Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 167 / Wednesday, August 30, 2023 / Notices 59923 

Assuming that managers perform the 

bulk of the work, and clerical personnel 

perform associated tasks (e.g., placing 

advertisements and responding to 

inquiries about offerings or prices), the 

total cost to the industry for the Rule’s 

information collection requirements 

would be approximately $152,350 [(80 

hours managerial time × 25 clubs × 

$70.70 per hour) + (20 hours clerical 

time × 25 clubs × $21.90 per hour)]. 

Because the Rule has been in effect 

since 1974, the vast majority of the 

negative option clubs have no current 

start-up costs. For new clubs entering 

the market, the costs associated with the 

Rule’s disclosure requirements, beyond 

the additional labor costs discussed 

above, are de minimis. Negative option 

clubs already have access to the 

ordinary office equipment necessary to 

comply with the Rule. Similarly, the 

Rule imposes few, if any, printing and 

distribution costs. The required 

disclosures generally constitute only a 

small addition to the advertising for 

negative option plans. Because printing 

and distribution expenditures are 

incurred to market the product 

regardless of the Rule, adding the 

required disclosures results in marginal 

incremental expense. 

Request for Comment 

Pursuant to section 3506(c)(2)(A) of 

the PRA, the FTC invites comments on: 

(1) whether the disclosure and 

recordkeeping requirements are 

necessary, including whether the 

information will be practically useful; 

(2) the accuracy of our burden estimates, 

including whether the methodology and 

assumptions used are valid; (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. 

For the FTC to consider a comment, 

we must receive it on or before October 

30, 2023. Your comment, including your 

name and your state, will be placed on 

the public record of this proceeding, 

including the https://

www.regulations.gov website. 

You can file a comment online or on 

paper. Due to heightened security 

screening, postal mail addressed to the 

Commission will be subject to delay. We 

encourage you to submit your comments 

online through the https://

www.regulations.gov website. 

If you file your comment on paper, 

write ‘‘Negative Option Rule; PRA 

Comment: FTC File No. P072108’’ on 

your comment and on the envelope, and 

mail it to the following address: Federal 

Trade Commission, Office of the 

Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue 

NW, Suite CC–5610 (Annex J), 

Washington, DC 20580. 

Because your comment will become 

publicly available at https://

www.regulations.gov, you are solely 

responsible for making sure that your 

comment does not include any sensitive 

or confidential information. In 

particular, your comment should not 

include any sensitive personal 

information, such as your or anyone 

else’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. 

Comments containing material for 

which confidential treatment is 

requested must (1) be filed in paper 

form, (2) be clearly labeled 

‘‘Confidential,’’ and (3) comply with 

FTC Rule 4.9(c). 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). Your 

comment will be kept confidential only 

if the General Counsel grants your 

request in accordance with the law and 

the public interest. Once your comment 

has been posted publicly at 

www.regulations.gov, we cannot redact 

or remove your comment unless you 

submit a confidentiality request that 

meets the requirements for such 

treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), and 

the General Counsel grants that request. 

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 30, 2023. For 

information on the Commission’s 

privacy policy, including routine uses 

permitted by the Privacy Act, see 

https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/ 

privacy-policy. 

Josephine Liu, 

Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2023–18769 Filed 8–29–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6750–01–P 

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request; Extension 

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

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 in the Trade Regulation 

Rule entitled Labeling and Advertising 

of Home Insulation (‘‘R-value Rule’’ or 

‘‘Rule’’). That clearance expires on 

March 31, 2024. 

DATES: Comments must be filed by 

October 30, 2023. 

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 ‘‘R-value Rule; PRA 

Comment: FTC File No. P072108,’’ on 

your comment, and file your comment 

online at https://www.regulations.gov by 

following the instructions on the webbased form. If you prefer to file your 

comment on paper, mail 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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Hampton Newsome, Attorney, Division 

of Enforcement, Federal Trade 

Commission, Room CC–9528, 600 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, 

DC 20580, (202) 326–2889. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title of Collection: R-value Rule, 16 

CFR part 460. 

