[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 86 (Monday, May 4, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26470-26472]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09379]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


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

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 
the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) is seeking public 
comment on its proposal to extend for an additional three years the 
Office of

[[Page 26471]]

Management and Budget (OMB) clearance for information collection 
requirements in its Fuel Rating Rule (the Rule). The current clearance 
expires on July 31, 2020.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 6, 2020.

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 ``Fuel Rating Rule; PRA 
Comment: FTC File No. P072108'' on your comment, and file your comment 
online at https://www.regulations.gov 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: Hampton Newsome, Attorney, Division of 
Enforcement, Federal Trade Commission, Room CC-9528, 600 Pennsylvania 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-2889.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Fuel Rating Rule (the Rule), 16 CFR part 306.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0068.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Likely Respondents:
    (a) Recordkeeping: Refiners, Producers, Importers, Distributors, 
and Retailers of the Covered Fuel Types.
    (b) Disclosure: Retailers of the Covered Fuel Types.
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 32,907 (derived from 13,417 
recordkeeping hours added to 19,490 disclosure hours).
    Estimated Annual Labor Costs: $389,646.
    Estimated Annual Capital or Other Non-labor Costs: $77,960.
    Abstract:
    The Fuel Rating Rule, 16 CFR part 306 (OMB Control Number: 3084-
0068), establishes standard procedures for determining, certifying, and 
disclosing the octane rating of automotive gasoline and the automotive 
fuel rating of alternative liquid automotive fuels, as required by the 
Petroleum Marketing Practices Act. 15 U.S.C. 2822(a)-(c). The Rule also 
requires refiners, producers, importers, distributors, and retailers to 
retain records showing how the ratings were determined, including 
delivery tickets or letters of certification.
    Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, the FTC is requesting that OMB 
renew the clearance for the PRA burden associated with the Rule.
    Burden statement:
    Estimated annual burden hours: 32,907 (derived from 13,417 
recordkeeping hours added to 19,490 disclosure hours).
    Recordkeeping: Based on industry sources, staff estimates that 
approximately 161,000 fuel industry members \1\ each incur an average 
annual burden of approximately five minutes to ensure retention of 
relevant business records \2\ for the period required by the Rule, 
resulting in a total of 13,417 hours.
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    \1\ Staff derived the number of fuel industry members by adding 
the number of refiners, producers, importers, distributors, and 
retailers of these types of fuel. Staff consulted government 
agencies and industry sources in estimating a population of 
approximately 161,000 fuel industry members, including 155,920 
retailers of automotive fuel. Some of the government websites 
reviewed to update these numbers include: http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pnp_cap1_dcu_nus_a.htm (Gasoline Producers); http://www.eia.gov/biofuels/biodiesel/production/ (Biodiesel Producers); 
http://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/ (Alternative Fuel Stations); 
http://www.nacsonline.com/YourBusiness/FuelsReports/2015/Documents/2015-NACS-Fuels-Report_full.pdf (Petroleum Stations).
    \2\ Under the Fuel Rating Rule, refiners, producers, importers, 
distributors, and retailers of automotive fuel must retain, for one 
year, records of any delivery tickets, letters of certification, or 
tests upon which they based the automotive fuel ratings that they 
certify or post. See the Fuel Rating Rule's recordkeeping 
requirements, 16 CFR 306.7; 306.9; and 306.11.
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    Disclosure: Staff estimates that affected industry members incur an 
average burden of approximately one hour to produce, distribute, and 
post octane rating labels. Because the labels are durable, only about 
one of every eight industry member retailers (19,490 of 155,920 
industry member retailers) incur this burden each year, resulting in a 
total annual burden of 19,490 hours.
    Estimated annual labor costs: $389,646.
    Labor costs are derived by applying appropriate hourly cost figures 
to the burden hours described above. Here, the average hourly wages of 
refiners, producers, distributors, and importers is $34.94.\3\ The 
average hourly wages of retailers is $11.54.\4\ The recordkeeping 
component, 13,417 hours, consists of approximately 423 hours for 
producers, distributors, and importers; and 12,994 hours for retailers. 
Thus, the total annual labor cost for recordkeeping is $164,731 ((423 
hours x $34.94) + (12,994 hours x $11.54/hour)). The disclosure 
component, which concerns retailers, is approximately 19,490 hours. 
Thus, total annual labor cost for disclosure is $224,915 (19,490 hours 
x $11.54/hour).
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    \3\ See http://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag211.htm#earnings (Bureau 
of Labor Statistics, May 2019 Occupational Employment Statistics, 
Hourly mean wages for petroleum pump system operators, refinery 
operators, and gaugers).
    \4\ See http://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag447.htm (Bureau of Labor 
Statistics, May 2019 Occupational Employment Statistics, Hourly mean 
wages for service station attendants).
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    Estimated annual non-labor costs: $77,960.
    Staff believes that the Rule does not impose any capital costs for 
producers, importers, or distributors of fuels. Retailers, however, 
incur the cost of procuring and replacing fuel dispenser labels to 
comply with the Rule. Staff conservatively estimates that the price per 
automotive fuel label is two dollars and that the average automotive 
fuel retailer has six dispensers; thus, $12 labeling cost at inception 
per retailer.\5\ Staff has previously estimated a dispenser useful life 
range of 6 to 10 years and, based on that, assumed a useful life of 8 
years for labels, the mean of that range. Given that, replacement 
labeling will not be necessary for well beyond the relevant period at 
issue, i.e., the immediate 3-year PRA clearance sought. However, 
conservatively annualizing the $12 labeling cost at inception per 
retailer over that shorter period rather than average useful life, 
annualized labeling cost per retailer will be $4. Cumulative labeling 
cost would thus be $77,960 (155,920 retailers x 1/8 \6\ x $4 each, 
annualized).
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    \5\ See 75 FR 12,470, 12,477 (Mar. 16, 2010) (proposed 
rulemaking) (estimating the price range per pump to be one to two 
dollars).
    \6\ On average, each label needs to be replaced once every 8 
years. Annualizing this cost equates to \1/8\ or 0.125.
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Request for Comments

    Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, 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 maintaining records and providing disclosures to 
consumers. All comments must be received on or before July 6, 2020.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the FTC to consider 
your comment, we must receive it on or before July 6, 2020. Write 
``Fuel Rating

[[Page 26472]]

Rule; PRA Comment: FTC File No. P072108'' on your comment. 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 through the https://www.regulations.gov 
website by following the instructions on the web-based form provided. 
Your comment--including your name and your state--will be placed on the 
public record of this proceeding, including the https://www.regulations.gov website.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Fuel Rating Rule; PRA 
Comment: FTC File No. P072108'' 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 (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 public record, 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 publicly at www.regulations.gov, we cannot redact or remove 
your comment 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 July 6, 2020. 
You can find more information, including routine uses permitted by the 
Privacy Act, in the Commission's privacy policy, at https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy.

Josephine Liu,
Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2020-09379 Filed 5-1-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6750-01-P