[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 14, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13605-13607]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-04929]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


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

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

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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 information collection 
requirements contained in its Rule Governing Pre-sale Availability of 
Written Warranty Terms. That clearance expires on March 31, 2017.

DATES: Comments must be received by April 13, 2017.

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 ``Warranty Rules: 
Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P044403'' on your comment, and file 
your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/presaleavailabilityrule2pra 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: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the proposed information requirements should be addressed to 
Christine M. Todaro, Attorney, Division of Marketing Practices, Bureau 
of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania 
Avenue NW., CC-8528, Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-3711.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 13606]]

    Title: Pre-sale Availability of Written Warranty Terms (Pre-Sale 
Availability Rule or Rule), 16 CFR 702.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0112.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: On December 29, 2016, the FTC sought public comment on 
the information collection requirements associated with Regulation O. 
81 FR 95995. No germane comments were received.\1\ 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.
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    \1\ The Commission received six non-germane comments.
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    The Pre-sale Availability Rule, 16 CFR. 702, is one of three rules 
\2\ that the FTC issued as required by the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act, 
15 U.S.C. 2301 et seq. (Warranty Act or Act).\3\ The Pre-sale 
Availability Rule requires sellers and warrantors to make the text of 
any written warranty on a consumer product costing more than $15 
available to the consumer before sale. Among other things, the Rule 
requires sellers to make the text of the warranty readily available 
either by (1) displaying it in close proximity to the product or (2) 
furnishing it on request and posting signs in prominent locations 
advising consumers that the warranty is available. The Rule requires 
warrantors to provide materials to enable sellers to comply with the 
Rule's requirements and also sets out the methods by which warranty 
information can be made available before the sale if the product is 
sold through catalogs, mail order, or door to door sales. In addition, 
in 2016, the FTC revised the Rule to allow warrantors to post warranty 
terms on Internet Web sites if they also provide a non-Internet based 
method for consumers to obtain the warranty terms and satisfy certain 
other conditions. The revised Rule also allows certain sellers to 
display warranty terms pre-sale in an electronic format if the 
warrantor has used the online method of disseminating warranty terms.
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    \2\ The other two rules relate to the information that must 
appear in a written warranty on a consumer product costing more than 
$15 if a warranty is offered and minimum standards for informal 
dispute settlement mechanisms that are incorporated into a written 
warranty.
    \3\ 40 FR 60168 (Dec. 31, 1975).
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    Likely Respondents: Manufacturers and retailers of consumer 
products.
    Estimated Annual Hours Burden: 2,823,803 hours (221,547 hours for 
manufacturers + 2,602,256 hours for retailers).

 Manufacturers account for approximately 221,547 hours ((1,028 
large manufacturers x 26.88 hours) + (30,299 small manufacturers x 6.4 
hours))
 Retailers account for approximately 2,602,256 hours ((7,745 
large retailers x 20.8 burden hours) + (508,575 small retailers x 4.8 
burden hours))

    Estimated Annual Cost Burden: $62,123,688 (which is derived from 
$33,885,648 for sales associates + $28,238,040 for clerical 
workers).\4\
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    \4\ The wage rates used in this Notice reflect data from the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages (May 
2015), available at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ocwage.pdf.

 Sales Associates: (1,411,902 hours) ($24/hour) = $33,885,648
 Clerical Workers: (1,411,902 hours) ($20/hour) = $28,238,040

    Total Annual Capital or Other Non-labor Costs: De minimis.

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 April 13, 2017. 
Write ``Warranty Rules: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P044403'' 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, 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 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/presaleavailabilityrule2pra, 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 ``Warranty Rules: 
Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P044403'' on your comment and on the 
envelope, and mail it to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex J), 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 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 before April 13, 
2017. 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.shtm.
    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

[[Page 13607]]

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. 2017-04929 Filed 3-13-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P