[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 106 (Monday, June 5, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25801-25802]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-11577]


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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

ACTION: Notice, request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) 
invites comment on a proposal to extend for three years, without 
revision, the mandatory Government-Administered, General-Use Prepaid 
Card Issuer Survey (FR 3063a; OMB No. 7100-0343) and the voluntary 
Government-Administered, General-Use Prepaid Card Government Survey (FR 
3063b; OMB No. 7100-0343).
    On June 15, 1984, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
delegated to the Board authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act 
(PRA) to approve of and assign OMB control numbers to collection of 
information requests and requirements conducted or sponsored by the 
Board. In exercising this delegated authority, the Board is directed to 
take every reasonable step to solicit comment. In determining whether 
to approve a collection of information, the Board will consider all 
comments received from the public and other agencies.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before August 4, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by FR 3063a or FR 3064b, 
by any of the following methods:
     Agency Web site: http://www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments at http://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Include OMB 
number in the subject line of the message.
     FAX: (202) 452-3819 or (202) 452-3102.
     Mail: Ann E. Misback, Secretary, Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20551.
    All public comments are available from the Board's Web site at 
http://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx as submitted, 
unless modified for technical reasons. Accordingly, your comments will 
not be edited to remove any identifying or contact information. Public 
comments may also be viewed electronically or in paper form in Room 
3515, 1801 K Street (between 18th and 19th Streets NW.) Washington, DC 
20006 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays.
    Additionally, commenters may send a copy of their comments to the 
OMB Desk Officer--Shagufta Ahmed--Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office 
Building, Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503 or by 
fax to (202) 395-6974.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A copy of the PRA OMB submission, 
including the proposed reporting form and instructions, supporting 
statement, and other documentation will be placed into OMB's public 
docket files, once approved. These documents will also be made 
available on the Federal Reserve Board's public Web site at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/review.aspx or may be

[[Page 25802]]

requested from the agency clearance officer, whose name appears below.
    Federal Reserve Board Clearance Officer--Nuha Elmaghrabi--Office of 
the Chief Data Officer, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System, Washington, DC 20551 (202) 452-3829. Telecommunications Device 
for the Deaf (TDD) users may contact (202) 263-4869, Board of Governors 
of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comment on Information Collection Proposal

    The Board invites public comment on the following information 
collection, which is being reviewed under authority delegated by the 
OMB under the PRA. Comments are invited on the following:
    a. Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the Federal Reserve's functions; including 
whether the information has practical utility;
    b. The accuracy of the Federal Reserve's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed information collection, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    c. Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected;
    d. Ways to minimize the burden of information collection on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology; and
    e. Estimates of capital or startup costs and costs of operation, 
maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.
    At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations 
received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the Federal 
Reserve should modify the proposed revisions prior to giving final 
approval.

Proposal To Approve Under OMB Delegated Authority the Extension for 
Three Years, Without Revision, of the Following Report

    Report Title: Government-Administered, General-Use Prepaid Card 
Surveys.
    Agency Form Number: FR 3063a and FR 3063b.
    OMB Control Number: 7100-0343.
    Frequency: Annual.
    Respondents: Issuers of government-administered, general-use 
prepaid cards (FR 3063a) and governments that administer general-use 
prepaid card programs (FR 3063b).
    Estimated Number of Respondents: FR 3063a: 25; FR 3063b: 75.
    Estimated Average Hours per Response: FR 3063a: 25 hours; FR 3063b: 
15 hours.
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: FR 3063a: 625 hours; FR 3063b: 1,125 
hours.
    General Description of Report: The issuer survey (FR 3063a) 
collects data from issuers of government-administered, general-use 
prepaid cards including card program information, cards outstanding, 
card funding, ATM transactions, purchase transactions, fees paid by 
issuers to third parties, interchange fees, and cardholder fees. The 
issuer survey (FR 3063a) is mandatory.
    The government survey (FR 3063b) collects data from state 
governments, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories 
(collectively ``state governments''), and municipal government offices 
located within the United States (local government offices) that 
administer general-use prepaid card payment programs.\1\ Data collected 
from government offices include program information, the number of 
cards outstanding, and funding information. The government survey (FR 
3063b) is voluntary.
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    \1\ The issuer and government surveys request information on all 
federal, state, or local government-administered payment programs 
that provide a general-use prepaid card (or other debit card) 
disbursement option to payment recipients. The government survey may 
be distributed to federal government agencies in addition to state 
and local governments, but collections of information from federal 
government agencies are not subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act 
and, thus, are not included in this discussion.
    U.S. territories include American Samoa, Guam, Midway Islands, 
Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands.
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    The Board uses data from these surveys to support an annual report 
to the Congress on the prevalence of use of general-use prepaid cards 
in federal, state, and local government-administered payment programs 
and on the interchange and cardholder fees charged with respect to such 
use of such cards.
    Legal Authorization and Confidentiality: The Board's Legal Division 
has determined that both the issuer survey and the government survey 
are authorized by subsection 920(a) of the Electronic Fund Transfer 
Act, which was amended by section 1075(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act (15 
U.S.C. 1693o-2). This subsection requires the Board to submit an annual 
report to Congress on the prevalence of the use of general-use prepaid 
cards in Federal, State or local government-administered payment 
programs and the interchange transaction fees and card-holder fees 
charged with respect to the use of such general-use prepaid cards (15 
U.S.C. 1693o-2(a)(7)(D)). It also provides the Board with authority to 
require issuers to provide information to enable the Board to carry out 
the provisions of the subsection (15 U.S.C. 1693o-2(a)(3)(B)). The 
obligation of issuers to respond to the issuer survey (FR 3063a) is 
mandatory. However, the obligation of state governments and local 
government offices to respond to the government survey (FR 3063b) is 
voluntary.
    All of the information collected on the government survey and a 
limited amount of information collected on the issuer survey is 
publicly available, and thus, is not accorded confidential treatment. 
However, most of the information collected on the issuer survey is not 
publicly available and may be kept confidential as explained herein. 
Data collected by the issuer survey may be kept confidential under 
exemption (b)(4) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which 
exempts from disclosure ``trade secrets and commercial or financial 
information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential'' (5 
U.S.C. 552(b)(4)). Such data may be kept confidential under exemption 4 
if the release of data would cause substantial harm to the competitive 
position of the issuer. For example, certain issuer survey responses 
would likely contain information related to an organization's revenue 
structure and other proprietary and commercial information and the 
release of such information would cause substantial harm to the 
competitive position of the issuer and could therefore be kept 
confidential under exemption 4.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, May 31, 2017.
Ann E. Misback,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2017-11577 Filed 6-2-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6210-01-P