This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

53393 

Vol. 73, No. 180 

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 

1 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). 

2 Federal Trade Commission, Prohibitions On 

Market Manipulation and False Information in 

Subtitle B of Title VIII of the Energy Independence 

and Security Act of 2007, 73 FR 48317 (August 19, 

2008). The NPRM was announced in a press release 

on August 13, 2008, available at (http:// 

www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/08/nprm.shtm). 

3 42 U.S.C. 17301. 

4 Proposed Rule, § 317.3(a)–(c). See Federal Trade 

Commission, Prohibitions On Market Manipulation 

and False Information in Subtitle B of Title VIII of 

the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, 

73 FR 48317, 48334 (August 19, 2008). 

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

16 CFR Part 317 

[Project No. P082900] 

RIN 3084-AB12 

Prohibitions on Market Manipulation 

and False Information in Subtitle B of 

Title VIII of The Energy Independence 

and Security Act of 2007 

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission. 

ACTION: Extension of period within 

which to submit comments in response 

to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: In a Federal Register notice 

published on August 19, 2008, the 

Federal Trade Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’ or ‘‘FTC’’) requested 

comment on its Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (‘‘NPRM’’) in connection 

with its rulemaking pursuant to Section 

811 of the Energy Independence and 

Security Act of 2007 (‘‘EISA’’). The 

NPRM stated that comments must be 

received on or before September 18, 

2008. In response to a request to extend 

the comment period received on 

September 5, 2008, the Commission has 

determined to extend the comment 

period until October 17, 2008. 

DATES: Comments addressing the Market 

Manipulation NPRM must be received 

on or before October 17, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are 

invited to submit written comments 

electronically or in paper form. 

Comments should refer to ‘‘Market 

Manipulation Rulemaking, P082900’’ to 

facilitate the organization of comments. 

Comments containing material for 

which confidential treatment is 

requested must be filed in paper form, 

must be clearly labeled ‘‘Confidential,’’ 

and must comply with Commission 

Rule 4.9(c).1 Comments should not 

include any sensitive personal 

information, such as an individual’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. Comments also should not 

include any sensitive health 

information, such as medical records 

and other individually identifiable 

health information. 

Because paper mail in the Washington 

area, and specifically to the FTC, is 

subject to delay due to heightened 

security screening, please consider 

submitting your comments in electronic 

form. Comments filed in electronic form 

should be submitted by using the 

following weblink: (https:// 

secure.commentworks.com/ftcmarketmanipulationNPRM/) (and 

following the instructions on the webbased 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/ftcmarketmanipulationNPRM/). If this 

notice appears at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, you may also file 

an electronic comment through that 

website. The Commission will consider 

all comments that regulations.gov 

forwards to it. You may also visit the 

FTC website at (http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/ 

oilgas/rules.htm) to read the NPRM and 

the news release describing it. 

A comment filed in paper form 

should include the ‘‘Market 

Manipulation Rulemaking, P082900’’ 

reference both in the text and on the 

envelope, and should be mailed to the 

following address: Federal Trade 

Commission, Market Manipulation 

Rulemaking, P.O. Box 2846, Fairfax, VA 

22031-0846. This address does not 

accept courier or overnight deliveries. 

Courier or overnight deliveries should 

be delivered to: Federal Trade 

Commission/Office of the Secretary, 

Room H-135 (Annex G), 600 

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, 

DC 20580. 

The FTC Act and other laws 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, 

whether filed in paper or electronic 

form. Comments received will be 

available to the public on the FTC 

website, to the extent practicable, at 

(http://www.ftc.gov/os/ 

publiccomments.shtm.) 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 website. 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.shtm). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

James Mongoven, Deputy Assistant 

Director of Policy & Coordination, 

Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade 

Commission, Market Manipulation 

Rulemaking, P.O. Box 2846, Fairfax, VA 

22031-0846, (202) 326-2879. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 

19, 2008, the Commission published an 

NPRM2 pursuant to the authority 

granted to it in Section 811 of EISA3 to 

promulgate regulations prohibiting 

‘‘market manipulation’’ in the 

petroleum industry. In the NPRM, the 

Commission solicited comment on a 

proposed Rule that would make it 

unlawful for any person, directly or 

indirectly, in connection with the 

purchase or sale of crude oil, gasoline, 

or petroleum distillates at wholesale: 

(a) To use or employ any device, 

scheme, or artifice to defraud, 

(b) To make any untrue statement of 

a material fact or to omit to state a 

material fact necessary in order to make 

the statements made, in the light of the 

circumstances under which they were 

made, not misleading, or 

(c) To engage in any act, practice, or 

course of business that operates or 

would operate as a fraud or deceit upon 

any person.4

The NPRM requested comment on 

several issues, and set a deadline of 


ebenthall on PROD1PC60 with PROPOSALS
53394 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 16, 2008 / Proposed Rules 

1 FTC, Prohibitions On Market Manipulation and 

False Information in Subtitle B of Title VIII of The 

Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, 73 

FR 48317 (Aug. 13, 2008). The NPRM was 

announced in a press release on August 13, 2008, 

available at (http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/08/ 

nprm.shtm). 

2 Specific instructions for submitting a comment 

are included in the NPRM. See 73 FR 48317. Please 

note that all such comments, like requests to 

participate, are public filings and will be placed on 

the public record of this proceeding, including the 

FTC’s public website. See footnote 3 below for 

further information. 

3 Please note that your request constitutes a 

public filing before the Commission, and will be 

placed on the public record of the proceeding, 

including on the publicly accessible FTC website, 

at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. 

