Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension, 34767-34772 [05-11748]
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 114 / Wednesday, June 15, 2005 / Notices
banks and nonbanking companies
owned by the bank holding company,
including the companies listed below.
The applications listed below, as well
as other related filings required by the
Board, are available for immediate
inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank
indicated. The application also will be
available for inspection at the offices of
the Board of Governors. Interested
persons may express their views in
writing on the standards enumerated in
the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1842(c)). If the
proposal also involves the acquisition of
a nonbanking company, the review also
includes whether the acquisition of the
nonbanking company complies with the
standards in section 4 of the BHC Act
(12 U.S.C. 1843). Unless otherwise
noted, nonbanking activities will be
conducted throughout the United States.
Additional information on all bank
holding companies may be obtained
from the National Information Center
website at www.ffiec.gov/nic/.
Unless otherwise noted, comments
regarding each of these applications
must be received at the Reserve Bank
indicated or the offices of the Board of
Governors not later than July 8, 2005.
A. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
(Patrick M. Wilder, Assistant Vice
President) 230 South LaSalle Street,
Chicago, Illinois 60690-1414:
1. Western Illinois Bancshares, Inc.,
Monmouth, Illinois; to become a bank
holding company by acquiring 100
percent of the voting shares of Midwest
Bank of Western Illinois, Monmouth,
Illinois.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, June 9, 2005.
Robert deV. Frierson,
Deputy Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 05–11767 Filed 6–14–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210–01–S
FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
Sunshine Act Meeting
Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve
System.
TIME AND DATE: 11:30 a.m., Monday, June
20, 2005.
PLACE: Marriner S. Eccles Federal
Reserve Board Building, 20th and C
Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20551.
STATUS: Closed.
MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:
1. Personnel actions (appointments,
promotions, assignments,
reassignments, and salary actions)
involving individual Federal Reserve
System employees.
2. Any items carried forward from a
previously announced meeting.
AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michelle A. Smith, Director, Office of
Board Members; 202–452–2955.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: You may
call 202–452–3206 beginning at
approximately 5 p.m. two business days
before the meeting for a recorded
announcement of bank and bank
holding company applications
scheduled for the meeting; or you may
contact the Board’s Web site at https://
www.federalreserve.gov for an electronic
announcement that not only lists
applications, but also indicates
procedural and other information about
the meeting.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, June 10, 2005.
Robert deV. Frierson,
Deputy Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 05–11870 Filed 6–13–05; 9:25 am]
BILLING CODE 6210–01–S
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Extension
Federal Trade Commission
(‘‘Commission’’ or ‘‘FTC’’).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
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’’) (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520). The
FTC is seeking public comments on its
proposal to extend through June 30,
2008, the current Paperwork Reduction
Act clearances for information
collection requirements contained in
three Commission Rules. Those
clearances expire on June 30, 2005.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on
or before July 15, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties are
invited to submit written comments.
Comments should refer to ‘‘Paperwork
Comment: FTC File No. P822108’’ to
facilitate the organization of comments.
A comment filed in paper form should
include this reference both in the text
and on the envelope and should be
mailed or delivered to the following
address: Federal Trade Commission/
Office of the Secretary, Room H–159
(Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW., Washington, DC 20580. The FTC
is requesting that any comment filed in
paper form be sent by courier or
overnight service, if possible, because
U.S. postal mail in the Washington area
and at the Commission is subject to
delay due to heightened security
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precautions. Alternatively, comments
may be filed in electronic form (in
ASCII format, WordPerfect, or Microsoft
Word) as part of or as an attachment to
e-mail messages directed to the
following e-mail box:
PaperworkComment@ftc.gov. If the
comment contains any material for
which confidential treatment is
requested, it must be filed in paper
form, and the first page of the document
must be clearly labeled ‘‘Confidential.’’ 1
All comments should additionally be
submitted to: Office of Management and
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the
Federal Trade Commission. Comments
should be submitted via facsimile to
(202) 395–6974 because U.S. Postal Mail
is subject to lengthy delays due to
heightened security precautions.
The FTC Act and other laws the
Commission administers permit the
collection of public comments to
consider and use in this proceeding as
appropriate. All timely and responsive
public comments will be considered by
the Commission and will be available to
the public on the FTC web site, to the
extent practicable, at https://www.ftc.gov.
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
Web site. More information, including
routine uses permitted by the Privacy
Act, may be found in the FTC’s privacy
policy at https://www.ftc.gov/ftc/
privacy.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or
copies of the proposed information
requirements for the Funeral Industry
Practices Rule (‘‘Funeral Rule’’) should
be addressed to Catherine HarringtonMcBride, Attorney, Division of
Marketing Practices, Bureau of
Consumer Protection, Federal Trade
Commission, Room H–238, 600
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington,
DC 20580, (202) 326–2452. Requests for
additional information or copies of the
proposed information requirements for
the Children’s Online Privacy Protection
Act Rule (‘‘COPPA Rule’’) should be
addressed to Rona Kelner, (202) 326–
2752, or Karen Muoio, (202) 326–2491,
Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of
Consumer Protection, Division of
1 Commission Rule 4.2(d), 16 CFR 4.2(d). 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).
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Advertising Practices, 600 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Mail Drop NJ–3212,
Washington, DC 20580. Requests for
additional information or copies of the
proposed information requirements for
the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Privacy
Rule (‘‘GLBA Privacy Rule’’) should be
addressed to Laura Berger, Attorney,
Division of Financial Practices, Bureau
of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade
Commission, Room S–4429, 601
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington,
DC 20580, (202) 326–3224.
On March
9, 2005, the FTC sought comment on the
information collection requirements
associated with the Funeral Rule (OMB
Control Number 3084–0025), the
COPPA Rule (OMB Control Number
3084–0117), and the GLBA Privacy Rule
(OMB Control Number 3084–0121). See
70 FR 11662. As discussed below, one
comment relating to the Funeral Rule
was received. Pursuant to the OMB
regulations that implement the PRA (5
CFR Part 1320), the FTC is providing
this second opportunity for public
comment while seeking OMB approval
to extend the existing paperwork
clearance for the rule.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. The Funeral Rule, 16 CFR Part 453
(OMB Control Number 3084–0025)
The Funeral Rule ensures that
consumers who are purchasing funeral
goods and services have accurate
information about the terms and
conditions (especially prices) for such
goods and services. The Rule requires
that funeral providers disclose this
information to consumers and maintain
records to facilitate enforcement of the
Rule. The PRA clearance for the Funeral
Rule was scheduled to expire on March
31, 2005. On February 7, 2005, the OMB
granted the FTC’s request for a shortterm extension to June 30, 2005.
The Commission received only one
comment on the information collection
requirements attendant to the Funeral
Rule. The commenter, Selected
Independent Funeral Homes (‘‘SIFH’’), a
trade association whose members
include approximately 1500
independent, privately-owned funeral
homes around the world, noted that it
‘‘believes that the Commission’s burden
estimates are within accurate ranges.’’
SIFH at 1. However, SIFH, citing a
comment it submitted in the 1999
review of the Funeral Rule, expressed
concern that because the Funeral Rule
currently applies ‘‘only to traditional
funeral homes,’’ the Rule’s burdens
‘‘disparately impact only a portion of an
industry selling the same or similar
goods or services.’’ SIFH at 2. This
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concern addresses the scope of the Rule,
not the PRA burden estimates
The estimated burden associated with
the collection of information required
by the Rule is 21,500 hours for
recordkeeping, 104,545 hours for
disclosures, and 43,000 hours for
training, for a total of 169,000 hours
(rounded to the nearest thousand). This
estimate is based on the number of
funeral providers (approximately
21,500),2 the number of funerals
annually (approximately 2.4 million),3
and the time needed to fulfill the
information collection tasks required by
the Rule. The methodology followed in
deriving burden estimates for the
existing clearance is detailed in an April
11, 2002, Federal Register Notice that
responded to a comment by the National
Funeral Directors Association (‘‘NFDA’’)
regarding the FTC’s 2001 request for an
extension of the clearance. See 67 FR
17691.
