[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 208 (Tuesday, October 27, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68068-68070]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-23764]


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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 Management and Budget (OMB) clearance for information 
collection requirements in Trade Regulation Rule entitled Labeling and 
Advertising of Home Insulation (R-value Rule or Rule). That clearance 
expires on January 31, 2021.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 28, 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 ``R-value 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: R-value Rule, 16 CFR part 460.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0109.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Likely Respondents: Insulation manufacturers, installers, home 
builders, home sellers, insulation sellers.
    Estimated Annual Hours Burden: 132,707 hours.
    Estimated Annual Cost Burden: $2,732,510 (solely related to labor 
costs).
    Abstract: The R-value Rule establishes uniform standards for the 
substantiation and disclosure of accurate, material product information 
about the thermal performance characteristics of home insulation 
products. The R-value of an insulation signifies the insulation's 
degree of resistance to the flow of heat. This information tells 
consumers how well a product is likely to perform as an insulator and 
allows consumers to determine whether the cost of the insulation is 
justified.
    As required by section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A), 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 Commission's R-
value Rule.

R-value Rule Burden Statement

    Estimated annual hours burden: 132,707 hours.
    The Rule's requirements include product testing, recordkeeping, and 
third-party disclosures on labels, fact sheets, advertisements, and 
other promotional materials. Based on information provided by members 
of the insulation industry, staff estimates that the Rule affects: (1) 
150 Insulation manufacturers and their testing laboratories; (2) 1,615 
installers who sell home insulation; (3) 125,000 new home builders/
sellers of site-built homes and approximately 5,500 dealers who sell 
manufactured housing; and (4) 25,000 retail sellers who sell home 
insulation for installation by consumers.

(1) Manufacturers

    Under the Rule's testing requirements, manufacturers must test each 
insulation product for its R-value. Based on past industry input, staff 
estimates that the test takes approximately two hours. Approximately 15 
of the 150 insulation manufacturers in existence introduce one new 
product each year. Their total annual testing burden is therefore 
approximately 30 hours.
    Staff further estimates that most manufacturers require an average 
of approximately 20 hours per year regarding third-party disclosure 
requirements in advertising and other promotional materials. Only the 
five or six largest manufacturers require additional time, 
approximately 80 hours each. Thus, the annual third-party disclosure 
burden for manufacturers is approximately 3,360 hours [(144 
manufacturers x 20 hours) + (6 manufacturers x 80 hours)].
    While the Rule imposes recordkeeping requirements, most 
manufacturers and their testing laboratories keep their testing-related 
records in the ordinary course of business. Staff estimates that no 
more than one additional hour per year per manufacturer is necessary to 
comply with this requirement, for an annual recordkeeping burden of 
approximately 150 hours (150 manufacturers x 1 hour).

(2) Installers

    Installers are required to show the manufacturers' insulation fact 
sheet to retail consumers before purchase. They must also disclose 
information in contracts or receipts concerning the R-value and the 
amount of insulation to install. Staff estimates that two minutes per 
sales transaction is sufficient to comply with these requirements. 
Approximately 2,000,000 retrofit insulations (an industry source's 
estimate) are installed by approximately 1,615 installers per year, 
and, thus, the related annual burden total is approximately 66,667 
hours (2,000,000 sales transactions x 2 minutes). Staff anticipates 
that one hour per year per installer is sufficient to cover required 
disclosures in advertisements and other promotional materials. Thus, 
the burden for this requirement is approximately 1,615 hours per year. 
In addition, installers must keep records that

[[Page 68069]]

indicate the substantiation relied upon for savings claims. The 
additional time to comply with this requirement is minimal--
approximately 5 minutes per year per installer--for a total of 
approximately 135 hours.

