2154 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 16, 2018 / Notices 

1See 12 U.S.C. 1424(a), 1430(a). 

2See 12 U.S.C. 1422(10)(A); 12 CFR 1263.1. 

3See 12 U.S.C. 1422(10)(B); 12 CFR 1263.1 

(defining the term CFI asset cap). 

4See 82 FR 6551 (Jan. 19, 2017). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Housing Finance 

Agency (FHFA) has adjusted the cap on 

average total assets that is used in 

determining whether a Federal Home 

Loan Bank (Bank) member qualifies as 

a ‘‘community financial institution’’ 

(CFI) to $1,173,000,000, based on the 

annual percentage increase in the 

Consumer Price Index for all urban 

consumers (CPI–U), as published by the 

Department of Labor (DOL). These 

changes took effect on January 1, 2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kaitlin Hildner, Division of Federal 

Home Loan Bank Regulation, (202) 649– 

3329, Kaitlin.Hildner@fhfa.gov; or Eric 

M. Raudenbush, Associate General 

Counsel, (202) 649–3084, 

Eric.Raudenbush@fhfa.gov, (not toll-free 

numbers), Federal Housing Finance 

Agency, Constitution Center, 400 

Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC 

20219. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Statutory and Regulatory Background 

The Federal Home Loan Bank Act 

(Bank Act) confers upon insured 

depository institutions that meet the 

statutory definition of a CFI certain 

advantages over non-CFI insured 

depository institutions in qualifying for 

Bank membership, and in the purposes 

for which they may receive long-term 

advances and the collateral they may 

pledge to secure advances.1 Section 

2(10)(A) of the Bank Act and § 1263.1 of 

FHFA’s regulations define a CFI as any 

Bank member the deposits of which are 

insured by the Federal Deposit 

Insurance Corporation and that has 

average total assets below the statutory 

cap.2 The Bank Act was amended in 

2008 to set the statutory cap at $1 

billion and to require FHFA to adjust 

the cap annually to reflect the 

percentage increase in the CPI–U, as 

published by the DOL.3 For 2017, FHFA 

set the CFI asset cap at $1,148,000,000, 

which reflected a 1.7 percent increase 

over 2016, based upon the increase in 

the CPI–U between 2015 and 2016.4

II. The CFI Asset Cap for 2018 

As of January 1, 2018, FHFA has 

increased the CFI asset cap to 

$1,173,000,000, which reflects a 2.2 

percent increase in the unadjusted CPI– 

U from November 2016 to November 

2017. Consistent with the practice of 

other Federal agencies, FHFA bases the 

annual adjustment to the CFI asset cap 

on the percentage increase in the CPI– 

U from November of the year prior to 

the preceding calendar year to 

November of the preceding calendar 

year, because the November figures 

represent the most recent available data 

as of January 1st of the current calendar 

year. The new CFI asset cap was 

obtained by applying the percentage 

increase in the CPI–U to the unrounded 

amount for the preceding year and 

rounding to the nearest million, as has 

been FHFA’s practice for all previous 

adjustments. 

In calculating the CFI asset cap, FHFA 

uses CPI–U data that have not been 

seasonally adjusted (i.e., the data have 

not been adjusted to remove the 

estimated effect of price changes that 

normally occur at the same time and in 

about the same magnitude every year). 

The DOL encourages use of unadjusted 

CPI–U data in applying ‘‘escalation’’ 

provisions such as that governing the 

CFI asset cap, because the factors that 

are used to seasonally adjust the data 

are amended annually, and seasonally 

adjusted data that are published earlier 

are subject to revision for up to five 

years following their original release. 

Unadjusted data are not routinely 

subject to revision, and previously 

published unadjusted data are only 

corrected when significant calculation 

errors are discovered. 

Dated: January 8, 2018. 

Andre D. Galeano, 

Deputy Director, Division of Federal Home 

Loan Bank Regulation, Federal Housing 

Finance Agency. 

[FR Doc. 2018–00618 Filed 1–12–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8070–01–P 

FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT 

INVESTMENT BOARD 

Sunshine Act; Notice of Meeting 

January 12, 2018, 3:30 p.m. 

