data provided and requested by the AOA is reflected in updated 
burden estimates set out below and both the AOA's and 1-800 CONTACTS' 
comments are addressed in more detail within the Agency's ``Supporting 
Statement for Information Collection Provisions of the Contact Lens 
Rule,'' which is available upon request from the FTC contact officials 
and separately at www.reginfo.gov.
    As required by OMB regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, the FTC is 
providing this second opportunity for public comment.
    Likely Respondents: Contact lens prescribers and contact lens 
sellers.
    Estimated Annual Hours Burden: 1,903,315 hours (derived from 
949,710 hours + 953,605 hours).

     Contact Lens Prescribers: 683,333 hours (41 million 
contact lens wearers x 1 minute per prescription/60 minutes) + 266,377 
hours (3,196,524 verification requests x 5 minutes/60 minutes) = 
949,710 hours.
     Contact Lens Sellers: 887,923 hours (10,655,080 orders x 5 
minutes/60 minutes) + 65,682 burden hours (3,940,920 orders x 1 minute/
60 minutes) = 953,605 hours.
    Estimated Annual Cost Burden: $73,082,912, which is derived from 
$58,464,147.60 for prescriber hours (($55.65 x 807,253.5 optometrist 
hours) + ($95.05 x 142,456.5 ophthalmologist hours)) + $14,618,764.65 
for sellers ($15.33 x 953,605 office clerk hours).\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics from May 2015, 
salaried optometrists earn an average wage of $55.65 per hour, other 
physicians and surgeons earn an average wage of $95.05 per hour, and 
general office clerks earn an average wage of $15.33 per hour. See 
Press Release, Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department 
of Labor, Occupational Employment Statistics--May 2015, available at 
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 October 11, 
2016. Write ``Contact Lens Rule: FTC File No. P054510'' on your 
comment. Your comment--including your name and your state--

[[Page 62502]]

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, such as 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 are required 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 comment online, or to send it 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/contactlensrulepra2, 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 ``Contact Lens Rule: FTC 
File No. P054510'' 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. 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 October 11, 
2016. For information on the Commission's privacy policy, including 
routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.
    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.

Christian S. White,
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2016-21675 Filed 9-8-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P