Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 166 / Monday, August 27, 2018 / Notices 43683 

1Subpart N sets forth the former FTC’s Free 

Annual File Disclosures Rule that appeared under 

16 CFR parts 610 and 698. Rulemaking authority for 

this and several other FCRA rules was transferred 

to the CFBP under Title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall 

Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Public 

Law 111–203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010). Title X 

comprises sections 1001–100H (collectively, the 

‘‘Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010’’). 

2See Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 

Report to Congress, The Impact of Differences 

Between Consumer- and Creditor-Purchased Credit 

Scores, at 9 (July 19, 2011), available at https://

files.consumerfinance.gov/f/2011/07/Report_

20110719_CreditScores.pdf. 

disclosed and the release of the data 

would likely cause substantial harm to 

the competitive position of the 

respondent (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4)). 

Determinations of confidentiality based 

on exemption 4 of FOIA would be made 

on a case-by-case basis. 

Consultation Outside the Agency: The 

Federal Reserve consulted with the 

Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency as well as with potential 

respondent institutions in developing 

this proposed report. Several outreach 

meetings took place to help refine the 

data items in the proposed schedules 

and clarify the accompanying 

instructions. 

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System, August 21, 2018. 

Ann Misback, 

Secretary of the Board. 

[FR Doc. 2018–18430 Filed 8–24–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6210–01–P 

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission 

(FTC or 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). The FTC seeks public 

comments on the agency’s shared 

enforcement with the Consumer 

Financial Protection Bureau (‘‘CFPB’’) of 

the information collection requirements 

in subpart N of the CFPB’s Regulation 

V (‘‘Rule’’). That clearance expires on 

November 30, 2018. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before October 26, 2018. 

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 ‘‘Paperwork Reduction 

Act: FTC File No. P072108’’ on your 

comment, and file your comment online 

at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ 

ftc/regulationVsubpartNpra by 

following the instructions on the webbased 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 

Ryan Mehm, Attorney, Bureau of 

Consumer Protection, (202) 326–2918, 

Federal Trade Commission, 600 

Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 

20580. 

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 FTC’s portion of the estimated 

burden for the information collection 

requirements associated with the 

CFPB’s subpart N of Regulation V, 12 

CFR 1022.130–1022.138 (OMB Control 

Number 3084–0128). 

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 26, 2018. 

I. Overview of the Rule 

The FTC shares enforcement authority 

with the CFPB for subpart N of 

Regulation V.1 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 Fair Credit 

Reporting Act (‘‘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 website, 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. 

II. Burden Statement 

Because the FTC shares enforcement 

authority with the CFPB for subpart N, 

the two agencies split between them the 

related estimate of PRA burden for firms 

under their co-enforcement jurisdiction. 

Estimated PRA burden, excluding the 

halving (to be shown at the conclusion 

of this analysis), are as follows: 

A. Requests per Year From Consumers 

for Free Annual File Disclosures 

The Consumer Data Industry 

Association estimated that in 2011, the 

nationwide consumer reporting agencies 

provided approximately 30 million free 

annual file disclosures through the 

centralized internet website, toll-free 

telephone number, and postal address 

required to be established by the FACT 

Act and subpart N.2 When it last sought 

clearance renewal for the Rule, the FTC 

had been unable to obtain, through 

public comment or otherwise, updated 

information on request volume. As a 

proxy, it then assumed a volume of 35 

million requests per year. We expect 

that the number of requests for free 

annual credit reports will rise over the 


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43684 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 166 / Monday, August 27, 2018 / Notices 

3Based on the time necessary for similar activity 

in the federal government (including at the FTC), 

staff estimates that such contracting and 

administration will require approximately 4 fulltime equivalent employees (‘‘FTE’’) for the web 

service contracts. Thus, staff estimates that 

administering the contract will require 4 FTE, 

which is 8,320 hours per year (4 FTE × 2,080 hours/ 

year). The cost is based on the reported May 2017 

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) rate ($71.99) for 

computer and information systems managers. See 

Occupational Employment and Wages—May 2017, 

Table 1, available at https://www.bls.gov/ 

news.release/ocwage.t01.htm. Thus, the estimated 

setup and maintenance cost for an internet system 

is $598,957 per year (8,320 hours × $71.99/hour). 

4Staff estimates that recurring contracting for 

automated telephone capacity will require 

approximately 3 FTE, a total of 6,240 hours (3 × 

2,080 hours). Applying an hourly wage rate of 

$71.99 (see supra note 3), estimated setup and 

maintenance cost is $449,218 (6,240 × $71.99) per 

year. 

5This figure reflects five percent of all requests, 

net of the estimated one percent of all requests that 

might initially be made by mail. That is, 0.05 × 

(38,000,000 ¥ 380,000) = 1,881,000. 

