[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 119 (Thursday, June 20, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51885-51886]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-13476]


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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, 4 and 6); (b) 
the FTC's consumer reporting systems; and (c) the FTC's program 
evaluation activities. The current clearance expires on June 30, 2024.

DATES: Comments must be filed by July 22, 2024.

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. Written comments and 
recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent 
within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting 
``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using 
the search function. The reginfo.gov web link is a United States 
Government website produced by the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) and the General Services Administration (GSA). Under PRA 
requirements, OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) 
reviews Federal information collections.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: G. Richard Gold, Attorney, Office of 
the General Counsel, Federal Trade Commission, (202) 326-3355, 
[email protected].

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: 1,414,080 hours.
    Estimated Annual Labor Costs: $21,600.
    Abstract: The FTC collects information to carry out its 
administrative responsibilities pursuant to its Rules of Practice. 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. In addition, the FTC's ethics regulations require 
former employees who are seeking ethical clearance to participate in 
FTC matters to submit screening affidavits to facilitate resolution of 
their requests. See FTC Rule 4.1(b), 16 CFR 4.1(b). 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 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 FTC also conducts evaluations of the effectiveness of its 
merger divestiture orders. 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.

Request for Comment

    On March 26, 2024, the FTC sought public comment on the information 
collection requirements pertaining to the Commission's administrative 
activities. 89 FR 20972. No germane comments were received. Pursuant to

[[Page 51886]]

the OMB regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, that implement the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 
3501 et seq., the FTC is providing this second opportunity for public 
comment while seeking OMB approval to renew the pre-existing clearance 
for these information collection requirements.
    Your comment--including your name and your state--will be placed on 
the public record of this proceeding. Because your comment will be made 
public, you are solely responsible for making sure that your comment 
does not include any sensitive personal information, such as anyone'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.

Josephine Liu,
Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2024-13476 Filed 6-18-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P