Recordkeeping: The Rule requires that
funeral providers retain copies of price
lists and statements of funeral goods
and services selected by consumers.
Based on a maximum average burden of
one hour per provider per year for this
task, the total burden for the 21,500
providers is 21,500 hours. This estimate
is lower than FTC staff’s 2002 estimate
of 22,300 hours due to a decrease in the
number of funeral providers.
Disclosure: The Rule requires that
funeral providers: (1) Maintain current
price lists for funeral goods and
services, (2) provide written
documentation of the funeral goods and
services selected by consumers making
funeral arrangements, and (3) provide
information about funeral prices in
response to telephone inquiries.
1. Maintaining current price lists
requires that funeral providers revise
their price lists from time to time
throughout the year to reflect price
changes. Staff estimates, consistent with
its current clearance, that this task
requires a maximum average burden of
two and one-half hours per provider per
year for this task. Thus, the total burden
for 21,500 providers is 53,750 hours.
2. Staff retains its 2002 estimate that
13% of funeral providers prepare
written documentation of funeral goods
and services selected by consumers
specifically due to the Rule’s mandate.
The original rulemaking record
indicated that 87% of funeral providers
provided written documentation of
funeral arrangements, even absent the
Rule’s requirements.4 The NFDA’s 2002
comment indicates that even before the
Rule became effective, nearly every
funeral home already had been
providing consumers with some kind of
final statement in writing. NFDA stated
that likely only the timing of the
statement’s issuance had changed as a
result of the Rule. Nonetheless, staff
believes it prudent to err, if at all, on the
side of overestimating the burden
imposed by the Rule.
According to the rulemaking record,
these providers are typically the
smallest funeral homes. The written
documentation requirement can be
satisfied through the use of a standard
form (an example of which the FTC has
provided to all funeral providers in its
compliance guide).5 Based on an
estimate that these smaller funeral
homes arrange, on average,
approximately twenty funerals per year
and that it would take each of them
about three minutes to record prices for
each consumer on the standard form,
FTC staff estimates that the total burden
associated with the written
documentation requirement is one hour
per provider not already in compliance,
for a total of 2,795 hours [(21,500
funeral providers × 13%) × (20
statements per year × 3 minutes per
statement)].
3. The Funeral Rule also requires
funeral providers to answer telephone
inquiries about the provider’s offerings
or prices. Industry data indicate that
only about 12% of funeral purchasers
make telephone inquiries, with each call
lasting an estimated ten minutes. Thus,
assuming that the average purchaser
who makes telephone inquiries places
one call per funeral to determine prices,
the estimated burden is 48,000 hours
(2.4 million funerals per year × 12% ×
10 minutes per inquiry), a slight
increase over the 46,000 hours
estimated by staff in 2002 due to the
2 The estimated number of funeral providers is
from data provided on the National Funeral
Directors Association (‘‘NFDA’’) Web site
(www.nfda.org), which was accessed in January
2005.
3 The estimated number of funerals annually is
taken from the National Center for Health Statistics,
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/. According to NCHS,
2,443,387 deaths occurred in the United States in
2002, the most recent year for which final data is
available. See National Vital Statistics Reports, vol.
53, no. 5 ‘‘Deaths: Final Data for 2002,’’ available
at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr53/
nvsr53_05acc.pdf.
4 The original version of the Funeral Rule
required that funeral providers retain a copy of and
give each customer a separate ‘‘Statement of
Funeral Goods and Services Selected.’’ The 1994
amendments to the Rule eliminated that
requirement, allowing instead for such disclosures
to be incorporated into a written contract, bill of
sale, or other record of a transaction that providers
use to memorialize sales agreements with
customers.
5 The FTC has provided its compliance guide to
all funeral providers at no cost, and additional
copies are available on the FTC Web site, https://
www.ftc.gov, or by mail.
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 114 / Wednesday, June 15, 2005 / Notices
increase in the number of funerals per
year. This burden likely will decline
over time as consumers increasingly
rely on the Internet for funeral price
information.
In sum, the burden due to the Rule’s
disclosure requirements totals 104,545
hours (53,750 + 2,795 + 48,000).
Training: In addition to the
recordkeeping and disclosure-related
tasks noted above, funeral homes may
also have training requirements
specifically attributable to the Rule.
While staff believes that annual training
burdens associated with the Rule should
be minimal because Rule compliance is
generally included in continuing
education requirements for licensing
and voluntary certification programs,
staff estimates that, industry-wide,
funeral homes should incur no more
than 43,000 hours related to training
specific to the Rule each year. This
estimate is consistent with staff’s
assumption for the current clearance
that an ‘‘average’’ funeral home consists
of approximately five employees (fulltime and part-time employment
combined), but with no more than four
of them having tasks specifically
associated with the Funeral Rule. Staff
retains its estimate that each of the four
employees (three directors and a clerical
employee) per firm would each require
one-half hour, at most, per year, for such
training. Thus, total estimated time for
training is 43,000 hours (4 employees
per firm × 1⁄2 hour × 21,500 providers).
Estimated annual cost burden:
$4,882,000, rounded to the nearest
thousand ($3,654,000 in labor costs and
$1,228,000 in non-labor costs).
Labor costs: Labor costs are derived
by applying appropriate hourly cost
figures to the burden hours described
above. The hourly rates used below are
averages.
Clerical personnel, at an hourly rate of
$13, can perform the recordkeeping
tasks required under the Rule. Based on
the estimated hour burden of 21,500
hours, the estimated cost burden for
recordkeeping is $279,500 ($13 per hour
× 21,500 hours).
The two and one-half hours required
of each provider, on average, to update
price lists should consist of
approximately one and one-half hours
of managerial or professional time, at
$27.50 per hour, and one hour of
clerical time, at $13 per hour, for a total
of $54.25 per provider 6 [($27.50 per
6 National Compensation Survey: Occupational
Wages in the United States, July 2003, U.S.
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
(Aug. 2004) (‘‘BLS National Compensation Survey’’)
(citing the mean hourly earnings for funeral
directors as $21.30/hour), available at https://
www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/sp/ncbl0636.pdf. As in the
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hour × 1.5 hours) + ($13.00 per hour ×
1 hour)]. Thus, the estimated total cost
burden for maintaining price lists is
$1,166,375 ($54.25 per provider ×
21,500 providers).
The cost of providing written
documentation of the goods and
services selected by the consumer is
2,795 hours of managerial or
professional time at approximately
$27.50 per hour, or $76,862.50 (2,795
hours × $27.50 per hour).
The cost of responding to telephone
inquiries about offerings or prices is
48,000 hours of managerial or
professional time at $27.50 per hour, or
$1,320,000 (48,000 hours × $27.50 per
hour).
The cost of training licensed and nonlicensed funeral home staff to comply
with the Funeral Rule is two hours per
funeral home, with four employees of
varying ranks each spending one-half
hour on training. Consistent with
estimates in the current clearance, the
Commission is assuming that three
funeral directors, at hourly wages of
$27.50, $20, and $15, respectively, as
well as one clerical or administrative
staff member, at $13 per hour, require
such training, for a total burden of
43,000 hours (21,500 funeral homes × 2
hours total per establishment), and
$811,625 [($27.50 + $20 + $15 + $13) ×
1⁄2 hour per employee × 21,500 funeral
homes].
