Federal Register, Volume 79 Issue 28 (Tuesday, February 11, 2014)

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 11, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8185-8187]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-02895]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 
the FTC is seeking public comments on its request to OMB for a three-
year extension of the current PRA clearance for the information 
collection requirements contained in the Rule Governing Pre-Sale 
Availability of Written Warranty Terms. That clearance expires on 
February 28, 2014.

[[Page 8186]]


DATES: Comments must be received by March 13, 2014.

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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the proposed information requirements should be addressed to 
Svetlana Gans, Attorney, Division of Marketing Practices, Bureau of 
Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Room H-286, 600 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-3708.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Pre-Sale Availability of Written Warranty Terms (Pre-Sale 
Availability Rule or Rule), 16 CFR 702.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0112.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: The Pre-Sale Availability Rule is one of three rules \1\ 
that the FTC implemented pursuant to requirements of the Magnuson Moss 
Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. 2301 et seq. (Warranty Act or Act).\2\ The Pre-
Sale Availability Rule requires sellers and warrantors to make the text 
of any written warranty on a consumer product costing more than $15 
available to the consumer before sale. Among other things, the Rule 
requires sellers to make the text of the warranty readily available 
either by (1) displaying it in close proximity to the product or (2) 
furnishing it on request and posting signs in prominent locations 
advising consumers that the warranty is available. The Rule requires 
warrantors to provide materials to enable sellers to comply with the 
Rule's requirements and also sets out the methods by which warranty 
information can be made available before the sale if the product is 
sold through catalogs, online sales, mail order, or door to door.
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    \1\ The other two rules relate to the information that must 
appear in a written warranty on a consumer product costing more than 
$15 if a warranty is offered and minimum standards for informal 
dispute settlement mechanisms that are incorporated into a written 
warranty.
    \2\ 40 FR 60168 (Dec. 31, 1975).
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    On November 14, 2013, the Commission sought comment on the Rule's 
information collection requirements.\3\ The Commission did not receive 
any comments.
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    \3\ See 78 FR 68446 (60-Day Federal Register Notice).
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    As required by OMB regulations, 5 CFR 1320, the FTC is providing 
this second opportunity for public comment.
    Likely Respondents: Manufacturers and retailers of consumer 
products.
    Estimated Annual Hours Burden: 2,446,610 hours (131,002 hours for 
manufacturers + 2,315,608 hours for retailers).
     Manufacturers account for approximately 131,002 hours 
((581 large manufacturers x 33.6 hours) + (13,935 small manufacturers x 
8 hours)).
     Retailers account for approximately 2,315,608 hours 
((6,892 large retailers x 20.8 burden hours) + (452,553 small retailers 
x 4.8 burden hours)).
    Estimated Annual Cost Burden: $51,379,000 (rounded to nearest 
thousand) (which is derived from $29,359,320 for sales associates + 
$22,019,490 for clerical workers).\4\
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    \4\ The wage rates used in this Notice reflect recent data from 
the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages 
(May 2012), available at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ocwage.pdf.
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     Sales Associates: (0.5) (2,446,610 hours) ($24/hour) = 
$29,359,320.
     Clerical Workers: (0.5) (2,446,610 hours) ($18/hour) = 
$22,019,490.
    Total Annual Capital or Other Non-labor Costs: De minimis.
    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 March 13, 2014. Write ``Pre-Sale Availability Rule: Paperwork 
Comment, FTC File No. P044403'' 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, 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, 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 discussed in 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). 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 are required to follow the procedure 
explained in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c). Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel grants your request in 
accordance with the law and the public interest.
    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comment online, or to send it to the Commission by courier or 
overnight service. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/presaleavailabilitypra2, by following the instructions on the web-
based form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov, you 
also may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Pre-Sale Availability 
Rule: Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P044403'' 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.
    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 13, 
2014. 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.shtm.
    Comments on the information collection requirements subject to 
review under the PRA should also be submitted to OMB. If sent by U.S. 
mail, address comments 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

[[Page 8187]]

instead should be sent by facsimile to (202) 395-5167.

David C. Shonka,
Principal Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2014-02895 Filed 2-10-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P