Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 69 / Wednesday, April 11, 2007 / Notices 18251 

1Commission 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). 

Dated: April 9, 2007. 

Thomas K. Emswiler, 

Secretary to the Board, Federal Retirement 

Thrift Investment Board. 

[FR Doc. 07–1821 Filed 4–9–07; 12:18 pm] 

BILLING CODE 6760–01–P 

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request; Extension 

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

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’’) (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520). The 

Federal Trade Commission (‘‘FTC’’ or 

‘‘Commission’’) is seeking public 

comments on its proposal to extend 

through May 31, 2010 the current PRA 

clearance for information collection 

requirements contained its Antitrust 

Improvements Act Rules (‘‘HSR Rules’’) 

and corresponding Notification and 

Report Form for Certain Mergers and 

Acquisitions (‘‘Notification and Report 

Form’’), 16 CFR Parts 801–803. That 

clearance expires on May 31, 2007. 

DATES: Comments must be filed by May 

11, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are 

invited to submit written comments. 

Comments should refer to ‘‘HSR Rules: 

FTC File No. P989316’’ 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/Office of the Secretary, 

Room H 135 (Annex J), 600 

Pennsylvania Avenue, 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. 

Comments filed in electronic form 

should be submitted by using the 

following weblink: https:// 

secure.commentworks.com/ftc-hsrpra 

(and following the instructions on the 

Web-based form). To ensure that the 

Commission considers an electronic 

comment, you must file it on the Webbased form at the weblink https:// 

secure.commentworks.com/ftc-hsrpra. 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. 

Comments should also be submitted 

to: Office of Management and Budget, 

Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal 

Trade Commission. Comments should 

be submitted via facsimile to (202) 395–

6974 because U.S. Postal Mail is subject 

to lengthy delays due to heightened 

security precautions. 

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, whether filed in 

paper or electronic form, will be 

considered by the Commission, and will 

be available to the public on the FTC 

Web site, to the extent practicable, at 

http://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 Web site. 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 or 

copies of the proposed information 

requirements should be addressed to B. 

Michael Verne, Compliance Specialist, 

600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Room 301, 

Washington, DC 20580. Telephone: 

(202) 326–3100. 

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 

or sponsor. On January 12, 2007, the 

FTC sought comment on the 

information collection requirements 

associated with the HSR Rules and the 

corresponding Notification and Report 

Form (OMB Control Number: 3085–

0005). No comments were received. 

Pursuant to the OMB regulations that 

implement the PRA (5 CFR Part 1320), 

the FTC is providing this second 

opportunity for public comment while 

seeking OMB approval to extend the 

existing paperwork clearance for the 

HSR Rules and the corresponding 

Notification and Report Form. All 

comments should be filed as prescribed 

in the ADDRESSES section above, and 

must be received on or before May 11, 

2007. 

Background Information 

Section 7A of the Clayton Act (‘‘Act’’), 

15 U.S.C. 18a, as amended by the HartScott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements 

Act of 1976, Public Law 94–435, 90 Stat. 

1390, requires all persons contemplating 

certain mergers or acquisitions to file 

notification with the Commission and 

the Assistant Attorney General and to 

wait a designated period of time before 

consummating such transactions. 

Congress empowered the Commission, 

with the concurrence of the Assistant 

Attorney General, to require ‘‘that the 

notification * * * be in such form and 

contain such documentary material and 

information * * * as is necessary and 

appropriate’’ to enable the agencies ‘‘to 

determine whether such acquisitions 

may, if consummated, violate the 

antitrust laws.’’ 15 U.S.C. 18a(d). 

Congress similarly granted rulemaking 

authority to, inter alia, ‘‘prescribe such 

other rules as may be necessary and 

appropriate to carry out the purposes of 

this section.’’ Id. 

Pursuant to that section, the 

Commission, with the concurrence of 

the Assistant Attorney General, 

developed the HSR Rules and the 

corresponding Notification and Report 

Form. As discussed below, several 

changes have been made to the HSR 

Rules and the Notification and Report 

Form since FTC staff last sought OMB 

approval for the clearance. 

Burden Statement 

Estimated total annual hours burden: 

156,000 hours (rounded to the nearest 

thousand). 

The following burden estimates are 

primarily based on FTC data concerning 

the number of HSR filings and staff’s 

informal consultations with leading 

HSR counsel. 