OMB Control Number: 3084–0109. 

Type of Review: Extension without 

change of currently approved collection. 

Abstract: The R-value Rule establishes 

uniform standards for the substantiation 

and disclosure of accurate, material 

product information about the thermal 

performance characteristics of home 

insulation products. The R-value of an 

insulation signifies the insulation’s 


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59924 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 167 / Wednesday, August 30, 2023 / Notices 

1See Table 3b on housing starts for privately 

owned units for 2022 at U.S. Census Bureau, 

Monthly New Residential Construction—June 2023 

(July 19, 2023), https://www.census.gov/ 

construction/nrc/pdf/newresconst.pdf. 

degree of resistance to the flow of heat. 

This information tells consumers how 

well a product is likely to perform as an 

insulator and allows consumers to 

determine whether the cost of the 

insulation is justified. 

Affected Public: Insulation 

manufacturers, installers, home 

builders, home sellers, insulation 

sellers. 

Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 

100,874 hours. 

Estimated Annual Labor Costs: 

$2,424,450.68 (solely related to labor 

costs). 

As required by section 3506(c)(2)(A) 

of the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), the 

FTC is providing this opportunity for 

public comment before requesting that 

OMB extend the existing clearance for 

the information collection requirements 

contained in the R-value Rule. 

Burden Statement 

Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 

100,874 hours. 

The Rule’s requirements include 

product testing, recordkeeping, and 

third-party disclosures on labels, fact 

sheets, advertisements, and other 

promotional materials. Based on 

information provided by industry and 

government sources, FTC staff estimates 

that the Rule affects: (1) 150 Insulation 

manufacturers and their testing 

laboratories; (2) 1,615 installers who sell 

home insulation; (3) 1,670,00 new home 

sales; and (4) 7,500 retail sellers who 

sell home insulation for installation by 

consumers. 

1. Manufacturers 

Under the Rule’s testing requirements, 

manufacturers must test each insulation 

product for its R-value. Based on past 

industry input, FTC staff estimates that 

the test takes approximately two hours. 

Approximately 15 of the 150 insulation 

manufacturers in existence introduce 

one new product each year. Their total 

annual testing burden is therefore 

approximately 30 hours. 

FTC staff further estimates that most 

manufacturers require an average of 

approximately 20 hours per year 

regarding third-party disclosure 

requirements in advertising and other 

promotional materials. Only the five or 

six largest manufacturers require 

additional time, approximately 80 hours 

each. Thus, the annual third-party 

disclosure burden for manufacturers is 

approximately 3,360 hours [(144 

manufacturers × 20 hours) + (6 

manufacturers × 80 hours)]. 

While the Rule imposes 

recordkeeping requirements, most 

manufacturers and their testing 

laboratories keep their testing-related 

records in the ordinary course of 

business. FTC staff estimates that no 

more than one additional hour per year 

per manufacturer is necessary to comply 

with this requirement, for an annual 

recordkeeping burden of approximately 

150 hours (150 manufacturers × 1 hour). 

This yields a total annual burden of 

3,540 hours (30 hours for testing + 3,360 

hours for third-party disclosures + 150 

hours for recordkeeping) for 

manufacturers. 

2. Installers 

Installers are required to show the 

manufacturers’ insulation fact sheet to 

retail consumers before purchase. They 

must also disclose information in 

contracts or receipts concerning the Rvalue and the amount of insulation to 

install. FTC staff estimates that two 

minutes per sales transaction is 

sufficient to comply with these 

requirements. Approximately 2,000,000 

retrofit insulations (an industry source’s 

estimate) are installed by approximately 

1,615 installers per year, and, thus, the 

related annual burden total is 

approximately 66,667 hours (2,000,000 

sales transactions × 2 minutes). FTC 

staff anticipates that one hour per year 

per installer is sufficient to cover 

required disclosures in advertisements 

and other promotional materials. Thus, 

the burden for this requirement is 

approximately 1,615 hours per year. In 

addition, installers must keep records 

that indicate the substantiation relied 

upon for savings claims. The additional 

time to comply with this requirement is 

minimal—approximately 5 minutes per 

year per installer—for a total of 

approximately 135 hours. 

