[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 6 (Monday, January 11, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1971-1973]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00214]


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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 clearance for 
information collection requirements pertaining to the Commission's
    administrative activities, consisting of: (a) Responding to 
applications to the Commission pursuant to the Commission's Rules of 
Practice (Parts 1 and 4); (b) the FTC's consumer reporting systems; and 
(c) the FTC's program evaluation activities. The current clearance 
expires on May 31, 2021.

DATES: Comments must be filed by March 12, 2021.

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 Reduction 
Act: 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: Kenny Wright, Attorney, Office of the 
General Counsel, (202) 326-2907, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, 
DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title of Collection: FTC Administrative 
Activities.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0169.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Private Sector: Businesses and other for-profit 
entities.
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 452,318 hours.
    Estimated Annual Labor Costs: $26,890.
    Discussion
    Pursuant to its Rules of Practice, the Commission collects 
information to carry out its administrative responsibilities. Any 
person, partnership, or corporation may request advice from the 
Commission or FTC staff regarding a course of action the requester 
contemplates. The Commission's rules require requesters to provide the 
information necessary to facilitate resolution of the requests, 
including information on the question to be resolved, the identity of 
the companies or persons involved, and other material facts. See FTC 
Rule 1.2, 16 CFR 1.2. The FTC's ethics regulations require former 
employees who are seeking ethical clearance to participate

[[Page 1972]]

in FTC matters to submit screening affidavits to facilitate resolution 
of their requests. See FTC Rule 4.1(b), 16 CFR 4.1(b). Requests to 
participate must include, among other things, a description of the 
proceeding in which participation is contemplated; the name of the 
Commission office or division in which the former employee was employed 
and the position the employee occupied; and a statement whether, while 
employed by the Commission, the former employee participated in any 
proceeding or investigation concerning the same company, individual, or 
industry currently involved in the matter in question. These 
requirements prevent the improper use of confidential nonpublic 
information acquired while working at the FTC. The Commission's Rules 
of Practice also authorize outside parties to request employee 
testimony, through compulsory process or otherwise, and to request 
documentary material through compulsory process in cases or matters to 
which the agency is not a party. See FTC Rule 4.11(e), 16 CFR 4.11(e). 
These rules require persons seeking testimony or material from the 
Commission to submit a statement in support of the request setting 
forth the party's interest in the case or matter, the relevance of the 
desired testimony or material, and a discussion of whether it is 
reasonably available from other sources.
    The Commission receives approximately 55 such requests annually. 
Staff estimates respondents will incur, on average, approximately 2 
hours of burden to submit a request, resulting in a cumulative 110 
burden hours per year (55 requests x 2 burden hours). Based on an 
estimated average wage of $145/hour for executive and attorney wages, 
staff estimates a total annual cost burden of $15,950 (110 hours x 
$145). Staff estimates that requesters would incur no capital, start-
up, operation, maintenance, or other similar costs associated with 
submitting covered requests.
    The FTC also allows consumers to report fraud, identity theft, 
National Do Not Call Registry violations, and other violations of law 
through telephone hotlines and three online consumer report forms. 
Consumers may call a hotline phone number or log on to the FTC's 
website to report violations using the applicable reporting forms. The 
provision of this information is voluntary. The FTC also conducts 
customer satisfaction surveys regarding the support that the 
Commission's Consumer Response Center provides to consumers to obtain 
information about the overall effectiveness of the call center and 
online complaint intake forms. This information assists Bureau of 
Consumer Protection staff in carrying out the agency's consumer 
protection mission. The FTC is also mandated by Congress under the 
Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998, 18 U.S.C. 1001 et 
seq., to serve as the central clearinghouse for identity theft 
complaints.
    The time necessary to file a consumer report or participate in 
related customer satisfaction surveys will vary. FTC staff estimates 
that approximately 7,750,841 respondents will submit information 
pursuant to these processes and that the associated burden will be 
452,131 hours per year over the course of the three-year clearance. The 
cost per respondent to file a complaint is negligible. Participation is 
voluntary and will not require any labor expenditures by respondents. 
In addition, there are no capital, start-up, operation, maintenance, or 
other similar costs for respondents.
    The FTC also conducts evaluations of its competition advocacy 
program and the effectiveness of its merger divestiture orders. The 
FTC's Competition Advocacy Program draws on the Commission's expertise 
in competition and consumer protection matters to encourage federal and 
state legislatures, courts, and other state and federal agencies to 
consider the effects of proposed actions on consumers and competition. 
Statutory authority for the advocacy program is found in part in 
sections 6(a) and (f) of the FTC Act. 15 U.S.C. 46(a) and (f). The 
FTC's Office of Policy and Planning evaluates the effectiveness of 
these advocacy comments by sending questionnaires to selected comment 
recipients. FTC staff sends questionnaires to approximately 20 
respondents per year. FTC staff estimates that, on average, respondents 
will need 15 minutes or less to complete a questionnaire, yielding a 
cumulative burden of 5 burden hours (20 respondents per year x 15 
minutes per respondent). FTC staff estimates an hourly labor cost of 
$100 for the time spent by survey participants (primarily, staff at 
state and federal agencies or members of federal and state legislatures 
and their staff). Thus, staff estimates a total labor cost of $25 for 
each response (15 minutes x $100 per hour). This yields a cumulative 
yearly labor costs will be approximately $500 (20 respondents x $25 per 
response). FTC staff estimates that respondents would incur no capital, 
start-up, operation, maintenance, or other similar costs for respondent 
to these questionnaires.
    Following an order of divestiture in a merger matter, the FTC's 
Bureau of Competition's Compliance Division conducts brief calls with 
acquirers of divested assets to assess the effectiveness of these 
divestitures. The Commission issues, on average, 15-17 orders in merger 
cases per year that require divestitures or other remedies. For 
interviews with purchasers of divested assets, each interview typically 
takes less than one hour to complete. FTC staff estimates that it takes 
each participant no more than one hour to prepare for the interview. 
Accordingly, staff estimates that, for each interview, two individuals 
(typically a company executive and an attorney) will devote two hours 
each (one hour preparing and one hour participating) to responding to 
questions for a total of four hours. Assuming that staff evaluates 
approximately 17 divestitures per year during the three-year clearance 
period, staff estimates that the total hours burden will be 68 hours 
per year (17 divestiture reviews x 4 hours for preparing and 
participating). Staff may include approximately two monitor interviews 
a year, which would add at most 4 hours (2 interviews x 2 hours for 
preparing and participating). Interviews of monitors typically involve 
only the monitor and take approximately one hour to complete with no 
more than one hour to prepare for the interview. This yields a total 
burden of 72 burden hours per year. Staff estimates that the total 
annual labor cost, based on an estimated average of $145/hour for 
executive and attorney wages, would be $10,440 (72 hours x $145). There 
are no capital, start-up, operation, maintenance, or other similar 
costs to respondents.

Request for Comment

    Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC invites 
comments on: (1) Whether the 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) ways to enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to 
minimize the burden of providing the required information to consumers. 
All comments should be filed as prescribed in the ADDRESSES section 
above, and must be received on or before March 12, 2021.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before March 12, 2021. 
Write ``Paperwork Reduction Act: 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

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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 ``Paperwork Reduction Act: 
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, 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 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 on the public website--as legally required by FTC Rule 
4.9(b)--we cannot redact or remove your comment from the 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 March 12, 
2021. 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. 2021-00214 Filed 1-8-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P