6This figure includes both the estimated 1% of 

38 million requests that will be made by mail each 

year (380,000), and the estimated 1,881,000 requests 

initially made over the internet or telephone that 

will be redirected to the mail process (see supra 

note 5). 

7See Occupational Employment and Wages— 

May 2017, Table 1, available at https://

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

and administrative support workers, general). 

8See supra notes 3 and 4. 

next three years because of increases in 

the population and consumer awareness 

that they are entitled to a free annual 

report. As a proxy, we are now 

estimating 38 million requests per year 

as a representative average year to 

estimate PRA burden for purposes of the 

instant analysis. 

The Commission, however, seeks 

more recent estimates of the number of 

requests consumers are making for free 

annual credit reports. 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. 

B. Annual File Disclosures Provided 

Through the Internet 

Both nationwide and nationwide 

specialty consumer reporting agencies 

will likely handle the overwhelming 

majority of consumer requests through 

internet websites. The annual file 

disclosure requests processed through 

the internet will not impose any hours 

burden per request on the nationwide 

and nationwide specialty consumer 

reporting agencies. However, consumer 

reporting agencies periodically will be 

required to adjust the internet capacity 

needed to handle the changing request 

volume. Consumer reporting agencies 

likely will make such adjustments by 

negotiating or renegotiating outsourcing 

service contracts annually or as 

conditions change. Trained personnel 

will need to spend time negotiating and 

renegotiating such contracts. 

Commission staff estimates that 

negotiating such contracts will require a 

cumulative total of 8,320 hours and 

$598,957 in labor costs.3 Such activity 

is treated as an annual burden of 

maintaining and adjusting the changing 

internet capacity requirements. 

C. Annual File Disclosures Requested 

Over the Telephone 

Most of the telephone requests for 

annual file disclosures will also be 

handled in an automated fashion, 

without any additional personnel 

needed to process the requests. As with 

the internet, consumer reporting 

agencies will require additional time 

and investment to increase and 

administer the automated telephone 

capacity for the expected increase in 

request volume. The nationwide and 

nationwide specialty consumer 

reporting agencies will likely make such 

adjustments by negotiating or 

renegotiating outsourcing service 

contracts annually or as conditions 

change. Staff estimates that this will 

require a total of 6,240 hours at a cost 

of $449,218 in labor costs.4 This activity 

also is treated as an annual recurring 

burden necessary to obtain, maintain, 

and adjust automated call center 

capacity. 

D. Annual File Disclosures Requiring 

Processing by Mail 

Based on their knowledge of the 

industry, staff believes that no more 

than 1% of consumers (1% × 38 million, 

or 380,000) will request an annual file 

disclosure through U.S. postal service 

mail. Staff estimates that clerical 

personnel will require 10 minutes per 

request to handle these requests, thereby 

totaling 63,333 hours of time. [(380,000 

× 10 minutes)/60 minutes per hour = 

63,333 hours] 

In addition, whenever the requesting 

consumer cannot be identified using an 

automated method (a website or 

automated telephone service), it will be 

necessary to redirect that consumer to 

send identifying material along with the 

request by mail. Staff estimates that this 

will occur in about 5% of the new 

requests (or 1,881,000) 5 that were 

originally placed over the internet or 

telephone. Staff estimates that clerical 

personnel will require approximately 10 

minutes per request to input and 

process those redirected requests for a 

cumulative total of 313,500 clerical 

hours. [(1,881,000 × 10 minutes)/60 

minutes per hour = 313,500 hours] 

E. Instructions to Consumers 

The Rule also requires that certain 

instructions be provided to consumers. 

See Rule sections 1022.136(b)(2)(iv)(A– 

B), 1022.137(a)(2)(iii)(A–B). Minimal 

associated time or cost is involved, 

however. Internet instructions to 

consumers are embedded in the 

centralized source website and do not 

require additional time or cost for the 

nationwide consumer reporting 

agencies. Similarly, for telephone 

requests, the automated phone systems 

provide the requisite instructions when 

consumers select certain options. Some 

consumers who request their credit 

reports by mail might additionally 

request printed instructions from the 

nationwide and nationwide specialty 

consumer reporting agencies. Staff 

estimates that there will be a total of 

2,261,000 requests each year for free 

annual file disclosures by mail.6 Based 

on their knowledge of the industry, staff 

estimates that, of the predicted 

2,261,000 mail requests, 10% (or 

226,100) will request instructions by 

mail. If printed instructions are sent to 

each of these consumers by mail, 

requiring 10 minutes of clerical time per 

consumer, this will total 37,683 hours. 

[(226,100 instructions × 10 minutes)/60 

minutes per hour]. 