Agenda 

Federal Retirement Thrift Investment 

Board Member Meeting, Telephonic. 

STATUS: Closed to the public. 

MATTER TO BE CONSIDERED: Information 

covered under 5 U.S.C. 552b (c)(9)(B). 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

Kimberly Weaver, Director, Office of 

External Affairs, (202) 942–1640. 

Dated: January 11, 2018. 

Dharmesh Vashee, 

Deputy General Counsel, Federal Retirement 

Thrift Investment Board. 

[FR Doc. 2018–00706 Filed 1–11–18; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 6760–01–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 its proposal to extend for 

three years the current PRA clearances 

for information collection requirements 

contained in the Commission’s rules 

and regulations under the Wool 

Products Labeling Act of 1939 (Wool 

Rules). The clearance expires on April 

30, 2018. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before March 19, 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 ‘‘Wool Rules: FTC File No. 

P072108’’ on your comment, and file 

your comment online at https://

ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/ 

woolrulespra1 by following the 

instructions on the web-based 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 

Jock K. Chung, Attorney, Division of 

Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer 

Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 

Mail Code CC–9528, 600 Pennsylvania 

Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580, (202) 

326–2984. 

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. 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 16, 2018 / Notices 2155 

1Page one from comment by Kevin M. Burke, 

President and CEO, American Apparel & Footwear 

Association, March 26, 2012, Advance Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking; Request for Public Comment; 

Rules and Regulations under the Wool Products 

Labeling Act of 1939; 77 FR 4498 (Jan. 30, 2012). 

2 5 CFR 1320.3(b)(2). 

3 15 U.S.C. 68 et seq. 

4For imported products, the labels generally are 

attached in the country where the products are 

manufactured. According to information compiled 

by an industry trade association using data from the 

U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade 

Administration and the U.S. Census Bureau, 

approximately 97.5% of apparel used in the United 

States is imported. With the remaining 2.5% 

attributable to U.S. production at an approximate 

domestic hourly wage of $11 to attach labels, staff 

has calculated a weighted average hourly wage of 

$5.50 per hour attributable to U.S. and foreign labor 

combined. The estimated percentage of imports 

supplied by particular countries is based on trade 

data for the year ending in September 2014 

compiled by the Office of Textiles and Apparel, 

International Trade Administration. Wages in major 

textile exporting countries, factored into the above 

hourly wage estimate, were based on 2012 data 

from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor 

Statistics. See Table 1.1 Indexes of hourly 

compensation costs in manufacturing, U.S. dollar 

basis, 1996–2012 (Index, U.S. = 100) available at: 

http://www.bls.gov/fls/#compensation. 

‘‘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 the information collection 

requirements associated with the 

Commission’s rules and regulations 

under the Wool Products Labeling Act 

of 1939 (‘‘Wool Rules’’), 16 CFR part 300 

(OMB Control Number 3084–0100). 

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 

March 19, 2018. 

Burden Estimates 

Staff’s burden estimates for the Wool 

Rules are based on data from the 

Department of Commerce’s Bureau of 

the Census, the International Trade 

Commission, the Department of Labor’s 

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and 

data or other input from the main 

industry association, the American 

Apparel and Footwear Association 

(AAFA), and from SICCode.com, which 

specializes in the business classification 

of SIC (Standard Industrial 

Classification) and NAICS (North 

American Industry Classification 

System) codes for business 

identification, verification, and 

targeting. The AAFA, a national trade 

association which represents U.S. 

apparel, footwear and other sewn 

products companies and their suppliers, 

has stated that ‘‘[t]he use of labels on 

textiles and apparels is beneficial to 

consumers, manufacturers, and business 

in general as it allows for the necessary 

flow of information along the supply 

chain.’’ 1 The relevant information 

collection requirements in these rules 

and staff’s corresponding burden 

estimates follow. The estimates address 

the number of hours needed and the 

labor costs incurred to comply with the 

requirements. Staff believes that a 

significant portion of hours and labor 

costs currently attributable to burden 

below are time and financial resources 

usually and customarily incurred by 

persons in the course of their regular 

activity (e.g., industry participants 

already have and/or would have care 

labels regardless of the rule(s)) and 

could be excluded from PRA-related 

burden.2

The Wool Products Labeling Act of 

1939 (‘‘Wool Act’’) 3 prohibits the 

misbranding of wool products. The 

Wool Rules establish disclosure 

requirements that assist consumers in 

making informed purchasing decisions 

and recordkeeping requirements that 

assist the Commission in enforcing the 

Rules. 

