[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 205 (Monday, October 23, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63251-63252]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-27158]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


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

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has submitted to the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) for review under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (PRA) information collection requirements contained in its 
Alternative Fuel Rule. The FTC is soliciting public comments on the 
proposal to extend through November 30, 2003 the current PRA clearance 
for information collection requirements contained in the Rule. That 
clearance expires on November 30, 2000.

DATES: Comments must be filed by November 22, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive 
Office Building, Room 10202, Washington, DC 20503, ATTN.: Desk Officer 
for the Federal Trade Commission, and to Secretary, Federal Trade 
Commission, Room H-159, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 
20580. All comments should be captioned ``Alternative Fuel Rule: 
Paperwork comment.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for copies of the collection 
of information and supporting documentation should be addressed to Neil 
Blickman, Division of Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 
Federal Trade Commission, Room S-4302, 601 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 16, 2000, the FTC sought comment 
on the information collection requirements associated with the 
Alternative Fuel

[[Page 63252]]

Rule (``Rule''), 16 CFR part 309 (Control Number: 3084-0094). See 65 FR 
49987. No comments were received.
    The Rule, which implements the Energy Policy Act of 1992, Pub. L. 
102-486, requires disclosure of specific information on labels posted 
on fuel dispensers for non-liquid alternative fuels and on labels on 
Alternative Fueled Vehicles (AFVs). To ensure the accuracy of these 
disclosures, the Rule also requires that sellers maintain records 
substantiating product-specific disclosures they include on these 
labels.

Burden Statement

    ``Burden'' for PRA purpose is defined to exclude effort that would 
be expended regardless of any regulatory requirement. 5 CFR 
1320.2(b)(2). It is common practice for alternative fuel industry 
members to determine and monitor fuel ratings in the normal course of 
their business activities. This is because industry members must know 
and determine the fuel ratings of their products in order to monitor 
quality and to decide how to market them. Moreover, as originally 
anticipated when the Rule was promulgated in 1995, many of the 
information collection requirements and the originally-estimated hours 
were associated with one-time start up tasks of implementing standard 
systems and processes.
    Other factors also limit the burden associated with the Rule. 
Certification may be a one-time event to require only infrequent 
revision. Disclosure labels on fuel dispensing systems for electric 
vehicles may be usable for several years. (Label specifications were 
designed to produce labels to withstand the elements for several 
years.) Nonetheless, there is still some burden associated with posting 
labels. There also will be some minimal burden associated with new or 
revised certification of fuel ratings and recordkeeping. The burden on 
vehicle manufacturers to develop or revise labels is limited because 
manufacturers produce very few new models each year. Finally, there 
will be come burden, also minor, associated with recordkeeping 
requirements.
    Estimated total annual hours burden: 1,500 total burden hours, 
rounded.
Non-Liquid Alternative Fuels
    Certification: Staff estimates that the Rule's fuel rating 
certification requirements affect approximately 350 industry members 
(compressed natural gas producers and distributors and manufacturers of 
fuel dispensing systems for electric vehicles) and consume 
approximately one hour each per year for a total of 350 hours.
    Recordkeeping: Staff estimates that all 1,600 industry members are 
subject to the Rule's recordkeeping requirements (associated with fuel 
rating certification) and that compliance will require approximately 
one-tenth hour each year for a total of 160 hours.
    Labeling: Staff estimates that labeling requirements affect 
approximately nine of every ten industry members (or roughly 1,400 
members), but that the number of annually affected members is only 280 
because labels may remain effective for several years (staff assumes 
that in any given year approximately 20% of 1,400 industry members will 
need to replace their labels). Staff estimates that industry members 
require approximately one hour each per year for labeling their fuel 
dispensers for a total of 280 hours.
    Sub-total: 790 hours (160+350+280).
AFV Manufacturers
    Recordkeeping: Staff estimates that all 58 manufacturers will 
require 30 minutes to comply with the Rule's recordkeeping requirements 
for a total of 29 hours.
    Producing labels: Staff estimates 2.5 hours as the average time 
required of manufacturers to produce labels for each of the five new 
AFV models introduced among them each year for a total of 12.5 hours.
    Posting labels: Staff estimates 2 minutes as the average time to 
comply with the posting requirements for each of the approximately 
20,000 new AFVs manufactured each year for a total of 667 hours.
    Sub-total: approximately 708 hours (29+12.5+667).
    Thus, total burden for these industries combined is approximately 
1,500 hours (790+708).
    Estimated labor costs: $27,000, rounded.
    Labor costs are derived by applying appropriate hourly cost figures 
to the burden hours described above. According to Bureau of Labor 
Statistics staff, the average compensation for producers and 
distributors in the fuel industry is $19.42 per hour and $8.42 per hour 
for service station employees; the average compensation for workers in 
the vehicle industry is $19.14 per hour.
Non-Liquid Alternative Fuels
    Recordkeeping: Only \1/6\ of the total 160 hours will be performed 
by the producers and distributors of fuels; the other \5/6\ is 
attributable to service station employees (\1/6\ = 27 hours  x  $19.42 
= $524.34 + (\5/6\ + 133 hours  x  $8.42 = $1,119.86) = $1,644.20, for 
an estimated labor cost to the entire industry of $13,878.80.
    Certification and labeling: Generally, all of the estimated hours 
except for recordkeeping will be performed by producers and 
distributors of fuels. Thus, the associated labor costs would be 
$12,234.60 (630 hours  x  $19.42).
AFV Manufacturers
    The maximum labor cost to the entire industry is approximately 
$13,551.12 per year for recordkeeping and producing and posting labels 
(708 total hours  x  $19.14/hour).
    Thus, estimated total labor cost for both industries for all 
paperwork requirements is $27,000 ($13,878.80 + $13,551.12) per year, 
rounded to the nearest thousand.
    Estimated annual non-labor cost burden: $8,000, rounded.
Non-Liquid Alternative Fuels
    Staff believes that there are no current start-up costs associated 
with the Rule, inasmuch as the Rule has been effective since 1995. 
Industry members, therefore, have in place the capital equipment and 
means necessary, especially to determine automotive fuel ratings and 
comply with the Rule. Industry members, however, incur the cost of 
procuring fuel dispenser and AFV labels to comply with the Rule. The 
estimated annual fuel labeling cost, based on estimates of 360 fuel 
dispensers (assumptions: an estimated 20% of 900 total retailers need 
to replace labels in any given year given an approximate five-year life 
for labels--i.e., 180 retailers--multiplied by an average of two 
dispensers per retailer) at thirty-eight cents for each label (per 
industry sources), is $136.80.
AFV Manufacturers
    Here, too, staff believes that there are no current start-up costs 
associated with the Rule, for the same reasons as stated immediately 
above regarding the non-liquid alternative fuel industry. However, 
based on the labeling of an estimated 20,000 new and used AFVs each 
year at thirty-eight cents for each label (per industry sources), the 
annual AFV labeling cost is estimated to be $7,600. Estimated total 
annual non-labor cost burden associated with the Rule, therefore, would 
be $8,000 ($136.80 + $7,600.00), rounded to the nearest thousand.

Debra A. Valentine,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 00-27158 Filed 10-20-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-M