[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 159 (Monday, August 18, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48748-48749]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-19504]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC or 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 (PRA). The FTC seeks public
comments on its proposal to extend through December 31, 2017, the
current PRA clearance for information collection requirements contained
in its Trade Regulation Rule entitled Power Output Claims for
Amplifiers Utilized in Home Entertainment Products (Amplifier Rule or
Rule), 16 CFR Part 432 (OMB Control Number 3084-0105). That clearance
expires on December 31, 2014.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 17, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper by
following the instructions in the Request for Comments part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Amplifier Rule: FTC
File No. P974222'' on your comment, and file your comment online at
https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/amplifierrulepra 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, 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: Requests for copies of the collection
of information and supporting documentation should be addressed to Jock
K. Chung, Attorney, Division of Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer
Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Mail Code CC-9528, 600
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-2984.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Proposed Information Collection Activities
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520,
Federal agencies must get OMB approval for each collection of
information they conduct, sponsor, or require. ``Collection of
information'' means agency requests or requirements to 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 PRA clearance for the
information collection requirements associated with the Commission's
Amplifier Rule, 16 CFR Part 432 (OMB Control Number 3084-0105).
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. All comments must be received on or before October 17,
2014.
The Amplifier Rule assists consumers by standardizing the
measurement and disclosure of power output and other performance
characteristics of amplifiers in stereos and other home entertainment
equipment. The Rule also specifies the test conditions necessary to
make the disclosures that the Rule requires.
Amplifier Rule Burden Statement
Estimated annual hours burden: 450 hours (300 testing-related
hours; 150 disclosure-related hours).
The Rule's provisions require affected entities to test the power
output of amplifiers in accordance with a specified FTC protocol. The
Commission staff estimates that approximately 300 new amplifiers and
receivers come on the market each year. High fidelity manufacturers
routinely conduct performance tests on these new products prior to
sale. Because manufacturers conduct such tests, the Rule imposes no
additional costs except to the extent that the FTC protocol is more
time-consuming than alternative testing procedures. In this regard, a
warm-up period that the Rule requires before measurements are taken may
add approximately one hour to the time testing would otherwise entail.
Thus, staff estimates that the Rule imposes approximately 300 hours (1
hour x 300 new products) of added testing burden annually.
In addition, the Rule requires disclosures if a manufacturer makes
a power output claim for a covered product in an advertisement,
specification sheet, or product brochure. This requirement does not
impose any additional costs on manufacturers because, absent the Rule,
media advertisements, as well as manufacturer specification sheets and
product brochures, would contain a power specification obtained using
an alternative to the Rule-required testing protocol. The Rule,
however, also requires disclosure of harmonic distortion, power
bandwidth, and impedance ratings in manufacturer specification sheets
and product brochures that might not otherwise be included.
Staff assumes that manufacturers produce one specification sheet
and one brochure each year for each new amplifier and receiver. The
burden of disclosing the harmonic distortion, bandwidth, and impedance
information on the specification sheets and brochures is limited to the
time needed to draft and review the language pertaining to the
aforementioned specifications. Staff estimates the time involved for
this task to be a maximum
[[Page 48749]]
of fifteen minutes (or 0.25 hours) for each new specification sheet and
brochure for a total of 150 hours (derived from [300 new products x 1
specification sheet) + (300 new products x 1 brochure)] x 0.25 hours).
The total annual burden imposed by the Rule, therefore, is
approximately 450 burden hours for testing and disclosures.
Estimated annual cost burden: $22,200.
Generally, electronics engineers perform the testing of amplifiers
and receivers. Staff estimates a labor cost of $14,100 for such testing
(300 hours for testing x $47 mean hourly wages). Staff assumes
advertising or promotions managers prepare the disclosures contained in
product brochures and manufacturer specification sheet and estimates a
labor cost of $8,100 (150 hours for disclosures x $54 mean hourly
wages). Accordingly, staff estimates the total labor costs associated
with the Rule to be approximately $22,200 per year ($14,100 for testing
+ $8,100 for disclosures).\1\
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\1\ The wage rates for electronics engineers and advertising and
promotions managers are based on recent data from the Bureau of
Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics Survey at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.htm.
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The Rule imposes no capital or other non-labor costs because its
requirements are incidental to testing and advertising done in the
ordinary course of business.
Request for Comments
You can file a comment online or on paper. Write ``Amplifier Rule:
FTC File No. P974222'' 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 a 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 must follow the procedure explained in
FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\2\ 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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\2\ 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, the Commission encourages
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/amplifierrulepra 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 ``Amplifier Rule: FTC File
No. P974222'' on your comment and on the envelope, and mail or deliver
it 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. 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 October 17,
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.htm.
David C. Shonka,
Principal Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2014-19504 Filed 8-15-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P