In its 2004 PRA submission to OMB 

regarding the HSR Rules and the 

Notification and Report Form, FTC staff 

estimated that there were 21 ‘‘index 

filings’’ under Clayton Act Sections 

7A(c)(6) and 7A(c)(8) that required 2 

hours per filing, and 2,192 non-index 

filings that required an average of 39 


cprice-sewell on PRODPC61 with NOTICES
18252 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 69 / Wednesday, April 11, 2007 / Notices 

2Clayton Act Sections 7A(c)(6) and (c)(8) exempt 

from the requirements of the premerger notification 

program certain transactions that are subject to the 

approval of other agencies, but only if copies of the 

information submitted to these other agencies are 

also submitted to the FTC and the Assistant 

Attorney General. Thus, parties must submit copies 

of these filings, which are included in the totals 

shown, but completing the task requires 

significantly less time than non-exempt 

transactions. 

3Based on actual data concerning the number of 

non-index filings since then, staff does not 

anticipate that the annual adjustments will decrease 

the number of filings going forward. Furthermore, 

because the adjustments are based on annual 

change in gross domestic product, as the thresholds 

increase, the size-of-transactions should increase at 

the same rate, resulting in no net effect on the 

number of non-index filings received. 

4 70 FR 11502 (March 8, 2005) 

5 71 FR 35995 (June 23, 2006) 

6 70 FR 73369 (December 12, 2005) 

7The switch of the base year from 1997 to 2002 

became effective December 30, 2005. 70 FR 77312 

(December 30, 2005). 

8See 5 CFR 1320.3(b)(2). Staff recognizes that the 

HSR Rules require companies to report total 

revenues for a specific NAICS code (whereas, the 

Census Bureau collects data for a specific NAICS 

code for each establishment). Nonetheless, staff 

anticipates that the burden tied to the aggregation 

of such data as required by the HSR Rules is de 

minimis. 

9The FTC retains its previous estimate that 4.6% 

of non-index filings for acquiring persons will 

require a more precise valuation. Using staff’s 

projections for fiscal year 2007, 91 transactions will 

undergo a more precise valuation process [(3,966 

non-index filings / 2) = 1,983 (number of non-index 

filings for acquiring persons) × 4.6%]. 

10The FTC’s previous estimate of $425 per hour 

has been increased by the Social Security COLA 

percentage for fiscal year 2004–fiscal year 2006 

hours per filing.2 Staff also estimated 

that a total of 50 transactions would 

require 40 hours of burden associated 

with the more precise determination of 

transaction value as a result of the 

introduction of a tiered filing fee 

system. Thus, the total estimated hours 

burden was 87,530 hours [(21 indexfilings × 2 hours) + (2,192 non-index 

filings × 39 hours) + (50 transactions × 

40 hours)]. See 69 FR 18686 (April 8, 

2004). In January 2005, staff obtained 

OMB approval for a nonsubstantive/ 

nonmaterial change request to the FTC’s 

previous burden estimate, resulting in a 

new burden estimate of 84,020 burden 

hours. The 3,510 burden hour reduction 

was based on an anticipated small 

decrease in the number of non-index 

filings due to annual adjustments to the 

statutory thresholds beginning in fiscal 

year 2005.3

There have been two amendments to 

the HSR Rules and one amendment to 

the Notification and Report Form since 

staff last obtained OMB approval in 

January 2005: 

1. Revised treatment of 

unincorporated entities under the HSR 

Rules.4 This amendment changed 

previously existing reporting 

requirements. However, based on filing 

statistics from the effective date of the 

rulemaking, the amendment appears to 

have had a de minimis effect on the 

number of filings received and thereby 

has not impacted PRA burden. 

2. Electronic submission of premerger 

notification filings.5 Since the effective 

date of this rulemaking only one 

electronic submission has been made. 

FTC staff anticipates that as the business 

community becomes more familiar with 

the new submission process more 

persons will choose to e-file and that 

such persons will experience a one hour 

reduction in burden (the estimated time 

to print or make copies of the 

documents when filing the traditional 

way). However, due to the low volume 

of electronic filings, the availability of 

the e-filing system currently has a de 

minimis effect on burden and the FTC 

conservatively declines to reduce its 

burden estimate at this time. 

3. Allowing Internet links to be used 

for responses to Items 4(a) and (b) of the 

Notification and Report Form.6 Staff 

projects that 50 percent of non-index 

filings will utilize this alternative 

method of providing financial data, 

resulting in a reduction in burden of one 

hour per non-index filing. 