The total labor cost of the three
disclosure requirements imposed by the
Funeral Rule is $2,563,237.50
($1,166,375 + $76,862.50 + $1,320,000).
The total labor cost for recordkeeping is
$279,500. The total labor cost for
disclosures, recordkeeping and training
is $3,654,000 ($279,500 for
recordkeeping + $811,625 for training +
$2,563,237.50 for disclosures), rounded
to the nearest thousand.
Capital or other non-labor costs: The
Rule imposes minimal capital costs and
no current start-up costs. The Rule first
took effect in 1984 and the revised Rule
took effect in 1994, so funeral providers
should already have in place capital
equipment to carry out tasks associated
with Rule compliance. Moreover, most
funeral homes already have access, for
other business purposes, to the ordinary
office equipment needed for
compliance, so the Rule likely imposes
minimal additional capital expense.
Compliance with the Rule, however,
does entail some expense to funeral
providers for printing and duplication
of price lists. Assuming that two price
(a) The Rule requires each Web site and
online service operator directed to children,
and any Web site or online service operator
with actual knowledge that it is collecting
personal information from children, to
provide notice of how it collects, uses, and
discloses such information and, with
exceptions, to obtain the prior consent of the
child’s parent in order to engage in such
collection, use, and disclosure;
(b) The Rule requires the operator to
provide the parent with notice of the specific
types of personal information being collected
from the child, to give the parent the
opportunity to forbid the operator at any time
from further collecting, using, or maintaining
such information, and to provide reasonable
means for the parent to obtain the
information;
(c) The Rule prohibits a child’s
participation in a game, a prize offer, or other
activity from being conditioned on the
child’s disclosure of more personal
information than is ‘‘reasonably necessary’’
for the child to participate in that activity;
and
(d) The Rule requires Web site and online
service operators to establish procedures that
protect the confidentiality, security, and
integrity of personal information collected
from children.
past, staff has increased this figure on the
assumption that the owner or managing director,
who would be paid at a slightly higher rate, would
be responsible for making pricing decisions.
After consulting with the COPPA safe
harbor programs and industry groups,
the FTC staff retains its earlier estimate
that roughly thirty new web entrants
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lists per funeral/cremation are created
by industry to adhere to the Rule,
4,800,000 copies per year are made for
a total cost of $1,200,000 (2,400,000
funerals per year × 2 copies per funeral
× $.25 per copy). In addition, the
estimated 2,795 providers not already
providing written documentation of
funeral arrangements apart from the
Rule will incur additional printing and
copying costs. Assuming that those
providers use the standard two-page
form shown in the Compliance Guide, at
twenty-five cents per page, at an average
of twenty funerals per year, the added
cost burden would be $27,950 (2,795
providers × 20 funerals per year × 2
pages per funeral × $.25). Thus,
estimated non-labor costs are
$1,228,000, rounded to the nearest
thousand.
2. The COPPA Rule, 16 CFR Part 312
(OMB Control Number 3084–0117)
The COPPA Rule prohibits unfair and
deceptive acts and practices in
connection with the collection and use
of personally identifiable information
from and about children on the Internet.
Estimated annual hours burden: 2000
hours (rounded to the nearest thousand)
Disclosure Requirements: 1800 hours.
The COPPA Rule contains certain
statutorily-required notice requirements,
which constitute a ‘‘collection of
information’’ under the PRA:
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each year will fall within the Rule’s
coverage. Web site operators that have
previously created or adjusted their sites
to comply with the Rule will incur no
further burden associated with the Rule,
unless they opt to change their policies
and information collection in ways that
will further invoke the Rule’s
provisions. Moreover, the staff believes
that existing COPPA-compliant
operators who introduce additional sites
beyond those they already have created
will incur minimal, if any, incremental
PRA burden. This is because such
operators already have been through the
start-up phase and can carry over the
results of that to the new sites they
create.
Staff also retains its prior estimate
that on average, new entrants will spend
approximately sixty hours crafting a
privacy policy, designing a mechanism
to provide the required notice, and
posting it online. Accordingly, the staff
estimates that complying with the
Rule’s disclosure requirements will
require approximately 1,800 hours (30
new web entrants × 60 hours per
entrant). Consistent with prior
estimates, FTC staff estimates that the
time spent on compliance would be
apportioned five to one between legal
(lawyers or similar professionals) and
technical (computer programmers)
personnel. The staff therefore estimates
that lawyers or similar professionals
who craft privacy policies will account
for 1,500 of the 1,800 hours required.
Computer programmers responsible for
posting the policy will account for the
remaining 300 hours.
Voluntary Reporting Requirements for
Safe Harbor Participants: 130 hours.
Operators can comply with the Rule
by meeting the terms of industry selfregulatory guidelines that the
Commission approves after notice and
comment.7 While the submission of
industry self-regulatory guidelines to
the agency is voluntary, the Rule
includes specific reporting requirements
that all safe harbor applicants must
provide to receive Commission
approval.
FTC staff retains its estimate that it
would require, on average, 265 hours
per new safe harbor program applicant
to prepare and submit its safe harbor
proposal in accordance with Section
312.12(c) of the Rule. Industry sources
have confirmed recently that this
estimate is reasonable and advised that
all of this time would be attributable to
the efforts of lawyers. Based on past
experience and industry input, the staff
7 See Section 312.10(c). Approved self-regulatory
guidelines can be found on the FTC’s Web site at
https://www.ftc.gov/privacy/safeharbor/shp.htm.
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believes that no more than one
applicant every two years will submit a
request. Thus, the burden attributable to
this requirement would be
approximately 130 hours per year (265
hours/2 years).
The staff believes that most of the
records submitted in connection with a
safe harbor request would be records
that marketing and online industry
representatives have kept in the
ordinary course of business before the
Rule was issued. Any incremental effort
associated with maintaining the results
of independent assessments under
Section 312.10(d)(3) would also be in
the normal course of business. Thus, in
accordance with the regulations
implementing the PRA, the burden
estimate does not include effort
expended for these activities. 5 CFR
1320.3(b)(2).
Accordingly, the staff estimates that
total hours per year for the disclosure
requirements affecting new web entrants
and the reporting requirements for safe
harbor applications would be
approximately 2000 hours (rounded to
the nearest thousand).
Labor costs: Labor costs are derived
by applying appropriate hourly cost
figures to the burden hours described
above. The staff conservatively assumes
hourly rates of $85 and $30,
respectively, for lawyers or similar
professionals and computer
programmers.8 Based on these inputs,
the staff further estimates that the
associated annual labor costs for new
entrants would be $136,500 [(1,500
hours × $85 per hour for legal) + (300
hours × $30 per hour for computer
programmers)] and for safe harbor
applicants would be $11,050 (130 hours
per year × $85 per hour), for a total labor
cost of $148,000 (rounded to the nearest
thousand).
Non-labor costs: Because Web sites
will already be equipped with the
computer equipment and software
necessary to comply with the Rule’s
notice requirements, the sole costs
incurred by the Web sites are the
aforementioned estimated labor costs.
Similarly, industry members should
already have in place the means to
retain and store the records that must be
maintained under the Rule’s safe harbor
recordkeeping provisions, because they
are likely to have been keeping these
records independent of the Rule.