(3) New Home Sellers

    New home sellers must make contract disclosures concerning the 
type, thickness, and R-value of the insulation they install in each 
part of a new home. Staff estimates that no more than 30 seconds per 
sales transaction is required to comply with this requirement, for a 
total annual burden of approximately 10,750 hours (an estimated 
1,290,000 new home sales per year \1\ x 30 seconds). New home sellers 
who make energy savings claims must also keep records regarding the 
substantiation relied upon for those claims. Staff believes that the 30 
seconds covering disclosures would also encompass this recordkeeping 
element.
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    \1\ See Table 3b on housing starts for privately owned units for 
2019 at https://www.census.gov/construction/nrc/pdf/newresconst_202006.pdf.
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(4) Retail Sellers

    The Rule requires that the approximately 25,000 retailers who sell 
home insulation make fact sheets available to consumers before 
purchase. This can be accomplished by, for example, placing copies in a 
display rack or keeping copies in a binder on a service desk with an 
appropriate notice. Replenishing or replacing fact sheets should 
require no more than approximately one hour per year per retailer, for 
a total of 25,000 annual hours, industry-wide.
    The Rule also requires specific disclosures in advertisements or 
other promotional materials to ensure that the claims are fair and not 
deceptive. This burden is very minimal because retailers typically use 
advertising copy provided by the insulation manufacturer, and even when 
retailers prepare their own advertising copy, the Rule provides some of 
the language to be used. Accordingly, approximately one hour per year 
per retailer should suffice to meet this requirement, for a total 
annual burden of approximately 25,000 hours.
    Retailers who make energy savings claims in advertisements or other 
promotional materials must keep records that indicate the 
substantiation they are relying upon. Because few retailers make these 
types of promotional claims and because the Rule permits retailers to 
rely on the insulation manufacturer's substantiation data for any 
claims that are made, the additional recordkeeping burden is de 
minimis. The time calculated for disclosures, above, would be more than 
adequate to cover any burden imposed by this recordkeeping requirement.
    To summarize, staff estimates that the Rule imposes a total of 
132,707 burden hours, as follows: 150 recordkeeping and 3,390 testing 
and disclosure hours for manufacturers; 135 recordkeeping and 68,282 
disclosure hours for installers; 10,750 disclosure hours for new home 
sellers; and 50,000 disclosure hours for retailers. The estimated total 
burden is approximately 132,707 burden hours.
    Estimated annual cost burden: $2,732,510 (solely related to labor 
costs).
    The total annual labor cost for the Rule's information collection 
requirements is approximately $2,732,510, derived as follows: 
approximately $896 for testing, based on 30 hours for manufacturers (30 
hours x $29.87 per hour for skilled technical personnel); $4,742 for 
manufacturers' and installers' compliance with the Rule's recordkeeping 
requirements, based on 285 hours (285 hours x $16.64 per hour for 
clerical personnel); $55,910 for manufacturers' compliance with third-
party disclosure requirements, based on 3,360 hours (3,360 hours x 
$16.64 per hour for clerical personnel); and $2,670,962 for disclosure 
compliance by installers, new home sellers, and retailers (129,032 
hours x $20.70 per hour for sales persons).\2\
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    \2\ The wage rates for engineering technologists and 
technicians, except drafters (skilled technical personnel), file 
clerks (clerical personnel), and sales and related occupations 
(sales persons) are based on recent data from the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics Survey.
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    There are no significant current capital or other non-labor costs 
associated with this Rule. Because the Rule has been in effect since 
1980, members of the industry are familiar with its requirements and 
already have in place the equipment for conducting tests and storing 
records. New products are introduced infrequently. Because the required 
disclosures are placed on packaging or on the product itself, the 
Rule's additional disclosure requirements do not cause industry members 
to incur any significant additional non-labor associated costs.

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 December 28, 
2020.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the FTC to consider 
your comment, we must receive it on or before December 28, 2020. Write 
``R-value Rule; PRA Comment: FTC File No. P072108'' on your comment. 
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.
    Due to the public health emergency in response to the COVID-19 
outbreak and the agency's heightened security screening, postal mail 
addressed to the Commission will be subject to delay. We encourage you 
to submit your comments online through the https://www.regulations.gov 
website.
    If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``R-value 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 become publicly available at https://www.regulations.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

[[Page 68070]]

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 December 28, 
2020. 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.

Josephine Liu,
Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2020-23764 Filed 10-26-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P