Therefore, your request should not include any 

sensitive or confidential information. In particular, 

it should not include any sensitive personal 

information—such as any individual’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—or any sensitive health information, such 

as medical records or other individually identifiable 

health information. Your request should also not 

include any ‘‘[t]rade secrets and commercial or 

financial information obtained from a person and 

privileged or confidential. . . .,’’ as provided in 

section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and 

Commission rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2) 

(2008). 

The Federal Trade Commission Act and other 

laws the Commission administers permit the 

collection of requests to participate in the above 

workshop to consider and use in this proceeding as 

appropriate. As a matter of discretion, the 

Commission makes every effort to remove home 

contact information for individuals before placing 

requests to participate on the FTC website. 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.shtm. 

4 Public Law 110-140, codified at 42 U.S.C. 

17001-17386. 

September 18, 2008, by which 

comments had to be received. 

On September 5, 2008, the 

Commission received a letter from the 

American Petroleum Institute (‘‘API’’) 

requesting that the Commission extend 

the comment deadline in the NPRM 

proceeding until October 17, 2008. In its 

request, API advances three arguments 

in support of an extension of the 

comment period. First, API argues that 

it needs additional time to canvass its 

more than 400 members about the 

NPRM and to ‘‘consolidate and present 

that information for the Commission’s 

consideration.’’ Second, API contends 

that the extension is necessary to ensure 

‘‘sufficient time for thoughtful 

deliberation’’ about the ‘‘many novel 

and complex issues’’ addressed in the 

NPRM. Third, API opines that ‘‘defining 

‘manipulation’ is inherently difficult 

and not within the Commission’s 

traditional antitrust or consumer 

protection experience,’’ and thus 

providing additional time to 

commenters will yield more carefully 

considered comments, which will 

benefit the Commission as it proceeds. 

Based on the arguments raised by API, 

the Commission believes that an 

extension of the initial 30-day comment 

period until October 17, 2008, is 

reasonable. The additional time should 

enable API and other commenters to 

finalize and submit detailed and 

thoughtful comments in response to the 

NPRM. Accordingly, the Commission 

has determined to extend the comment 

period set forth in the NPRM until 

October 17, 2008. 

By direction of the Commission. 

Donald S. Clark, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–21605 Filed 9–15–08: 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6750–01–S 

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

16 CFR Part 317 

[Project No. P082900] 

RIN 3084-AB12 

Public Workshop Concerning 

Petroleum Market Manipulation 

Rulemaking 

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission. 

ACTION: Notice announcing public 

workshop. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Trade 

Commission (‘‘FTC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’) 

will host a public workshop to discuss 

issues arising from, and comments 

submitted in regard to, its rulemaking 

proceeding concerning Prohibitions on 

Market Manipulation and False 

Information in Subtitle B of Title VIII of 

The Energy Independence and Security 

Act of 2007 (‘‘EISA’’). In particular, the 

workshop will consider the desirability 

and scope of the proposed rule 

prohibiting market manipulation in 

wholesale petroleum markets. The 

Commission will publish an agenda on 

its website prior to the workshop. 

DATES: The workshop will be held on 

Thursday, November 6, 2008, in Room 

H-432 of the Federal Trade 

Commission’s Headquarters Building, 

located at 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, 

NW, Washington, DC 20580. Requests to 

participate as a panelist must comply 

with all applicable requirements set 

forth in this document and must be 

received by October 6, 2008. To be 

considered as a panelist for the 

workshop, interested parties must also 

submit a comment in response to the 

FTC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

(‘‘NPRM’’) in this matter1 by the close of 

the comment period on October 17, 

2008.2

ADDRESSES: Requests to participate in 

the public workshop may be filed in 

paper form or sent via e-mail to 

mmr@ftc.gov,3 and should refer to 

‘‘Market Manipulation Rulemaking 

Workshop—Request to Participate, 

P082900’’ to facilitate organization of 

such requests. Requests must comply 

with all other applicable requirements 

set forth in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section below and 

elsewhere in this document. A request 

to participate filed in paper form should 

include this reference both in the text 

and on the envelope, and should be 

mailed or delivered to: Federal Trade 

Commission/Office of the Secretary, 

Room H-135 (Annex G), 600 

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, 

DC 20580. Because paper mail in the 

Washington area, and specifically to the 

FTC, is subject to delay due to 

heightened security screening, please 

consider submitting your request to 

participate via e-mail to: mmr@ftc.gov. 

The workshop will be open to the 

public, and there is no fee for 

attendance. For admittance to the 

building, all attendees will be required 

to show a valid photo identification, 

such as a driver’s license. Preregistration is not required for attendees, 

but persons desiring to participate as 

panelists must submit a request to 

participate and file a comment in 

response to the FTC’s NPRM in this 

matter. Members of the public and press 

who cannot attend in person may view 

a live webcast of the workshop on the 

FTC’s website. The workshop will be 

transcribed, and the transcript will be 

placed on the public record. 

The workshop venue will be 

accessible to persons with disabilities. If 

you need an accommodation related to 

a disability, call Carrie McGlothin at 

(202) 326-3388. Such requests should 

include a detailed description of the 

accommodations needed and a way to 

contact you if we need more 

information. Please provide advance 

notice of any needs for such 

accommodations. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Catherine Harrington-McBride, Bureau 

of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade 

Commission, Market Manipulation 

Rulemaking Workshop, P.O. Box 2846, 

Fairfax, VA 22031-0846; (202) 326-2452; 

mmr@ftc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

EISA became law on December 19, 

2007.4 Section 811 of EISA prohibits 

‘‘any person’’ from directly or 

indirectly: (1) using or employing ‘‘any 

manipulative or deceptive device or 


ebenthall on PROD1PC60 with PROPOSALS