[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 147 (Wednesday, August 1, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42091-42093]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-14860]
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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: 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. The Federal Trade
Commission (``FTC'') is seeking public comments on its proposal to
extend through November 30, 2010 the current OMB clearance for
information collection requirements contained in its Prescreen Opt-Out
Disclosure Rule. That clearance expires on November 30, 2007.
DATES: Comments must be filed by October 1, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments.
Comments should refer to ``Prescreen Opt-Out Disclosure Rule: FTC File
No. P075417'' to facilitate the organization of comments. A comment
filed in paper form should include this reference both in the text and
on the envelope and should be mailed or delivered, with two complete
copies, to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Room H 135
(Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20580. Because
paper mail in the Washington area and at the Commission is subject to
delay, please consider submitting your comments in electronic form, as
prescribed below. However, if the comment contains any material for
which confidential treatment is requested, it must be filed in paper
form, and the first page of the document must be clearly labeled
``Confidential.''\1\ The FTC is requesting that any comment filed in
paper form be sent by courier or overnight service, if possible.
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\1\ Commission Rule 4.2(d), 16 CFR 4.2(d). The comment must be
accompanied by an explicit request for confidential treatment,
including the factual and legal basis for the request, and must
identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from
the public record. The request will be granted or denied by the
Commission's General Counsel, consistent with applicable law and the
public interest. See Commission Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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Comments filed in electronic form should be submitted by using the
following weblink: https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-PrescreenOpt-Out
(and following the instructions on the Web-based form). To ensure that
the Commission considers an electronic comment, you must file it on the
Web-based form at the weblink: https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-
PrescreenOpt-Out. If this notice appears at www.regulations.gov, you
may also file an electronic comment through that Web site. The
Commission will consider all comments that regulations.gov forwards to
it. The FTC Act and other laws the Commission administers permit the
collection of public comments to consider and use in this proceeding as
appropriate. All timely and responsive public comments will be
considered by the Commission and will be available to the public on the
FTC website, to the extent practicable, at www.ftc.gov. As a matter of
discretion, the FTC makes every effort to remove home contact
information for individuals from the public comments it receives before
placing those comments on the FTC website. More information, including
routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, may be found in the FTC's
privacy policy at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be addressed to Katherine Armstrong, Attorney, Division of
Privacy and Identity Protction, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal
Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580,
(202) 326-3250.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA''),
44 U.S.C. 3501-3520, federal agencies must obtain approval from OMB for
each collection of information they conduct
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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 paperwork clearance for the information
collection requirements contained in the Commission's Prescreen Opt-Out
Disclosure Rule (``Prescreen Rule'' or ``Rule''), 16 CFR Part 642.
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 the collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic
submission of responses. All comments should be filed as prescribed in
the ADDRESSES section above, and must be received on or before October
1, 2007.
Section 615(d) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (``FCRA''), 15
U.S.C. 1681m(d)(1), requires any person who uses a consumer report in
order to make an unsolicited firm offer of credit or insurance to the
consumer to provide with each written solicitation a clear and
conspicuous statement that:
(A) information contained in the consumer's consumer report was
used in connection with the transaction; (B) the consumer received the
offer of credit or insurance because the consumer satisfied the
criteria for credit worthiness or insurability under which the consumer
was selected for the offer; (C) if applicable, the credit or insurance
may not be extended if, after the consumer responds to the offer, the
consumer does not meet the criteria used to select the consumer for the
offer or any applicable criteria bearing on credit worthiness or
insurability or does not furnish any required collateral; (D) the
consumer has a right to prohibit information contained in the
consumer's file with any consumer reporting agency from being used in
connection with any credit or insurance transaction that is not
initiated by the consumer; and (E) the consumer may exercise the right
referred to in subparagraph (D) by notifying a notification system
established under section 604(e) [of the FCRA].
Section 615(d)(1) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681m(d)(1).
The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, Pub. L. 108-
159, 117 Stat. 1952 (``FACT Act'') was signed into law on December 4,
2003. Section 213(a) of the FACT Act amended FCRA Section 615(d) to
require that the statement mandated by Section 615(d) ``be presented in
such format and in such type size and manner as to be simple and easy
to understand, as established by the Commission, by rule, in
consultation with the Federal banking agencies and the National Credit
Union Administration.'' The Commission published the Final Rule in the
Federal Register on January 31, 2005 and the Rule became effective
August 1, 2005.