Finally, since staff last obtained OMB 

approval, the switch of the base year 

from 1997 to 2002 became effective.7

Arguably there is some burden involved 

in changing the revenue numbers from 

1997 to 2002 for the base year. However, 

this data is reported by large companies 

to the U.S. Census Bureau every five 

years in the ordinary course of business 

and, thus, the FTC is not required to 

account for such burden under the 

PRA.8 Furthermore, based on staff’s 

informal consultations with industry, 

staff anticipates that any increase in 

burden would be offset by a reduction 

in burden because recent revenue data 

is generally more easily retrievable by 

and readily available to reporting 

persons than older data. Nonetheless, 

although it appears a reduction in 

burden may be warranted, staff 

conservatively declines to make an 

adjustment to its previous burden 

estimate on this basis. 

There were 3,510 non-index filings 

and 48 index filings in fiscal year 2006. 

Based on an average increase of 13% in 

fiscal year 2004—fiscal year 2006 in the 

number of non-index filings, staff 

projects a total of 3,966 non-index 

filings for fiscal year 2007. Likewise 

based on an average decrease of 34% in 

index filings over the same time period, 

staff projects a total of 32 index filings 

for fiscal year 2007. Retaining the FTC’s 

previous assumptions, staff estimates 

that non-index filings require 

approximately 39 burden hours per 

filing and index filings require an 

average of 2 hours per filing. Finally, 

staff continues to estimate that 

approximately 91 transactions will 

require an additional 40 hours of burden 

due to the need for a more precise 

valuation of transactions that are near a 

filing fee threshold.9 Thus, the total 

estimated hours burden before 

adjustment is 158,378 hours [(3,966 

non-index filings × 39 hours) + (32 

index filings × 2 hours) + (91 acquiring 

person non-index filings requiring more 

precise valuation × 40 hours)]. 

Adjusting for the reduced burden due to 

incorporating Item 4(a) and Item 4(b) 

documents by reference to an Internet 

link reduces the total burden by 1,983 

hours (3,966 non-index filings × .5 = 

1,983 × 1 hour = 1,983 hours), resulting 

in total burden for fiscal year 2007 of 

156,395 hours. 

This is a conservative estimate. In 

estimating PRA burden, staff considered 

‘‘the total time, effort, or financial 

resources expended by persons to 

generate, maintain, retain, disclose or 

provide information to or for a Federal 

agency.’’ 5 CFR 1320.3(b)(1). This 

includes ‘‘developing, acquiring, 

installing, and utilizing technology and 

systems for the purpose of disclosing 

and providing information.’’ 5 CFR 

1320.3(b)(1)(iv). Although not expressly 

stated in the OMB regulation 

implementing the PRA, the definition of 

burden arguably includes upgrading and 

maintaining computer and other 

systems used to comply with a rule’s 

requirements. Conversely, to the extent 

that these systems are used in the 

ordinary course of business 

independent of the Rule, their 

associated upkeep would fall outside 

the realm of PRA ‘‘burden.’’

Industry has been subject to the basic 

provisions of the HSR Rules since 1978. 

Thus, businesses have had several years 

(and some have had decades) to 

integrate compliance systems into their 

business procedures. Accordingly, most 

companies now maintain records and 

provide updated order information of 

the kind required by the HSR Rules in 

their ordinary course of business. 

Nevertheless, staff conservatively 

assumes that the time devoted to 

compliance with the Rule by existing 

and new companies remains unchanged 

from its preceding estimate. 

Estimated labor costs: $73,506,000 

(rounded to the nearest thousand). 

Using the burden hours estimated 

above and applying an estimated 

average of $470/hour for executive and 

attorney wages,10 staff estimates that the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 69 / Wednesday, April 11, 2007 / Notices 18253 

(fiscal year 2004 (2.7%), fiscal year 2005 (4.1%), 

fiscal year 2006 (3.3%)). 

total labor cost associated with the HSR 

Rules and the Notification and Report 

Form is approximately $73,505,650 

(156,395 hours × $470/hour). 

Estimated annual non-labor cost 

burden: $0 or minimal. 

The applicable requirements impose 

minimal start-up costs, as businesses 

subject to the HSR Rules generally have 

or obtain necessary equipment for other 

business purposes. Staff believes that 

the above requirements necessitate 

ongoing, regular training so that covered 

entities stay current and have a clear 

understanding of federal mandates, but 

that this would be a small portion of 

and subsumed within the ordinary 

training that employees receive apart 

from that associated with the 

information collected under the HSR 

Rules and the corresponding 

Notification and Report Form. 