This yields a total annual burden of 

68,417 hours (66,667 hours for contract 

disclosures + 1,615 hours for 

promotional material disclosures + 135 

hours for recordkeeping) for installers. 

3. New Home Sellers 

New home sellers must make contract 

disclosures concerning the type, 

thickness, and R-value of the insulation 

they install in each part of a new home. 

FTC staff estimates that not more than 

30 seconds per sales transaction are 

required to comply with this 

requirement, for a total annual burden 

of approximately 13,917 hours (an 

estimated 1,670,000 new home sales per 

year 1 × 30 seconds). New home sellers 

who make energy savings claims must 

also keep records regarding the 

substantiation relied upon for those 

claims. FTC staff believes that the 30 

seconds covering disclosures would also 

encompass this recordkeeping element. 

This yields a total annual burden of 

13,917 hours (for disclosures) for new 

home sellers. 

4. Retail Sellers 

The Rule requires that the 

approximately 7,500 retailers who sell 

home insulation make fact sheets 

available to consumers before purchase. 

This can be accomplished by, for 

example, placing copies in a display 

rack or keeping copies in a binder on a 

service desk with an appropriate notice. 

Replenishing or replacing fact sheets 

should require no more than 

approximately one hour per year per 

retailer, for a total of 7,500 annual 

hours, industry-wide. 

The Rule also requires specific 

disclosures in advertisements or other 

promotional materials to ensure that the 

claims are fair and not deceptive. This 

burden is very minimal because retailers 

typically use advertising copy provided 

by the insulation manufacturer, and 

even when retailers prepare their own 

advertising copy, the Rule provides 

some of the language to be used. 

Accordingly, approximately one hour 

per year per retailer should suffice to 

meet this requirement, for a total annual 

burden of approximately 7,500 hours. 

Retailers who make energy savings 

claims in advertisements or other 

promotional materials must keep 

records that indicate the substantiation 

they are relying upon. Because few 

retailers make these types of 

promotional claims and because the 

Rule permits retailers to rely on the 

insulation manufacturer’s substantiation 

data for any claims that are made, the 

additional recordkeeping burden is de 

minimis. The time calculated for 

disclosures, above, would be more than 

adequate to cover any burden imposed 

by this recordkeeping requirement. 

This yields a total annual burden of 

15,000 hours (for fact sheet and other 

disclosures) for retail sellers. 

Estimated Annual Cost Burden: 

$2,424,450.68 (solely related to labor 

costs). 

The total annual labor cost for the 

Rule’s information collection 

requirements is approximately 

$2,424,450.68, derived as follows: 

approximately $963 for testing, based on 

30 hours for manufacturers (30 hours × 

$32.10 per hour for skilled technical 

personnel); $5,420.70 for manufacturers’ 

and installers’ compliance with the 

Rule’s recordkeeping requirements, 

based on 285 hours (285 hours × $19.02 

per hour for clerical personnel); 

$63,907.20 for manufacturers’ 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 167 / Wednesday, August 30, 2023 / Notices 59925 

2The wage rates for skilled technical personnel 

(engineering technologists and technicians, except 

drafters), clerical personnel (file clerks), and sales 

persons (sales and related occupations) are based on 

are based on recent data from the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics 

Survey. See U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 

1. National Employment and Wage Data from the 

Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics 

Survey by Occupation (May 2022), https://

www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm. 

compliance with third-party disclosure 

requirements, based on 3,360 hours 

(3,360 hours × $19.02 per hour for 

clerical personnel); and $2,354,159.78 

for disclosure compliance by installers, 

new home sellers, and retailers (97,199 

hours × $24.22 per hour for sales 

persons).2

There are no significant current 

capital or other non-labor costs 

associated with this Rule. Because the 

Rule has been in effect since 1980, 

members of the industry are familiar 

with its requirements and already have 

in place the equipment for conducting 

tests and storing records. New products 

are introduced infrequently. Because the 

required disclosures are placed on 

packaging or on the product itself, the 

Rule’s additional disclosure 

requirements do not cause industry 

members to incur any significant 

additional non-labor associated costs. 