8 FTC staff estimates average legal costs at $85
hour, which is consistent with Commission
experience with other information collection
activities. The $30 estimate for computer
programmers is based on the BLS National
Compensation Survey, which indicates the mean
hourly wage rate for computer programmers as
$29.53.
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3. The GLBA Rule, 16 CFR Part 313
(OMB Control Number 3084–0121)
The GLBA Rule is designed to ensure
that customers and consumers, subject
to certain exceptions, will have access
to the privacy policies of the financial
institutions with which they conduct
business. As mandated by the GLBA, 15
U.S.C. 6801–6809, the Rule requires
financial institutions to disclose to
consumers: (1) Initial notice of the
financial institution’s privacy policy
when establishing a customer
relationship with a consumer and/or
before sharing a consumer’s non-public
personal information with certain
nonaffiliated third parties; (2) notice of
the consumer’s right to opt out of
information sharing with such parties;
(3) annual notice of the institution’s
privacy policy to any continuing
customer; and (4) notice of changes in
the institution’s practices on
information sharing. These
requirements are subject to the PRA.
The Rule does not require
recordkeeping.
Estimated annual hours burden: As
noted in the original burden estimate for
the GLBA Rule, determining the
paperwork burden of the Rule’s
disclosure requirements is very difficult
because of the highly diverse group of
affected entities, consisting of financial
institutions not regulated by a federal
financial regulatory agency. See 15
U.S.C. 6805 (committing to the
Commission’s jurisdiction entities that
are not specifically subject to another
agency’s jurisdiction).
The burden estimates represent the
FTC staff’s best assessment, based on its
knowledge and expertise relating to the
financial institutions subject to the
Commission’s jurisdiction under this
law. To derive these estimates, staff
considered the wide variations in
covered entities. In some instances,
covered entities may make the required
disclosures in the ordinary course of
business, apart from the GLBA Rule. In
addition, some entities may use highly
automated means to provide the
required disclosures, while others may
rely on methods requiring more manual
effort. The burden estimates shown
below include the time that may be
necessary to train staff to comply with
the regulations. These figures are
averages based on staff’s best estimate of
the burden incurred over the broad
spectrum of covered entities.
Staff retains its prior estimate of the
number of the number of entities each
year that will address the GLBA Rule for
the first time (5,000) and its estimate of
established entities already familiar
with the Rule (100,000). While the
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number of established entities familiar
with the Rule would theoretically
increase each year with the addition of
new entrants, staff retain its previous
estimate of established entities in
consideration of the fact that a number
of the established entities will close in
any given year, and the difficulty of
establishing a more precise estimate.
Staff’s burden estimates for new
Labor cost per
event* (per respondent)
Event
Hourly wage and
labor category
Reviewing internal
policies and developing GLBA-implementing
instructions**.
Creating disclosure
document or electronic disclosure
(including initial, annual, and opt out
disclosures).
$35.92 .......................
managerial/professional.
20
$13.77 .......................
clerical ......................
Total ...................
Approx. number
of respondents
Approx. total annual hrs.
$718.40
5,000
100,000
$3,592,000
5
68.85
5,000
25,000
344,250
$28.37 .......................
professional/technical
$13.77 .......................
clerical ......................
10
283.70
............................
50,000
1,418,500
15
206.55
5,000
75,000
1,032,750
$28.37 .......................
professional/technical
Disseminating initial
discloure (including
opt out notices).
Hours per respondent
entrants and established entities are
detailed in the charts below.
Start-up hours and labor costs for new
entities:
Approx. total
labor costs
10
283.70
50,000
............................
1,418,500
...................................
............................
............................
............................
300,000
7,806,000
* Staff calculated labor costs by applying appropriate hourly cost figures to burden hours. The hourly rates used were based on mean wages
for managerial/professional time (e.g., compliance evaluation and/or planning), professional/technical time (e.g., designing and producing notices,
reviewing and updating information systems), and clerical time (e.g., reproduction tasks, filing, and, where applicable to the given event, typing or
mailing). See BLS National Compensation Survey, Table 3, available at https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/sp/ncbl0635.pdf. Labor cost totals reflect solely that of the commercial entities affected. Staff assumes that the time required of consumers to respond affirmatively to respondents’ opt-out
programs (be it manually or electronically) would be minimal.
** Reviewing instructions includes all efforts performed by or for the respondent to: Determine whether and to what extent the respondent is
covered by an agency collection of information, understand the nature of the request, and determine the appropriate response (including the creation and dissemination of document and/or electronic disclosures).
Burden hours and costs for
established entities: Burden for
established entities already familiar
with the Rule predictably would be less
than for start-up entities because startup costs, such as crafting a privacy
policy, are generally one-time costs and
have already been incurred. Staff’s best
Event
Hourly wage and labor category
Reviewing GLBA-implementing policies and practices.
Disseminating annual disclosure ......
Changes to privacy policies and related disclosure.
Total ...........................................
...........................................................
Approx. number of
respondents**
Hours per
respondent*
$35.72 ..............................................
managerial/professional ...................
$13.77 clerical ..................................
$28.37 ..............................................
professional/technical .......................
$13.77 ..............................................
clerical ..............................................
$28.37 ..............................................
professional/technical .......................
estimate of the average burden for these
entities is as follows:
Approx. total
annual hours
Approx. total
labor costs
4
70,000
280,000
$10,001,600
15
5
70,000
........................
1,050,000
350,000
14,458,500
9,929,500
15
1,000
15,000
206,550
5
........................
5,000
141,850
........................
........................
1,700,000
$34,738,000
* Staff calculated labor costs by applying appropriate hourly cost figures to burden hours. The hourly wage rates used were based on mean
wages for managerial/professional time (e.g., compliance evaluation and/or planning), skilled professional/technical time (e.g., designing and producing notices, reviewing and updating information systems), and clerical time (e.g., reproduction tasks, filing, and, where applicable to the given
event, typing or mailing). (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 3, July 2003; https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/sp/ncbl0635.pdf). Consumers have a continuing right to opt-out, as well as a right to revoke their opt-out at any time. When a respondent changes its information sharing practices, consumers are again given the opportunity to opt-out. Again, staff assumes that the time required of consumers to respond affirmatively to respondents’ opt-out programs (be it manually or electronically) would be minimal.
** The estimate of respondents is based on the following assumptions: (1) 100,000 respondents, approximately 70% of whom maintain customer relationships exceeding one year, (2) no more than 1% (1,000) of whom make additional changes to privacy policies at any time other
than the occasion of the annual notice; and (3) such changes will occur no more often than once per year.
As calculated above, the total annual
PRA burden for all affected entities in
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17:57 Jun 14, 2005
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a given year would be 2,000,000 hours
and $42,544,000.
PO 00000
Frm 00031
Fmt 4703
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Estimated Capital/Other Non-Labor
Costs Burden: Staff estimates that the
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capital or other non-labor costs
associated with the document requests
are minimal. Covered entities will
already be equipped to provide written
notices (e.g., computers with word
processing programs, typewriters,
copying machines, mailing capabilities).
Most likely, only entities that already
have on-line capabilities will offer
consumers the choice to receive notices
via electronic format. As such, these
entities will already be equipped with
the computer equipment and software
necessary to disseminate the required
disclosures via electronic means.
William Blumenthal,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 05–11748 Filed 6–14–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality
Notice of Meeting
In accordance with section 10(d) of
the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5
U.S.C., Appendix 2), announcement is
made of a Health Care Policy and
Research Special Emphasis Panel (SEP)
meeting.
