[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 107 (Tuesday, June 6, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26103-26105]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-11600]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The FTC intends to ask the Office of Management and Budget 
(``OMB'') to extend for an additional three years the current Paperwork 
Reduction Act (``PRA'') clearance for information collection 
requirements contained in its Trade Regulation Rule on Disclosure 
Requirements and Prohibitions Concerning Franchising (``Franchise 
Rule'' or ``Rule''). That clearance expires on November 30, 2017.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by August 7, 2017.

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 ``Franchise Rule, PRA 
Comment, FTC File No. P094400'' on your comment, and file your comment 
online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/franchiserulePRA 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 
should be addressed to Craig Tregillus, Attorney, Division of Marketing 
Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Room 8607, Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-
2970.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 clearance for the 
information collection requirements contained in the Franchise Rule, 16 
CFR part 436 (OMB Control No. 3084-0107).
    The FTC invites comments on: (1) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (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 on those who 
are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.
    The Franchise Rule ensures that consumers who are considering a 
franchise investment have access to the material information they need 
to make an informed investment decision provided in a format that 
facilitates comparisons of different franchise offerings. The Rule 
requires that franchisors disclose this information to consumers and 
maintain records to facilitate enforcement of the Rule.
    Amendments to the Rule promulgated on March 30, 2007, which took 
effect after a one-year phase-in on July 1, 2008, merged the Rule's 
disclosure requirements with the disclosure format accepted by 15 
states that have franchise registration or disclosure laws.\1\ The 
amended Rule has significantly minimized any compliance burden beyond 
what is already required by state law.
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    \1\ 72 FR 15544 et seq.
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    The amended Rule requires franchisors to furnish prospective 
purchasers with a Franchise Disclosure Document (``FDD'') that provides 
information relating to the franchisor, its business, the nature of the 
proposed franchise, and any representations by the franchisor about 
financial performance regarding actual or potential sales, income, or 
profits made to a prospective franchise purchaser. The franchisor must 
preserve materially different copies of its FDD for 3 years, as well as 
information that provides a reasonable basis for any financial 
performance representation it elects to make. These requirements are 
subject to the PRA and underlie the Commission's pursuit of renewed OMB 
clearance.
    Estimated annual hours burden: 16,750 hours.
    Based on a review of trade publications and information from state 
regulatory authorities, staff believes that, on average, from year to 
year, there are approximately 2,500 sellers of franchises covered by 
the Rule, with perhaps about 10% of that total reflecting an equal 
amount of new and departing business entrants.\2\ Commission staff's 
burden hour estimate reflects the incremental tasks that the Rule may 
impose beyond the information and recordkeeping requirements imposed by 
state law and/or followed by franchisors who have been using the FDD 
disclosure format nationwide. This estimate likely overstates the 
actual incremental burden because some franchisors, for various 
reasons, may not be covered by the Rule (e.g., they sell only 
franchises that qualify for the Rule's large franchise investment 
exemption of at least $1 million).
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    \2\ This number, which was also used in the FTC's 2014 clearance 
request, appears to be consistent with the number of business format 
franchise offerings registered in compliance with state franchise 
laws, and listed in franchise directories.
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    Staff estimates that the average annual disclosure burden to update 
existing disclosure documents will be three hours each for the 2,250 
established franchisors, or 6,750 hours cumulatively for them, and 30 
hours apiece each year for the 250 or so new-entrant franchisors to 
prepare their initial disclosure documents, or 7,500 hours, 
cumulatively, for the latter group. These estimates parallel staff's 
2014 estimates for the amended Rule.\3\ No public comments were 
received on those prior estimates. Accordingly, the FTC retains them 
for this analysis subject to further opportunity for public comment.
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    \3\ See 79 FR 41284 (Jul. 15, 2014); 79 FR 59771 (Oct. 3, 2014) 
(``2014 Notices'').
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    Under the Rule, a franchisor is required to retain copies of 
receipts of disclosure documents, as well as materially different 
versions of its disclosure documents. Such recordkeeping requirements, 
however, are consistent with, or less burdensome than, those imposed by 
the states that have franchise registration and disclosure laws. 
Accordingly, staff

[[Page 26104]]

