[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 219 (Tuesday, November 13, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67650-67651]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-27552]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB
Review; Comment Request; Extension
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'').
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The FTC intends to ask the Office of Management and Budget
(``OMB'') to extend through November 30, 2015, the current Paperwork
Reduction Act (``PRA'') clearance for the FTC's shared enforcement with
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (``CFPB'') of the information
collection requirements in subpart N of Regulation V. That clearance
expires on November 30, 2012.
DATES: Comments must be filed by December 13, 2012.
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 ``Subpart N of
Regulation V, PRA Comment, P125403,'' on your comment and file your
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/SubpartNRegulationVPRA2 by following the instructions on the web-based
form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail or deliver your
comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of
the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20580.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tiffany George, Attorney, Division of
Privacy and Identity Protection, Bureau of Consumer Protection, (202)
326-3040, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20580.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform
and Consumer Protection Act \1\ transferred rulemaking authority for
several consumer financial protection laws to the CFPB. Accordingly,
the Commission rescinded several rules under the Fair Credit Reporting
Act, including the FTC's Free Annual File Disclosures Rule that
appeared under 16 CFR Parts 610 and 698.
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\1\ Public Law 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010). Title X comprises
sections 1001-1100H (collectively, the ``Consumer Financial
Protection Act of 2010'').
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On December 21, 2011, the CFPB issued an interim final rule,
Regulation V (Fair Credit Reporting), 12 CFR Part 1022, which
incorporated within its subpart N (Duties of Consumer Reporting
Agencies Regarding Disclosures to Consumers), with only minor changes
(non-substantive, technical, formatting, and stylistic), the former
Free Annual File Disclosures Rule, and in Appendix L to Part 1022, the
associated model notice.\2\ Subpart N of Regulation V continues the
disclosure requirements that had existed under the Free Annual File
Disclosures Rule. Because the FTC shares enforcement authority with the
CFPB for subpart N, the two agencies have split between them the
related estimate of PRA burden for firms under their co-enforcement
jurisdiction.
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\2\ 76 FR 79307 (Dec. 21, 2011).
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Subpart N requires nationwide consumer reporting agencies and
nationwide consumer specialty reporting agencies to provide to
consumers, upon request, one free file disclosure within any 12-month
period. Generally, it requires the nationwide consumer reporting
agencies, as defined in Section 603(p) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681a(p),
to create and operate a centralized source that provides consumers with
the ability to request their free annual file disclosures from each of
the nationwide consumer reporting agencies through a centralized
Internet Web site, toll-free telephone number, and postal address.
Subpart N also requires the nationwide consumer reporting agencies to
establish a standardized form for Internet and mail requests for annual
file disclosures, and provides a model standardized form that may be
used to comply with that requirement. It additionally requires
nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies, as defined in Section
603(w) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681a(w), to establish a streamlined
process for consumers to request annual file disclosures. This
streamlined process must include a toll-free telephone number for
consumers to make such requests.
On August 20, 2012, the FTC sought public comment on the
information collection requirements associated with subpart N. No
comments were received. Pursuant to 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 the Rule.
Burden Statement: On August 20, 2012, the FTC sought public comment
on the information collection requirements associated with subpart N
(August 20, 2012 Notice \3\) and the FTC's associated PRA burden
analysis. No comments were received. Pursuant to 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 the Rule. As
before, the Commission specifically seeks more recent estimates of the
number of requests consumers are making for free annual file
disclosures. In addition to data on the number of requests, data on how
the number of requests has changed over time, and how these requests
are being received--by Internet, phone, or by mail--would be most
helpful toward refining the FTC's burden estimates.
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\3\ 77 FR 50106.
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The following summarizes the FTC net burden estimates \4\ resulting
from the analysis detailed in the August 20, 2012 Notice.
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\4\ Because the FTC shares enforcement authority with the CFPB
for subpart N, the two agencies are splitting between them the
related estimate of PRA burden for firms under their co-enforcement
jurisdiction.
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Net burden hours: 170,905.
Associated labor costs: $3,069,239.
[[Page 67651]]
Non-labor/capital costs: $6,111,000.
Request for Comment: You can file a comment online or on paper. For
the Commission to consider your comment, we must receive it on or
before December 13, 2012. Write ``Subpart N of Regulation V, PRA
Comment, P125403'' on your comment. Your comment--including your name
and your state--will be placed on the public record of this proceeding,
including to the extent practicable, on the public Commission Web site,
at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of
discretion, the Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact
information from comments before placing them on the Commission Web
site.
Because your comment will be made public, you are solely
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any
sensitive personal information, like 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, like medical records or other
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information
which is * * * privileged or confidential'' as provided in Section 6(f)
of the FTC Act 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16CFR
4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas,
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained
in FTC Rule 4.9(c).\5\ Your comment will be kept confidential only if
the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole discretion, grants your
request in accordance with the law and the public interest.
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\5\ 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), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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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 at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/SubpartNRegulationVPRA2, by following the instructions on the web-
based form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you also may file a comment through that Web site.
If you file your comment on paper, write ``Subpart N of Regulation
V, PRA Comment, P125403'' on your comment and on the envelope, and mail
or deliver it to the following address: Federal Trade Commission,
Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW., Washington, DC 20580. If possible, submit your paper comment to
the Commission by courier or overnight service.
Visit the Commission Web site at www.ftc.gov to read this Notice.
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 13, 2012. You
can find more information, including routine uses permitted by the
Privacy Act, in the Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.
Comments on the information collection requirements subject to
review under the PRA should additionally be submitted to OMB. If sent
by U.S. mail, they should be addressed to Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk
Officer for the Federal Trade Commission, New Executive Office
Building, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW., Washington,
DC 20503. Comments sent to OMB by U.S. postal mail, however, are
subject to delays due to heightened security precautions. Thus,
comments instead should be sent by facsimile to (202) 395-5167.
David C. Shonka,
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2012-27552 Filed 11-9-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P