A Special Emphasis Panel is a group
of experts in fields related to health care
research who are invited by the Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality
(AHRQ), and agree to be available, to
conduct on an as needed basis,
scientific reviews of applications for
AHRQ support. Individual members of
the Panel do not attend regularlyscheduled meetings and do not serve for
fixed terms or a long period of time.
Rather, they are asked to participate in
particular review meetings which
require their type of expertise.
Substantial segments of the upcoming
SEP meeting listed below will be closed
to the public in accordance with the
Federal Advisory Committee Act,
section 10(d) of 5 U.S.C., Appendix 2
and 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(6). Grant
applications for the Limited
Competition Supplement Funds to
Centers for Education and Research on
Therapeutics (CERTs) for Developing
Effectiveness Research Methodologies
and Measures (RFA–HS–SUPP–1) are to
be reviewed and discussed at this
meeting. These discussions are likely to
reveal personal information concerning
individuals associated with the
applications. This information is
exempt from mandatory disclosure
under the above-cited statutes.
VerDate jul<14>2003
17:57 Jun 14, 2005
Jkt 205001
SEP Meeting on: The Limited
Competition Supplement Funds to
Centers for Education and Research on
Therapeutics (CERTs) for Developing
Effectiveness Research Methodologies
and Measures.
Date: July 29, 2006 (open on July 29
from 10 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. and closed
for the remainder of the meeting).
Place: John M. Eisenberg Building,
AHRQ Conference Center, 540 Gaither
Road, Rockville, Maryland 20850.
Contact Person: Anyone wishing to
obtain a roster of members, agenda or
minutes of the non-confidential portions
of this meeting should contact Mrs.
Bonnie Campbell, Committee
Management Officer, Office of
Extramural Research, Education and
Priority Populations, AHRQ, 540
Gaither Road, Room 2038, Rockville,
Maryland 20850, Telephone (301) 427–
1554.
Agenda items for this meeting are
subject to change as priorities dictate.
Dated: June 7, 2005.
Carolyn M. Clancy,
Director.
[FR Doc. 05–11749 Filed 6–13–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160–90–M
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
Statement of Organization, Functions,
and Delegations of Authority
Part C (Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention) of the Statement of
Organization, Functions, and
Delegations of Authority of the
Department of Health and Human
Services (45 FR 67772–76, dated
October 14, 1980, and corrected at 45 FR
69296, October 20, 1980, as amended
most recently at 70 FR 30120–30121,
dated May 25, 2005) is amended to
reflect the establishment of the Office of
Workforce and Career Development
within the Office of the Director,
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
Section C–B, Organization and
Functions, is hereby amended as
follows:
After the mission statement for the
Office of the Chief Science Officer
(CAS), insert the following:
Office of Workforce and Career
Development (CAL). The mission of the
Office of Workforce and Career
Development (OWCD) is to improve
health outcomes by ensuring a
competent and sustainable workforce
through excellence and innovation in
PO 00000
Frm 00032
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
workforce and career development. In
carrying out its mission, OWCD: (1)
Develops goals and objectives, and
provides leadership, policy formation,
scientific oversight, and guidance in
program planning and development; (2)
plans, directs, and manages CDC-wide
training programs, and internship and
fellowship programs; (3) provides
consultation, technical assistance, and
training on epidemiology, public health
informatics, and prevention
effectiveness to CDC/ATSDR, states,
other agencies, other countries, and
domestic and international
organizations; (4) develops, designs, and
implements an accredited
comprehensive strategic human
resource leadership development and
career management program for all
occupational series throughout CDC;
organizational development, career
management, employee development,
and training; (5) maximizes economies
of scale through systematic planning
and evaluation of agency-wide training
initiatives to assist CDC employees in
achieving required competencies; (6)
assists in the definition and analysis of
training needs of public health workers,
and develops and evaluates
instructional products designed to meet
those needs; (7) works with partners,
internally and externally, to develop a
strategic vision for the public health
workforce; (8) collaborates with the
Office of Strategy and Innovation (OSI)
to develop workforce goals for all of
CDC/ATSDR; (9) coordinates the
Excellence in Learning Council to
coordinate, inform, and share strategic
vision for all of CDC’s Coordinating
Centers/Coordinating Offices (CC/CO);
(10) conducts internal succession
planning, forecasting services, and
environmental scanning to ascertain
both current and future public health
workforce needs; and (11) in carrying
out the above functions, collaborates, as
appropriate, with the CDC Office of the
Director, CDC CC/COs, domestic and
international agencies and
organizations.
Office of the Director (CAL1). (1)
Provides leadership and overall
direction for OWCD; (2) develops goal
and objectives, and provides leadership,
policy formation, scientific oversight,
and guidance in program planning and
development; (3) plans, coordinates,
and develops research plans for OWCD;
(4) provides scientific leadership OWCD
research-related activities; (5) ensures
adherence to CDC and HHS sciencerelated policies, e.g., ethical conduct of
research, information security,
extramural research, data sharing; and
responds to allegations of scientific
E:\FR\FM\15JNN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 114 (Wednesday, June 15, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34767-34772]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-11748]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Extension
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'' or ``FTC'').
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'') (44 U.S.C.
3501-3520). The FTC is seeking public comments on its proposal to
extend through June 30, 2008, the current Paperwork Reduction Act
clearances for information collection requirements contained in three
Commission Rules. Those clearances expire on June 30, 2005.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before July 15, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments.
Comments should refer to ``Paperwork Comment: FTC File No. P822108'' to
facilitate the organization of comments. A comment filed in paper form
should include this reference both in the text and on the envelope and
should be mailed or delivered to the following address: Federal Trade
Commission/Office of the Secretary, Room H-159 (Annex J), 600
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580. The FTC is requesting
that any comment filed in paper form be sent by courier or overnight
service, if possible, because U.S. postal mail in the Washington area
and at the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security
precautions. Alternatively, comments may be filed in electronic form
(in ASCII format, WordPerfect, or Microsoft Word) as part of or as an
attachment to e-mail messages directed to the following e-mail box:
PaperworkComment@ftc.gov. If the comment contains any material for
which confidential treatment is requested, it must be filed in paper
form, and the first page of the document must be clearly labeled
``Confidential.'' \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Commission Rule 4.2(d), 16 CFR 4.2(d). 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).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
All comments should additionally be submitted to: Office of
Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Trade
Commission. Comments should be submitted via facsimile to (202) 395-
6974 because U.S. Postal Mail is subject to lengthy delays due to
heightened security precautions.
The FTC Act and other laws the Commission administers permit the
collection of public comments to consider and use in this proceeding as
appropriate. All timely and responsive public comments will be
considered by the Commission and will be available to the public on the
FTC web site, to the extent practicable, at https://www.ftc.gov. 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 Web site. More information, including
routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, may be found in the FTC's
privacy policy at https://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or
copies of the proposed information requirements for the Funeral
Industry Practices Rule (``Funeral Rule'') should be addressed to
Catherine Harrington-McBride, Attorney, Division of Marketing
Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission,
Room H-238, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20580, (202)
326-2452. Requests for additional information or copies of the proposed
information requirements for the Children's Online Privacy Protection
Act Rule (``COPPA Rule'') should be addressed to Rona Kelner, (202)
326-2752, or Karen Muoio, (202) 326-2491, Federal Trade Commission,
Bureau of Consumer Protection, Division of
[[Page 34768]]
Advertising Practices, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Mail Drop NJ-3212,
Washington, DC 20580. Requests for additional information or copies of
the proposed information requirements for the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
Privacy Rule (``GLBA Privacy Rule'') should be addressed to Laura
Berger, Attorney, Division of Financial Practices, Bureau of Consumer
Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Room S-4429, 601 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-3224.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 9, 2005, the FTC sought comment on
the information collection requirements associated with the Funeral
Rule (OMB Control Number 3084-0025), the COPPA Rule (OMB Control Number
3084-0117), and the GLBA Privacy Rule (OMB Control Number 3084-0121).