The Rule adopted a ``layered'' notice approach that requires a
short, simple, and easy-to-understand statement of consumers' opt-out
rights on the first page of the prescreened solicitation, along with a
longer statement containing additional details elsewhere in the
solicitation. Specifically, the Rule required that a short notice be
placed on the front side of the first page of the principal promotional
document in the solicitation, or, if provided electronically, on the
same page and in close proximity to the principal marketing message.
The Rule specifies that the type size be larger than the type size of
the principal text on the same page, but in no event smaller than 12-
point type, or if provided by electronic means, then reasonable steps
shall be taken to ensure that the type size is larger than the type
size of the principal text on the same page. The Rule further provides
that the long notice, that appears elsewhere in the solicitation, be in
a type size that is no smaller than the type size of the principal text
on the same page, but in no event smaller than 8-point type. The long
notice shall begin with a heading in capital letters and underlined,
and identifying the long notice as the ``PRESCREEN & OPT-OUT NOTICE''
in a type style that is distinct from the principal type style used on
the same page and be set apart from other text on the page. The Rule
also includes model notices in English and Spanish.
Burden statement:
Estimated total annual hours burden: 1,000 to 1,500 hours (rounded
to the nearest thousand).
Based on public comments received in response to the Commission's
2004 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,\2\ when issuing the final Rule, the
Commission estimated that the annual burden to industry would be
between 43,600 and 45,600 hours.\3\ This estimate was comprised of 500
to 750 companies each spending 8 hours to revise an existing
solicitation plus 100 companies each needing an additional 396 hours to
revise multiple solicitations ((500 companies x 8 burden hours + 39,600
burden hours = 43,600 burden hours); (750 companies x 8 burden hours +
39,600 burden hours = 45,600 burden hours)).\4\ The Commission further
estimated that the total annual cost to industry would be between
$1,157,894 and $1,213,329.\5\
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\2\ 69 FR 58861 (Oct. 1, 2004).
\3\ 70 FR 5022 (Jan. 31, 2005).
\4\ The Commission estimated that each of the 100 companies
would revise 99 additional solicitations and incur 4 hours of burden
per solicitation (100 companies x 99 solicitations x 4 hours of
burden = 39,600 burden hours).
\5\ This estimate was based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data
(as of July, 2002), as follows: 2 hours of managerial/professional
time at $31.55 per hour; plus 6 hours of skilled technical labor at
$26.44 per hour; multiplied by 500 and 750 companies, for a total of
$110,870 and $166,305, respectively. Plus, an additional $1,047,024
(39,600 hours of skilled technical labor at $26.44 per hour) for
revising multiple solicitations.
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The requirements of the Rule have not changed since OMB's 2004
approval of the final Rule. The previous estimates included a one-time
burden to reprogram and update systems to revise existing notices and
to re-format solicitations to comply with the Rule. Because the Rule
has been in effect since August 1, 2005, covered entities have already
incurred the one time costs of transition to compliant notice formats.
Accordingly, the annual PRA-related burden associated with the Rule is
now reduced. FTC staff believes that the primary cost of continuing to
comply with the Rule is limited to the legal review each entity
determines is necessary to remain in compliance.
FTC staff continues to estimate that between 500 and 750 entities
make prescreened solicitations. However, since no additional revision
or reformatting is necessary, staff has lowered the estimate of the
burden hours to approximately 2 hours (one quarter of one business
day), rather than 8 hours which was the estimate to revise and reformat
solicitations when the Rule was promulgated. Accordingly, the total
annual burden is between 1,000
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and 1,500 hours (500 to 750 entities x 2 hours of annual burden). FTC
staff has assumed that in-house legal counsel will handle most of the
compliance review and has applied an average hourly wage of $250/hour
for their labor. Accordingly, the total cost for all affected entities
would be between $250,000 and $375,000 (1000 to 1,500 burden hours x
$250 per hour of legal review time).
John D. Graubert
Acting General Counsel
[FR Doc. E7-14860 Filed 7-31-07: 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-S