believes that incremental recordkeeping burden, if any, would be de 
minimis.
    Covered franchisors also may need to maintain a record of the 
single additional FDD for use in non-registration states, which may 
differ from FDDs used in registration states. This may require as much 
as an additional hour of recordkeeping per year. Assuming, as FTC staff 
has in the past, an hour of incremental recordkeeping per covered 
franchisor, this yields an additional cumulative total of 2,500 hours 
for all covered franchisors.
    Based on the above assumptions and estimates, average annual burden 
for new and established franchisors during a prospective three-year 
clearance would be 16,750 hours ((30 hours of annual disclosure burden 
x 250 new franchisors) + (3 hours of average annual disclosure burden x 
2,250 established franchisors) + (1 hour of annual recordkeeping burden 
x 2,500 franchisors)).
    Estimated annual labor cost burden: $3,600,000.
    Labor costs are derived by applying appropriate hourly cost figures 
to the burden hours described above. The hourly rates used below are 
estimated averages.
    Commission staff anticipates that an attorney will prepare the 
disclosure document. Applying the above assumptions to an estimated 
hourly attorney rate of $250 \4\ yields the following annual totals: 
$7,500 (30 hours x $250) per new franchisor (or, $1,875,000, 
cumulatively, for 250 new franchisors) and $750 (3 hours x $250) per 
established franchisor (or, $1,687,500, cumulatively, for 2,250 
established franchisors).
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    \4\ Commission staff believes this is a reasonable proxy for 
mean hourly attorney rates for franchisor consultation on compliance 
with the Rule's disclosure and recordkeepings requirements.
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    The FTC additionally anticipates that recordkeeping under the Rule 
will be performed by clerical staff at approximately $15 per hour.\5\ 
Thus, 2,500 hours of recordkeeping burden per year for all covered 
franchisors will amount to a total annual labor cost of $37,500.
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    \5\ Based on mean hourly wages for file clerks found in 
``Occupational Employment and Wages--May 2016,'' U.S. Department of 
Labor, released March 31, 2017, Table 1, available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.nr0.htm. In contrast to labor 
costing above for attorneys, see note 4 supra and accompanying text, 
FTC staff has drawn upon BLS wage data for file clerks because staff 
believes it presents a representative proxy for recordkeeping tasks 
under the Rule. The mean hourly wage rate for ``lawyers'' within 
this BLS table, however, is just $67.25, which staff believes 
greatly understates the hourly cost for lawyer consultation tied to 
the Rule.
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    Cumulatively, then, total estimated labor cost under the Rule is 
$3,600,000 (($7,500 attorney costs x 250 new franchisors = $1,875,000) 
+ ($750 attorney costs x 2,250 established franchisors = $1,687,500) + 
($15 clerical costs x 2,500 franchisors = $37,500)).
    Estimated non-labor costs: $8,000,000
    In developing cost estimates initially for this Rule, FTC staff 
consulted with practitioners who prepare disclosure documents for a 
cross-section of franchise systems. The FTC believes that its cost 
estimates remain representative of the costs incurred by franchise 
systems generally. In addition, many franchisors establish and maintain 
Web sites for ordinary business purposes, including advertising their 
goods or services and to facilitate communication with the public. 
Accordingly, any costs franchisors would incur specifically as a result 
of electronic disclosure under the Rule appear to be minimal.
    As set forth in the 2014 Notices, FTC staff estimates that the non-
labor burden incurred by franchisors under the Franchise Rule differs 
based on the length of the disclosure document and the number of them 
produced. Staff estimates that 2,000 franchisors (80% of total 
franchisors covered by the Rule) will print and mail 100 disclosure 
documents at $35 each. Thus, these franchisors would each incur an 
estimated $3,500 in printing and mailing costs. Staff estimates that 
the remaining 20% of covered franchisors (500) will transmit 50% of 
their 100 disclosure documents electronically, at $5 per electronic 
disclosure. Thus, these franchisors will each incur $2,000 in 
distribution costs (($250 for electronic disclosure [$5 for electronic 
disclosure x 50 disclosure documents]) + ($1,750 for printing and 
mailing [$35 for printing and mailing x 50 disclosure documents])).
    Accordingly, the cumulative annual non-labor costs for the Rule is 
approximately $8,000,000 (($3,500 printing and mailing costs x 2,000 
franchisors = $7,000,000) + ($250 electronic distribution costs + 
$1,750 printing and mailing costs) x 500 franchisors = $1,000,000)).
    Request for Comment: You can file a comment online or on paper. For 
the FTC to consider your comment, we must receive it on or before 
August 7, 2017. Write ``Franchise Rule, PRA Comment, FTC File No. 
P094400'' 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 https://www.ftc.gov/policy/public-comments.
    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/franchiserulePRA, by following the instructions on the web-based 
form. When 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 ``Franchise Rule, PRA 
Comment, FTC File No. P094400'' 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, 
Washington, DC 20024. If possible, please submit your paper comment to 
the Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible FTC 
Web site at https://www.ftc.gov/, you are solely responsible for making 
sure that your comment does not include any sensitive or confidential 
information. In particular, your comment should not include any 
sensitive personal information, such as your or anyone else'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, such as medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment 
should not include any ``trade secret or any commercial or financial 
information which . . . is privileged or confidential''--as provided by 
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)--including in particular competitively sensitive 
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, 
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
    Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is 
requested must be filed in paper form,

[[Page 26105]]

must be clearly labeled ``Confidential,'' and must comply with FTC Rule 
4.9(c). 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). Your 
comment will be kept confidential only if the General Counsel grants 
your request in accordance with the law and the public interest. Once 
your comment has been posted on the public FTC Web site--as legally 
required by FTC Rule 4.9(b)--we cannot redact or remove your comment 
from the FTC Web site, unless you submit a confidentiality request that 
meets the requirements for such treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), and 
the General Counsel grants that request.
    Visit the FTC Web site 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 August 7, 2017. For information on the 
Commission's privacy policy, including routine uses permitted by the 
Privacy Act, see https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy.

David C. Shonka,
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2017-11600 Filed 6-5-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6750-01-P