[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 247 (Wednesday, December 27, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61302-61304]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27868]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


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

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'').

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 
the FTC is seeking public comments on its request to OMB for a three-
year extension of the current PRA clearance for information collection 
requirements contained in its Trade Regulation Rule entitled Labeling 
and Advertising of Home Insulation (R-value Rule or Rule). That 
clearance expires on January 31, 2018.

DATES: Comments must be received by January 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 ``R-value Rule: FTC File 
No. R811001'' on your comment, and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/rvaluerulepra2 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, 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.

[[Page 61303]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the proposed information requirements should be addressed to 
Hampton Newsome, Attorney, Division of Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer 
Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Mail Code CC-9528, 600 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-2889.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: R-value Rule, 16 CFR part 460.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0109.
    Type of Review: Extension of a 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 
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.
    On October 11, 2017, the Commission sought comment on the 
information collection requirements in the R-value Rule. 82 FR 47207. 
No germane comments were received. As required by OMB regulations, 5 
CFR part 1320, the FTC is providing this second opportunity for public 
comment. Comments should address only the information collection 
requirements of the current Rule. They should not address proposed Rule 
amendments recently announced by the Commission in a separate 
proceeding.\1\
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    \1\ See, ``FTC Proposes Updates to R-Value Rule for Home 
Insulation Products,'' Dec. 4, 2017, https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2017/12/ftc-proposes-updates-r-value-rule-home-insulation-products.
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    Estimated Annual Hours Burden: 131,740 hours.
    Likely Respondents and Estimated Burden:
    Installation manufacturers, installers, new home builders/sellers, 
dealers and retailers.
    (a) Installation manufacturers.
    <bullet> Testing by installation manufacturers - 15 new products/
year x 2 hours each = 30 hours; and
    <bullet> Disclosures by installation manufacturers - [(144 
manufacturers x 20 hours) + (6 largest manufacturers x 80 hours each] = 
3,360 hours.
    <bullet> Recordkeeping by installation manufacturers - 150 
manufacturers x 1 hour each = 150 hours.
    (b) Installers.
    <bullet> Disclosures by retrofit installers (manufacturer's 
insulation fact sheet) - 2 million retrofit installations/year x 2 
minutes each = 66,667 hours.
    <bullet> Disclosures by installers (advertising) - 1,615 installers 
x 1 hour each = 1,615 hours.
    <bullet> Recordkeeping by installers - 1,615 installers x 5 minutes 
each = 135 hours.
    (c) New home builders/sellers, dealers.
    <bullet> Disclosures by new home sellers - 1,174,000 new home 
sales/year x 30 seconds each = 9,783 hours.
    (d) Retailers.
    <bullet> Disclosures by retailers - [25,000 retailers x 1 hour each 
(fact sheets) + 25,000 retailers x 1 hour each (advertising disclosure) 
= 50,000 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Periodic.
    Total Annual Labor Cost: $2,616,943 per year (solely related to 
labor costs) [approximately $858 for testing, based on 30 hours for 
manufacturers (30 hours x $28.61 per hour for skilled technical 
personnel); $4,284 for manufacturers' and installers' compliance with 
the Rule's recordkeeping requirements, based on 285 hours (285 hours x 
$15.03 per hour for clerical personnel); $50,501 for manufacturers' 
compliance with third-party disclosure requirements, based on 3,360 
hours (3,360 hours x $15.03 per hour for clerical personnel); and 
$2,561,300 for disclosure compliance by installers, new home sellers, 
and retailers (128,065 hours x $20 per hour for sales persons).]

Request for Comment

    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the FTC to consider 
your comment, we must receive it on or before January 26, 2018. Write 
``R-value Rule: FTC File No. R811001'' 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 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 
website.
    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, or to send them to the Commission by courier or 
overnight service. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/rvaluerulepra2 by following the instructions on the web-based form. 
When this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov, you also may 
file a comment through that website.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``R-value Rule: FTC File 
No. R811001'' 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, Washington, DC 20024. If possible, 
submit your paper comment to the Commission by courier or overnight 
service.
    Comments on the information collection requirements subject to 
review under the PRA should additionally be submitted to OMB. If sent 
by U.S. mail, they should be addressed to Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk 
Officer for the Federal Trade Commission, New Executive Office 
Building, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, 
DC 20503. Comments sent to OMB by U.S. postal mail are subject to 
delays due to heightened security precautions. Thus, comments can also 
be sent via email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#30475c59525542515e4455705f5d521e555f401e575f46"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1562797c777067747b6170557a78773b707a653b727a63">[email protected]</span></a>.
    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

[[Page 61304]]

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.
    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 January 26, 
2018. 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.

David C. Shonka,
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2017-27868 Filed 12-26-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6750-01-P


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