See 70 FR 11662. As discussed below, one comment relating to the
Funeral Rule was received. Pursuant to the OMB regulations that
implement the PRA (5 CFR Part 1320), the FTC is providing this second
opportunity for public comment while seeking OMB approval to extend the
existing paperwork clearance for the rule.
1. The Funeral Rule, 16 CFR Part 453 (OMB Control Number 3084-0025)
The Funeral Rule ensures that consumers who are purchasing funeral
goods and services have accurate information about the terms and
conditions (especially prices) for such goods and services. The Rule
requires that funeral providers disclose this information to consumers
and maintain records to facilitate enforcement of the Rule. The PRA
clearance for the Funeral Rule was scheduled to expire on March 31,
2005. On February 7, 2005, the OMB granted the FTC's request for a
short-term extension to June 30, 2005.
The Commission received only one comment on the information
collection requirements attendant to the Funeral Rule. The commenter,
Selected Independent Funeral Homes (``SIFH''), a trade association
whose members include approximately 1500 independent, privately-owned
funeral homes around the world, noted that it ``believes that the
Commission's burden estimates are within accurate ranges.'' SIFH at 1.
However, SIFH, citing a comment it submitted in the 1999 review of the
Funeral Rule, expressed concern that because the Funeral Rule currently
applies ``only to traditional funeral homes,'' the Rule's burdens
``disparately impact only a portion of an industry selling the same or
similar goods or services.'' SIFH at 2. This concern addresses the
scope of the Rule, not the PRA burden estimates
The estimated burden associated with the collection of information
required by the Rule is 21,500 hours for recordkeeping, 104,545 hours
for disclosures, and 43,000 hours for training, for a total of 169,000
hours (rounded to the nearest thousand). This estimate is based on the
number of funeral providers (approximately 21,500),\2\ the number of
funerals annually (approximately 2.4 million),\3\ and the time needed
to fulfill the information collection tasks required by the Rule. The
methodology followed in deriving burden estimates for the existing
clearance is detailed in an April 11, 2002, Federal Register Notice
that responded to a comment by the National Funeral Directors
Association (``NFDA'') regarding the FTC's 2001 request for an
extension of the clearance. See 67 FR 17691.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ The estimated number of funeral providers is from data
provided on the National Funeral Directors Association (``NFDA'')
Web site (www.nfda.org), which was accessed in January 2005.
\3\ The estimated number of funerals annually is taken from the
National Center for Health Statistics, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/.
According to NCHS, 2,443,387 deaths occurred in the United States in
2002, the most recent year for which final data is available. See
National Vital Statistics Reports, vol. 53, no. 5 ``Deaths: Final
Data for 2002,'' available at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/
nvsr53/nvsr53_05acc.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recordkeeping: The Rule requires that funeral providers retain
copies of price lists and statements of funeral goods and services
selected by consumers. Based on a maximum average burden of one hour
per provider per year for this task, the total burden for the 21,500
providers is 21,500 hours. This estimate is lower than FTC staff's 2002
estimate of 22,300 hours due to a decrease in the number of funeral
providers.
Disclosure: The Rule requires that funeral providers: (1) Maintain
current price lists for funeral goods and services, (2) provide written
documentation of the funeral goods and services selected by consumers
making funeral arrangements, and (3) provide information about funeral
prices in response to telephone inquiries.
1. Maintaining current price lists requires that funeral providers
revise their price lists from time to time throughout the year to
reflect price changes. Staff estimates, consistent with its current
clearance, that this task requires a maximum average burden of two and
one-half hours per provider per year for this task. Thus, the total
burden for 21,500 providers is 53,750 hours.
2. Staff retains its 2002 estimate that 13% of funeral providers
prepare written documentation of funeral goods and services selected by
consumers specifically due to the Rule's mandate. The original
rulemaking record indicated that 87% of funeral providers provided
written documentation of funeral arrangements, even absent the Rule's
requirements.\4\ The NFDA's 2002 comment indicates that even before the
Rule became effective, nearly every funeral home already had been
providing consumers with some kind of final statement in writing. NFDA
stated that likely only the timing of the statement's issuance had
changed as a result of the Rule. Nonetheless, staff believes it prudent
to err, if at all, on the side of overestimating the burden imposed by
the Rule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ The original version of the Funeral Rule required that
funeral providers retain a copy of and give each customer a separate
``Statement of Funeral Goods and Services Selected.'' The 1994
amendments to the Rule eliminated that requirement, allowing instead
for such disclosures to be incorporated into a written contract,
bill of sale, or other record of a transaction that providers use to
memorialize sales agreements with customers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
According to the rulemaking record, these providers are typically
the smallest funeral homes. The written documentation requirement can
be satisfied through the use of a standard form (an example of which
the FTC has provided to all funeral providers in its compliance
guide).\5\ Based on an estimate that these smaller funeral homes
arrange, on average, approximately twenty funerals per year and that it
would take each of them about three minutes to record prices for each
consumer on the standard form, FTC staff estimates that the total
burden associated with the written documentation requirement is one
hour per provider not already in compliance, for a total of 2,795 hours
[(21,500 funeral providers x 13%) x (20 statements per year x 3 minutes
per statement)].
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ The FTC has provided its compliance guide to all funeral
providers at no cost, and additional copies are available on the FTC
Web site, https://www.ftc.gov, or by mail.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. The Funeral Rule also requires funeral providers to answer
telephone inquiries about the provider's offerings or prices. Industry
data indicate that only about 12% of funeral purchasers make telephone
inquiries, with each call lasting an estimated ten minutes. Thus,
assuming that the average purchaser who makes telephone inquiries
places one call per funeral to determine prices, the estimated burden
is 48,000 hours (2.4 million funerals per year x 12% x 10 minutes per
inquiry), a slight increase over the 46,000 hours estimated by staff in
2002 due to the
[[Page 34769]]
increase in the number of funerals per year. This burden likely will
decline over time as consumers increasingly rely on the Internet for
funeral price information.
In sum, the burden due to the Rule's disclosure requirements totals
104,545 hours (53,750 + 2,795 + 48,000).
Training: In addition to the recordkeeping and disclosure-related
tasks noted above, funeral homes may also have training requirements
specifically attributable to the Rule. While staff believes that annual
training burdens associated with the Rule should be minimal because
Rule compliance is generally included in continuing education
requirements for licensing and voluntary certification programs, staff
estimates that, industry-wide, funeral homes should incur no more than
43,000 hours related to training specific to the Rule each year. This
estimate is consistent with staff's assumption for the current
clearance that an ``average'' funeral home consists of approximately
five employees (full-time and part-time employment combined), but with
no more than four of them having tasks specifically associated with the
Funeral Rule. Staff retains its estimate that each of the four
employees (three directors and a clerical employee) per firm would each
require one-half hour, at most, per year, for such training. Thus,
total estimated time for training is 43,000 hours (4 employees per firm
x \1/2\ hour x 21,500 providers).
Estimated annual cost burden: $4,882,000, rounded to the nearest
thousand ($3,654,000 in labor costs and $1,228,000 in non-labor costs).
Labor costs: Labor costs are derived by applying appropriate hourly
cost figures to the burden hours described above. The hourly rates used
below are averages.