Estimated Annual Hours Burden: 

1,880,000 hours (160,000 recordkeeping 

hours + 1,720,000 disclosure hours). 

Recordkeeping: Staff estimates that 

approximately 4,000 wool firms are 

subject to the Wool Rules’ 

recordkeeping requirements. Based on 

an average annual burden of 40 hours 

per firm, the total recordkeeping burden 

is 160,000 hours. 

Disclosure: Approximately 8,000 wool 

firms, producing or importing about 

600,000,000 wool products annually, 

are subject to the Wool Rules’ disclosure 

requirements. Staff estimates the burden 

of determining label content to be 30 

hours per year per firm, or a total of 

240,000 hours, and the burden of 

drafting and ordering labels to be 60 

hours per firm per year, or a total of 

480,000 hours. Staff believes that the 

process of attaching labels is now fully 

automated and integrated into other 

production steps for about 40 percent of 

all affected products. For the remaining 

360,000,000 items (60 percent of 

600,000,000), the process is semiautomated and requires an average of 

approximately ten seconds per item, for 

a total of 1,000,000 hours per year. 

Thus, the total estimated annual burden 

for all firms is 1,720,000 hours (240,000 

hours for determining label content + 

480,000 hours to draft and order labels 

+ 1,000,000 hours to attach labels). Staff 

believes that any additional burden 

associated with advertising disclosure 

requirements would be minimal (less 

than 10,000 hours) and can be 

subsumed within the burden estimates 

set forth above. 

Estimated Annual Cost Burden: 

$16,380,000, rounded to the nearest 

thousand (solely relating to labor costs). 

The chart below summarizes the total 

estimated costs. 

Task Hourly rate Burden hours Labor cost 

Determine label content ............................................................................................................... $ 28.00 240,000 $6,720,000 

Draft and order labels .................................................................................................................. 18.00 480,000 8,640,000 

Attach labels ................................................................................................................................ 4 5.50 1,000,000 5,500,000 

Recordkeeping ............................................................................................................................. 18.00 160,000 2,880,000 

Total ...................................................................................................................................... ........................ ........................ 23,740,000 

Staff believes that there are no current 

start-up costs or other capital costs 

associated with the Wool Rules. Because 

the labeling of wool products has been 

an integral part of the manufacturing 

process for decades, manufacturers have 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
2156 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 16, 2018 / Notices 

in place the capital equipment 

necessary to comply with the Rules. 

Based on knowledge of the industry, 

staff believes that much of the 

information required by the Wool Act 

and Rules would be included on the 

product label even absent their 

requirements. Similarly, recordkeeping 

and advertising disclosures are tasks 

performed in the ordinary course of 

business so that covered firms would 

incur no additional capital or other nonlabor costs as a result of the Rules. 

Request for Comments 

You can file a comment online or on 

paper. March 19, 2018. Write ‘‘Wool 

Rules: 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/woolrulespra1 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 ‘‘Wool Rules: FTC File No. 

P072108’’ on your comment and on the 

envelope, and mail your comment to the 

following address: Federal Trade 

Commission, Office of the Secretary, 

600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 

CC–5610 (Annex C), 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. 

Because your comment will be placed 

on the publicly accessible FTC website 

at 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 March 19, 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. 

David C. Shonka, 

Acting General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2018–00539 Filed 1–12–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6750–01–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 its proposal to extend for 

three years the current PRA clearances 

for information collection requirements 

contained in the Care Labeling of 

Textile Wearing Apparel and Certain 

Piece Goods As Amended (Care 

Labeling Rule). The clearance expires on 

April 30, 2018. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before March 19, 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 ‘‘Care Labeling Rule: FTC 

File No. P072108’’ on your comment, 

and file your comment online at https:// 

ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/ 

carelabelingrulepra1 by following the 

instructions on the web-based 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 

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: 

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 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES