[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 230 (Thursday, November 29, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61380-61382]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-25964]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Extension

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

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 
seeks public comments on its proposal to extend for an additional three 
years the current PRA clearance for information collection requirements 
contained in its Alternative Fuels Rule (``Rule''). That clearance 
expires on May 31, 2019.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before January 28, 2019.

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 ``Paperwork Comment: FTC 
File No. P134200'' on your comment, and file your comment online at 
https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/altfuelspra 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 for the Alternative 
Fuels Rule should be directed to Hampton Newsome, Attorney, (202) 326-
2889, Division of Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal 
Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, federal 
agencies must obtain approval from

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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 PRA clearance for the Alternative Fuels Rule, 16 CFR part 309 
(OMB Control Number 3084-0094).
    The Rule, which implements the Energy Policy Act of 1992, Public 
Law 102-486, and as revised by the Commission's 2013 final 
amendments,\1\ requires disclosure of specific information on labels 
posted on fuel dispensers for non-liquid alternative fuels. To ensure 
the accuracy of these disclosures, the Rule also requires that sellers 
maintain records substantiating product-specific disclosures they 
include on these labels.
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    \1\ 78 FR 23832 (April 23, 2013). The final amendments 
consolidated the FTC's alternative fueled vehicles (AFV) labels with 
the then new fuel economy labels required by the EPA thereby 
eliminating the FTC's separate labeling requirements for used AFV 
labels.
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    It is common practice for alternative fuel industry members to 
determine and monitor fuel ratings in the normal course of their 
business activities. This is because industry members must know and 
determine the fuel ratings of their products in order to monitor 
quality and to decide how to market them. ``Burden'' for PRA purposes 
is defined to exclude effort that would be expended regardless of any 
regulatory requirement. 5 CFR 1320.2(b)(2). Moreover, as originally 
anticipated when the Rule was promulgated in 1995, many of the 
information collection requirements and the originally estimated hours 
were associated with one-time start up tasks of implementing standard 
systems and processes.
    Other factors also limit the burden associated with the Rule. 
Certification may be a one-time event or require only infrequent 
revision. Disclosures on electric vehicle fuel dispensing systems may 
be useable for several years. Nonetheless, there is still some burden 
associated with posting labels. There also will be some minimal burden 
associated with new or revised certification of fuel ratings and 
recordkeeping.

I. Annual Hours Burden: 6,000 Hours

    Recordkeeping: Affected industry (all non-liquid fuel producers, 
distributors, and retailers) comprise an estimated 20,000 + members, 
and staff estimates further that recordkeeping compliance requires 
approximately one-tenth of an hour each per year for a total of 2,000 
hours.
    Certification: Staff estimates that the Rule's fuel rating 
certification requirements will affect approximately 400 industry 
members (compressed natural gas producers and distributors and 
manufacturers of electric vehicle fuel dispensing systems) and consume 
approximately one hour each per year for a total of 400 hours.
    Labeling: Staff estimates that labeling requirements affect 
approximately nine of every ten industry retailers (or roughly 18,000 
out of approximately 20,000 retailers), but that the number of annually 
affected members is approximately 3,600 because labels may remain 
effective for several years (staff assumes that in any given year 
approximately 20% of 18,000 industry retailers will need to replace 
their labels). Staff estimates that retailers require approximately one 
hour each per year for labeling their fuel dispensers for a total of 
3,600 hours.
    Thus, estimated total burden for non-liquid alternative fuels is 
6,000 hours (400 + 2,000 + 3,600).

II. Labor Costs: $162,157

    Labor costs are derived by applying appropriate hourly cost figures 
to the burden hours described and estimated above. According to Bureau 
of Labor Statistics data for 2017 (most recent available whole-year 
information),\2\ the average compensation for fuel system operators is 
$32.78 per hour; and $12.07 per hour for automotive service attendants. 
These are factored into the FTC's estimates and assumptions below.
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    \2\ The wage estimates in this Notice are based on mean hourly 
wages found at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.nr0.htm 
(``Occupational Employment and Wages--May 2017,'' U.S. Department of 
Labor, released March 30, 2018, Table 1 (``National employment and 
wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey by 
occupation, May 2017''). The figure for fuel system operators is 
drawn from ``petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, 
and gaugers.'' That figure for automotive attendants is drawn from 
``Automotive and watercraft service attendants.''
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    Recordkeeping: Staff estimates that only \1/6\ of the total 
recordkeeping hours are performed by fuel system operators (\1/6\ of 
2,000 hours = approximately 333 hours; 333 hours x $32.78 = $10,916) 
and that automotive service attendants account for the remaining \5/6\ 
of recordkeeping hours (\5/6\ of 2,000 hours = approximately 1,667 
hours; 1,667 hours x $12.07 = $20,121). Thus, the labor cost for 
recordkeeping for affected industry is approximately $31,037 ($10,916 
for fuel system operators + $20,121 for service station employees).
    Certification: Staff assumes that certification is performed by 
fuel system operators. Estimated associated labor costs would be 
$13,112. [(400 certification hours x $32.78]
    Labeling: Staff also assumes that labeling is performed by fuel 
system operators. Estimated labor costs would be $118,008. [3,600 
labeling hours x $32.78]
    Associated labor cost: $162,157 ($31,037 for recordkeeping + 
$13,112 for certification + $118,008 for labeling).

III. Non-Labor Cost Burden: $3,040

    Staff believes there are no current start-up costs associated with 
the Rule, inasmuch as the Rule has been in effect since 1995. Industry 
members, therefore, have in place the capital equipment and means 
necessary to determine automotive fuel ratings and comply with the 
Rule. Industry members, however, incur the cost of procuring fuel 
dispenser labels to comply with the Rule.
    The estimated annual fuel labeling cost, based on estimates of 
approximately 8,000 fuel dispensers (assumptions: An estimated 20% of 
20,000 total fuel retailers need to replace labels in any given year 
with an approximate five-year life for labels--i.e., 4,000 retailers--
multiplied by an average of two dispensers per retailer) at thirty-
eight cents for each label (per industry sources), is $3,040 ($0.38 x 
8,000).

IV. Request for Comment

    Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC invites 
comments on: (1) Whether the recordkeeping and disclosure requirements 
are necessary, including whether the information will be practically 
useful; (2) the accuracy of our burden estimates, including whether the 
methodology and assumptions used are valid; (3) how to improve the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the disclosure requirements; and (4) 
how to minimize the burden of providing the required information to 
consumers.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the FTC to consider 
your comment, we must receive it on or before January 28, 2019. Write 
``Paperwork Comment: FTC File No. P134200'' 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 website, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the

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Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact information from 
comments before placing them on the Commission website.
    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/altfuelspra, 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 website.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Paperwork Comment: FTC 
File No. P134200'' 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 (Annex J), 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 
website 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 website--as legally required by FTC Rule 
4.9(b)--we cannot redact or remove your comment from the FTC website, 
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.
    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 January 28, 
2019. 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.

Heather Hippsley,
Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2018-25964 Filed 11-28-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6750-01-P