Clerical personnel, at an hourly rate of $13, can perform the
recordkeeping tasks required under the Rule. Based on the estimated
hour burden of 21,500 hours, the estimated cost burden for
recordkeeping is $279,500 ($13 per hour x 21,500 hours).
The two and one-half hours required of each provider, on average,
to update price lists should consist of approximately one and one-half
hours of managerial or professional time, at $27.50 per hour, and one
hour of clerical time, at $13 per hour, for a total of $54.25 per
provider \6\ [($27.50 per hour x 1.5 hours) + ($13.00 per hour x 1
hour)]. Thus, the estimated total cost burden for maintaining price
lists is $1,166,375 ($54.25 per provider x 21,500 providers).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ National Compensation Survey: Occupational Wages in the
United States, July 2003, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics (Aug. 2004) (``BLS National Compensation Survey'')
(citing the mean hourly earnings for funeral directors as $21.30/
hour), available at https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/sp/ncbl0636.pdf. As
in the past, staff has increased this figure on the assumption that
the owner or managing director, who would be paid at a slightly
higher rate, would be responsible for making pricing decisions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The cost of providing written documentation of the goods and
services selected by the consumer is 2,795 hours of managerial or
professional time at approximately $27.50 per hour, or $76,862.50
(2,795 hours x $27.50 per hour).
The cost of responding to telephone inquiries about offerings or
prices is 48,000 hours of managerial or professional time at $27.50 per
hour, or $1,320,000 (48,000 hours x $27.50 per hour).
The cost of training licensed and non-licensed funeral home staff
to comply with the Funeral Rule is two hours per funeral home, with
four employees of varying ranks each spending one-half hour on
training. Consistent with estimates in the current clearance, the
Commission is assuming that three funeral directors, at hourly wages of
$27.50, $20, and $15, respectively, as well as one clerical or
administrative staff member, at $13 per hour, require such training,
for a total burden of 43,000 hours (21,500 funeral homes x 2 hours
total per establishment), and $811,625 [($27.50 + $20 + $15 + $13) x
\1/2\ hour per employee x 21,500 funeral homes].
The total labor cost of the three disclosure requirements imposed
by the Funeral Rule is $2,563,237.50 ($1,166,375 + $76,862.50 +
$1,320,000). The total labor cost for recordkeeping is $279,500. The
total labor cost for disclosures, recordkeeping and training is
$3,654,000 ($279,500 for recordkeeping + $811,625 for training +
$2,563,237.50 for disclosures), rounded to the nearest thousand.
Capital or other non-labor costs: The Rule imposes minimal capital
costs and no current start-up costs. The Rule first took effect in 1984
and the revised Rule took effect in 1994, so funeral providers should
already have in place capital equipment to carry out tasks associated
with Rule compliance. Moreover, most funeral homes already have access,
for other business purposes, to the ordinary office equipment needed
for compliance, so the Rule likely imposes minimal additional capital
expense.
Compliance with the Rule, however, does entail some expense to
funeral providers for printing and duplication of price lists. Assuming
that two price lists per funeral/cremation are created by industry to
adhere to the Rule, 4,800,000 copies per year are made for a total cost
of $1,200,000 (2,400,000 funerals per year x 2 copies per funeral x
$.25 per copy). In addition, the estimated 2,795 providers not already
providing written documentation of funeral arrangements apart from the
Rule will incur additional printing and copying costs. Assuming that
those providers use the standard two-page form shown in the Compliance
Guide, at twenty-five cents per page, at an average of twenty funerals
per year, the added cost burden would be $27,950 (2,795 providers x 20
funerals per year x 2 pages per funeral x $.25). Thus, estimated non-
labor costs are $1,228,000, rounded to the nearest thousand.
2. The COPPA Rule, 16 CFR Part 312 (OMB Control Number 3084-0117)
The COPPA Rule prohibits unfair and deceptive acts and practices in
connection with the collection and use of personally identifiable
information from and about children on the Internet.
Estimated annual hours burden: 2000 hours (rounded to the nearest
thousand)
Disclosure Requirements: 1800 hours.
The COPPA Rule contains certain statutorily-required notice
requirements, which constitute a ``collection of information'' under
the PRA:
(a) The Rule requires each Web site and online service operator
directed to children, and any Web site or online service operator
with actual knowledge that it is collecting personal information
from children, to provide notice of how it collects, uses, and
discloses such information and, with exceptions, to obtain the prior
consent of the child's parent in order to engage in such collection,
use, and disclosure;
(b) The Rule requires the operator to provide the parent with
notice of the specific types of personal information being collected
from the child, to give the parent the opportunity to forbid the
operator at any time from further collecting, using, or maintaining
such information, and to provide reasonable means for the parent to
obtain the information;
(c) The Rule prohibits a child's participation in a game, a
prize offer, or other activity from being conditioned on the child's
disclosure of more personal information than is ``reasonably
necessary'' for the child to participate in that activity; and
(d) The Rule requires Web site and online service operators to
establish procedures that protect the confidentiality, security, and
integrity of personal information collected from children.
After consulting with the COPPA safe harbor programs and industry
groups, the FTC staff retains its earlier estimate that roughly thirty
new web entrants
[[Page 34770]]
each year will fall within the Rule's coverage. Web site operators that
have previously created or adjusted their sites to comply with the Rule
will incur no further burden associated with the Rule, unless they opt
to change their policies and information collection in ways that will
further invoke the Rule's provisions. Moreover, the staff believes that
existing COPPA-compliant operators who introduce additional sites
beyond those they already have created will incur minimal, if any,
incremental PRA burden. This is because such operators already have
been through the start-up phase and can carry over the results of that
to the new sites they create.
Staff also retains its prior estimate that on average, new entrants
will spend approximately sixty hours crafting a privacy policy,
designing a mechanism to provide the required notice, and posting it
online. Accordingly, the staff estimates that complying with the Rule's
disclosure requirements will require approximately 1,800 hours (30 new
web entrants x 60 hours per entrant). Consistent with prior estimates,
FTC staff estimates that the time spent on compliance would be
apportioned five to one between legal (lawyers or similar
professionals) and technical (computer programmers) personnel. The
staff therefore estimates that lawyers or similar professionals who
craft privacy policies will account for 1,500 of the 1,800 hours
required. Computer programmers responsible for posting the policy will
account for the remaining 300 hours.
Voluntary Reporting Requirements for Safe Harbor Participants: 130
hours.
Operators can comply with the Rule by meeting the terms of industry
self-regulatory guidelines that the Commission approves after notice
and comment.\7\ While the submission of industry self-regulatory
guidelines to the agency is voluntary, the Rule includes specific
reporting requirements that all safe harbor applicants must provide to
receive Commission approval.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ See Section 312.10(c). Approved self-regulatory guidelines
can be found on the FTC's Web site at https://www.ftc.gov/privacy/
safeharbor/shp.htm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FTC staff retains its estimate that it would require, on average,
265 hours per new safe harbor program applicant to prepare and submit
its safe harbor proposal in accordance with Section 312.12(c) of the
Rule. Industry sources have confirmed recently that this estimate is
reasonable and advised that all of this time would be attributable to
the efforts of lawyers. Based on past experience and industry input,
the staff believes that no more than one applicant every two years will
submit a request. Thus, the burden attributable to this requirement
would be approximately 130 hours per year (265 hours/2 years).
The staff believes that most of the records submitted in connection
with a safe harbor request would be records that marketing and online
industry representatives have kept in the ordinary course of business
before the Rule was issued. Any incremental effort associated with
maintaining the results of independent assessments under Section
312.10(d)(3) would also be in the normal course of business. Thus, in
accordance with the regulations implementing the PRA, the burden
estimate does not include effort expended for these activities. 5 CFR
1320.3(b)(2).
