[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 159 (Friday, August 18, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39434-39435]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-17445]



[[Page 39434]]

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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


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

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The information collection requirements described below will 
be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') for 
review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA''). The FTC 
is seeking public comments on its proposal to extend for an additional 
three years its OMB clearance for the 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 September 18, 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/franchiserulePRA2, 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, 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., Mailstop CC-8528, Washington, DC 20580, (202) 
326-2970.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Franchise Rule, 16 CFR part 436.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0107.
    Type of Review: Extension of currently approved collection.
    Abstract: On June 6, 2017, the Commission sought comment on the 
information collection requirements associated with the Franchise Rule. 
82 FR 26103. No relevant comments were received. Pursuant to the OMB 
regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, that implement the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et 
seq., the FTC is providing a second opportunity for the public to 
comment while seeking OMB approval to renew the pre-existing clearance 
for the Rule.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 16,750 hours.
    Estimated Number of Respondents, Estimated Average Burden per Year 
per Respondent: (250 new franchisors x 30 hours of annual disclosure 
burden) + (2,250 established franchisors x 3 hours of average annual 
disclosure burden) + (2,500 franchisors x 1 hour of annual 
recordkeeping burden).\1\
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    \1\ The details and assumptions underlying these estimates and 
for estimated annual labor and non-labor costs were set forth in the 
June 6, 2017 Federal Register notice.
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    Estimated Annual Labor Cost: $3,600,000.
    Estimated Capital or Other Non-Labor Cost: $8,000,000.
    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 
September 18, 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 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.
    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, or to send them 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/franchiserulePRA2 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 it 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, 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, 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.

[[Page 39435]]

    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 September 18, 
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.
    Comments on the information collection requirements subject to 
review under the PRA should additionally be submitted to OMB. If sent 
by U.S. mail, they should be addressed 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 are subject to 
delays due to heightened security precautions. Thus, comments instead 
can also be sent via email to [email protected].

David C. Shonka,
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2017-17445 Filed 8-17-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P