F. Labor Costs 

Labor costs are derived by applying 

hourly cost figures to the burden hours 

described above. Staff anticipates that 

processing of requests for annual file 

disclosures and instructions will be 

performed by clerical personnel, and 

estimates that the processing will 

require 414,516 hours at a cost of 

$7,444,707. [(63,333 hours for handling 

initial mail request + 313,500 hours for 

handling requests redirected to mail + 

37,683 hours for handling instructions 

mailed to consumers) × $17.96 per 

hour.7] 

As elaborated on above, staff 

estimates that a total of 14,560 labor 

hours will be needed to negotiate or 

renegotiate outsourced service contracts 

annually (or as conditions otherwise 

change) to increase internet (8,320 

hours) and telephone (6,240 hours) 

capacity requirements for internet web 

services and the automated telephone 

call center. This will result in 

approximately $1,048,174 per year in 

labor costs. [14,560 hours × $71.99 per 

hour 8] 

Thus, estimated cumulative labor will 

costs are $8,492,881. 

G. Capital/Non-Labor Costs 

As in the previous PRA clearance 

analysis, FTC staff believes it is likely 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 166 / Monday, August 27, 2018 / Notices 43685 

9This consists of an estimated $9,302,400 for 

automated telephone cost ($1.36 per request × 6.84 

million requests) and an estimated $4,617,000 

($0.15 per request × 30.78 million requests) for 

internet web service cost. Per unit cost estimates are 

based on staff’s knowledge of the industry. 

that consumer reporting agencies will 

use third-party contractors (instead of 

their own employees) to increase the 

capacity of their systems. Because of the 

way these contracts are typically 

established, these costs will likely be 

incurred on a continuing basis, and will 

be calculated based on the number of 

requests handled by the systems. Staff 

estimates that the total annual amount 

to be paid for services delivered under 

these contracts is $13,919,400.9

H. Net Burden for FTC, After 50:50 Split 

After halving the updated estimates to 

split the PRA burden with the CFPB 

regarding the Rule, the FTC’s burden 

totals are 214,538 hours, $4,246,441 in 

associated labor costs, and $6,959,700 in 

non-labor/capital costs. 

Request for Comments 

You can file a comment online or on 

paper. For the FTC to consider your 

comment, we must receive it on or 

before October 26, 2018. Write 

‘‘Paperwork Reduction Act: FTC File 

No. P072108’’ 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 website, at https://

www.ftc.gov/policy/public-comments. 

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/ 

regulationVsubpartNpra by following 

the instructions on the web based form. 

If this Notice appears at https://

www.regulations.gov, you also may file 

a comment through that website. 

If you file your comment on paper, 

write ‘‘Paperwork Reduction Act: 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, 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. 

Because your comment will be placed 

on the publicly accessible FTC website 

at https://www.ftc.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 be filed in paper form, 

must be clearly labeled ‘‘Confidential,’’ 

and must 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 on the public FTC 

website—as legally required by FTC 

Rule 4.9(b)—we cannot redact or 

remove your comment from the FTC 

website, 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. 

Visit the Commission website at 

https://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 October 26, 2018. You can find 

more information, including routine 

uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in 

the Commission’s privacy policy, at 

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

privacy-policy. 

Heather Hippsley, 

Acting Principal Deputy General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2018–18448 Filed 8–24–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6750–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Agency for Toxic Substance and 

Disease Registry 

[60Day–18–18AUZ; Docket No. ATSDR– 

2018–0008] 

Proposed Data Collection Submitted 

for Public Comment and 

Recommendations 

AGENCY: Agency for Toxic Substances 

and Disease Registry (ATSDR), 

Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS). 

ACTION: Notice with comment period. 

SUMMARY: The Agency for Toxic 

Substances and Disease Registry 

(ATSDR), as part of its continuing effort 

to reduce public burden and maximize 

the utility of government information, 

invites the general public and other 

Federal agencies the opportunity to 

comment on a proposed and/or 

continuing information collection, as 

required by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995. This notice invites 

comment on a proposed information 

collection project titled ‘‘Human Health 

Effects of Drinking Water Exposures to 

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances 

(PFAS) at Pease International Tradeport, 

Portsmouth, NH (The Pease Study).’’ 

The purpose of this research is to use 

sound study methods to see if drinking 

water exposure to PFAS is related to 

health outcomes in this New Hampshire 

community. 

DATES: ATSDR must receive written 

comments on or before October 26, 

2018. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by Docket No. ATSDR–2018– 

0008 by any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

Regulations.gov. Follow the instructions 

for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information 

Collection Review Office, Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 

Clifton Road NE, MS–D74, Atlanta, 

Georgia 30329. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 


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