Request for Comment 

Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of 

the PRA, the FTC invites comments on: 

(1) whether the disclosure and 

recordkeeping requirements are 

necessary, including whether the 

information will be practically useful; 

(2) the accuracy of our burden estimates, 

including whether the methodology and 

assumptions used are valid; (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. 

For the FTC to consider a comment, 

we must receive it on or before October 

30, 2023. Your comment, including your 

name and your state, will be placed on 

the public record of this proceeding, 

including the https://

www.regulations.gov website. 

You can file a comment online or on 

paper. Due to heightened security 

screening, postal mail addressed to the 

Commission will be subject to delay. We 

encourage you to submit your comments 

online through the https://

www.regulations.gov website. 

If you file your comment on paper, 

write ‘‘R-value Rule; PRA Comment: 

FTC File No. P072108,’’ on your 

comment and on the envelope, and mail 

it to the following address: Federal 

Trade Commission, Office of the 

Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue 

NW, Suite CC–5610 (Annex J), 

Washington, DC 20580. 

Because your comment will become 

publicly available at https://

www.regulations.gov, you are solely 

responsible for making sure that your 

comment does not include any sensitive 

or confidential information. In 

particular, your comment should not 

include any sensitive personal 

information, such as your or anyone 

else’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. 

Comments containing material for 

which confidential treatment is 

requested must (1) be filed in paper 

form, (2) be clearly labeled 

‘‘Confidential,’’ and (3) comply with 

FTC Rule 4.9(c). 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). Your 

comment will be kept confidential only 

if the General Counsel grants your 

request in accordance with the law and 

the public interest. Once your comment 

has been posted publicly at 

www.regulations.gov, we cannot redact 

or remove your comment unless you 

submit a confidentiality request that 

meets the requirements for such 

treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), and 

the General Counsel grants that request. 

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 30, 2023. For 

information on the Commission’s 

privacy policy, including routine uses 

permitted by the Privacy Act, see 

https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/ 

privacy-policy. 

Josephine Liu, 

Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2023–18767 Filed 8–29–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6750–01–P 

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request; Extension 

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Trade 

Commission (‘‘FTC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’) 

is seeking public comments on its 

proposal to extend for an additional 

three years the current Paperwork 

Reduction Act (‘‘PRA’’) clearance for 

information collection requirements 

contained in the Fair Packaging and 

Labeling Act regulations (‘‘FPLA 

Rules’’). That clearance expires on 

March 31, 2024. 

DATES: Comments must be filed by 

October 30, 2023. 

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 ‘‘FPLA Rules, PRA 

Comment, P074200’’ on your comment, 

and file your comment online at https:// 

www.regulations.gov by following the 

instructions on the web-based form. If 

you prefer to file your comment on 

paper, mail 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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jock 

Chung, Attorney, Division of 

Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer 

Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 

Room CC–9543, 600 Pennsylvania 

Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580, 

(202) 326–2984. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title of Collection: Regulations Under 

Section 4 of the Fair Packaging and 

Labeling Act (FPLA), 16 CFR parts 500– 

503. 

OMB Control Number: 3084–0110. 

Type of Review: Extension without 

change of currently approved collection. 

Abstract: The Fair Packaging and 

Labeling Act, 15 U.S.C. 1451 et seq., was 

enacted to enable consumers to obtain 

accurate package quantity information 

to facilitate value comparisons and 

prevent unfair or deceptive packaging 


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