William Blumenthal, 

General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. E7–6773 Filed 4–10–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6750–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Office of the Secretary 

[Document Identifier: OS–0990–NEW; 60- 

day Notice] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS. 

In compliance with the requirement 

of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

Office of the Secretary (OS), Department 

of Health and Human Services, is 

publishing the following summary of a 

proposed collection for public 

comment. Interested persons are invited 

to send comments regarding this burden 

estimate or any other aspect of this 

collection of information, including any 

of the following subjects: (1) The 

necessity and utility of the proposed 

information collection for the proper 

performance of the agency’s functions; 

(2) the accuracy of the estimated 

burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and (4) the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology to 

minimize the information collection 

burden. 

Type of Information Collection 

Request: Regular, new collection. 

Title of Information Collection: The 

Role of Faith-based and Community 

Organizations in Post-Hurricane Human 

Services Relief Efforts. 

Form/OMB No.: 0990–new. 

Use: The Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Planning and Evaluation 

will study the role of faith-based and 

community organizations in Louisiana, 

Mississippi, and Houston to document 

and analyze the human services relief 

efforts conducted and organizational 

networks used in the aftermath of 

hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. 

This information will be used to 

improve future disaster planning and 

response by government and other 

relevant organizations. 

Frequency: One-time collection. 

Affected Public: Non-profit 

organizations; government officials; 

individuals. 

Annual Number of Respondents: 390. 

Total Annual Responses: 390. 

Average Burden per Response: 41.8 

minutes. 

Total Annual Hours: 271.7 hours. 

To obtain copies of the supporting 

statement and any related forms for the 

proposed paperwork collections 

referenced above, e-mail your request, 

including your address, phone number, 

OMB number, and OS document 

identifier, to 

Sherette.funncoleman@hhs.gov, or call 

the Reports Clearance Office on (202) 

690–6162. Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collections must be 

received within 60 days, and directed to 

the OS Paperwork Clearance Officer at 

the following address: Department of 

Health and Human Services, Office of 

the Secretary, Assistant Secretary for 

Resources and Technology, Office of 

Resources Management, Attention: 

Sherrette Funn-Coleman (0990–NEW), 

Room 537–H, 200 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Washington DC 20201. 

Dated: April 4, 2007. 

Mary Oliver-Anderson, 

Office of the Secretary, Paperwork Reduction 

Act Reports Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. E7–6786 Filed 4–10–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4150–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Office of the Secretary 

[Document Identifier: OS–0990–0221; 60- 

day notice] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS. 

In compliance with the requirement 

of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

Office of the Secretary (OS), Department 

of Health and Human Services, is 

publishing the following summary of a 

proposed collection for public 

comment. Interested persons are invited 

to send comments regarding this burden 

estimate or any other aspect of this 

collection of information, including any 

of the following subjects: (1) The 

necessity and utility of the proposed 

information collection for the proper 

performance of the agency’s functions; 

(2) the accuracy of the estimated 

burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and (4) the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology to 

minimize the information collection 

burden. 

Type of Information Collection 

Request: Extension. 

Title of Information Collection: 

Family Planning Annual Report: Forms 

and Instructions. 

Form/OMB No.: 0990–0221. 

Use: This annual reporting 

requirement is for family planning 

service delivery projects authorized and 

funded under the Population Research 

and Voluntary Family Planning 

Programs (Section 1001 Title X of the 

Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 

300). The FPAR is the only source of 

annual, uniform reporting by all Title X 

family planning service grantees. OPA 

uses FPAR data to monitor compliance 

with statutory requirements, to comply 

with accountability and performance 

requirements for GPRA and HHS plans 

and to guide program planning and 

evaluation. 

Frequency: Reporting annually. 

Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal 

Government. 

Annual Number of Respondents: 88. 

Total Annual Responses: 88. 

Average Burden per Response: 33.38 

Hours. 

Total Annual Hours: 2937. 

To obtain copies of the supporting 

statement and any related forms for the 

proposed paperwork collections 

referenced above, e-mail your request, 

including your address, phone number, 

OMB number, and OS document 

identifier, to 

Sherette.funncoleman@hhs.gov, or call 

the Reports Clearance Office on (202) 

690–6162. Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collections must be 

received with 60-days, and directed to 

the OS Paperwork Clearance Officer at 

the following address: Department of 

Health and Human Services, Office of 


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