Accordingly, the staff estimates that total hours per year for the
disclosure requirements affecting new web entrants and the reporting
requirements for safe harbor applications would be approximately 2000
hours (rounded to the nearest thousand).
Labor costs: Labor costs are derived by applying appropriate hourly
cost figures to the burden hours described above. The staff
conservatively assumes hourly rates of $85 and $30, respectively, for
lawyers or similar professionals and computer programmers.\8\ Based on
these inputs, the staff further estimates that the associated annual
labor costs for new entrants would be $136,500 [(1,500 hours x $85 per
hour for legal) + (300 hours x $30 per hour for computer programmers)]
and for safe harbor applicants would be $11,050 (130 hours per year x
$85 per hour), for a total labor cost of $148,000 (rounded to the
nearest thousand).
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\8\ FTC staff estimates average legal costs at $85 hour, which
is consistent with Commission experience with other information
collection activities. The $30 estimate for computer programmers is
based on the BLS National Compensation Survey, which indicates the
mean hourly wage rate for computer programmers as $29.53.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Non-labor costs: Because Web sites will already be equipped with
the computer equipment and software necessary to comply with the Rule's
notice requirements, the sole costs incurred by the Web sites are the
aforementioned estimated labor costs. Similarly, industry members
should already have in place the means to retain and store the records
that must be maintained under the Rule's safe harbor recordkeeping
provisions, because they are likely to have been keeping these records
independent of the Rule.
3. The GLBA Rule, 16 CFR Part 313 (OMB Control Number 3084-0121)
The GLBA Rule is designed to ensure that customers and consumers,
subject to certain exceptions, will have access to the privacy policies
of the financial institutions with which they conduct business. As
mandated by the GLBA, 15 U.S.C. 6801-6809, the Rule requires financial
institutions to disclose to consumers: (1) Initial notice of the
financial institution's privacy policy when establishing a customer
relationship with a consumer and/or before sharing a consumer's non-
public personal information with certain nonaffiliated third parties;
(2) notice of the consumer's right to opt out of information sharing
with such parties; (3) annual notice of the institution's privacy
policy to any continuing customer; and (4) notice of changes in the
institution's practices on information sharing. These requirements are
subject to the PRA. The Rule does not require recordkeeping.
Estimated annual hours burden: As noted in the original burden
estimate for the GLBA Rule, determining the paperwork burden of the
Rule's disclosure requirements is very difficult because of the highly
diverse group of affected entities, consisting of financial
institutions not regulated by a federal financial regulatory agency.
See 15 U.S.C. 6805 (committing to the Commission's jurisdiction
entities that are not specifically subject to another agency's
jurisdiction).
The burden estimates represent the FTC staff's best assessment,
based on its knowledge and expertise relating to the financial
institutions subject to the Commission's jurisdiction under this law.
To derive these estimates, staff considered the wide variations in
covered entities. In some instances, covered entities may make the
required disclosures in the ordinary course of business, apart from the
GLBA Rule. In addition, some entities may use highly automated means to
provide the required disclosures, while others may rely on methods
requiring more manual effort. The burden estimates shown below include
the time that may be necessary to train staff to comply with the
regulations. These figures are averages based on staff's best estimate
of the burden incurred over the broad spectrum of covered entities.
Staff retains its prior estimate of the number of the number of
entities each year that will address the GLBA Rule for the first time
(5,000) and its estimate of established entities already familiar with
the Rule (100,000). While the
[[Page 34771]]
number of established entities familiar with the Rule would
theoretically increase each year with the addition of new entrants,
staff retain its previous estimate of established entities in
consideration of the fact that a number of the established entities
will close in any given year, and the difficulty of establishing a more
precise estimate. Staff's burden estimates for new entrants and
established entities are detailed in the charts below.
Start-up hours and labor costs for new entities:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Labor cost per
Event Hourly wage and labor Hours per event* (per Approx. number Approx. total Approx. total
category respondent respondent) of respondents annual hrs. labor costs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reviewing internal policies and $35.92................. 20 $718.40 5,000 100,000 $3,592,000
developing GLBA-implementing managerial/professional
instructions**.
Creating disclosure document or $13.77................. 5 68.85 5,000 25,000 344,250
electronic disclosure (including clerical...............
initial, annual, and opt out
disclosures).
$28.37................. 10 283.70 ................ 50,000 1,418,500
professional/technical.
Disseminating initial discloure $13.77................. 15 206.55 5,000 75,000 1,032,750
(including opt out notices). clerical...............
$28.37................. 10 283.70 50,000 ................ 1,418,500
professional/technical.
-------------------
Total............................ ....................... ................ ................ ................ 300,000 7,806,000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Staff calculated labor costs by applying appropriate hourly cost figures to burden hours. The hourly rates used were based on mean wages for
managerial/professional time (e.g., compliance evaluation and/or planning), professional/technical time (e.g., designing and producing notices,
reviewing and updating information systems), and clerical time (e.g., reproduction tasks, filing, and, where applicable to the given event, typing or
mailing). See BLS National Compensation Survey, Table 3, available at https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/sp/ncbl0635.pdf. Labor cost totals reflect solely
that of the commercial entities affected. Staff assumes that the time required of consumers to respond affirmatively to respondents' opt-out programs
(be it manually or electronically) would be minimal.
** Reviewing instructions includes all efforts performed by or for the respondent to: Determine whether and to what extent the respondent is covered by
an agency collection of information, understand the nature of the request, and determine the appropriate response (including the creation and
dissemination of document and/or electronic disclosures).
Burden hours and costs for established entities: Burden for
established entities already familiar with the Rule predictably would
be less than for start-up entities because start-up costs, such as
crafting a privacy policy, are generally one-time costs and have
already been incurred. Staff's best estimate of the average burden for
these entities is as follows:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Approx. number
Event Hourly wage and Hours per of Approx. total Approx. total
labor category respondent* respondents** annual hours labor costs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reviewing GLBA-implementing $35.72.......... 4 70,000 280,000 $10,001,600
policies and practices. managerial/
professional.
Disseminating annual $13.77 clerical. 15 70,000 1,050,000 14,458,500
disclosure.
$28.37.......... 5 .............. 350,000 9,929,500
professional/
technical.
Changes to privacy policies $13.77.......... 15 1,000 15,000 206,550
and related disclosure. clerical........
$28.37.......... 5 .............. 5,000 141,850
professional/
technical.
-----------------
Total..................... ................ .............. .............. 1,700,000 $34,738,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Staff calculated labor costs by applying appropriate hourly cost figures to burden hours. The hourly wage
rates used were based on mean wages for managerial/professional time (e.g., compliance evaluation and/or
planning), skilled professional/technical time (e.g., designing and producing notices, reviewing and updating
information systems), and clerical time (e.g., reproduction tasks, filing, and, where applicable to the given
event, typing or mailing). (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 3, July 2003; https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/sp/
ncbl0635.pdf). Consumers have a continuing right to opt-out, as well as a right to revoke their opt-out at any
time. When a respondent changes its information sharing practices, consumers are again given the opportunity
to opt-out. Again, staff assumes that the time required of consumers to respond affirmatively to respondents'
opt-out programs (be it manually or electronically) would be minimal.
** The estimate of respondents is based on the following assumptions: (1) 100,000 respondents, approximately 70%
of whom maintain customer relationships exceeding one year, (2) no more than 1% (1,000) of whom make
additional changes to privacy policies at any time other than the occasion of the annual notice; and (3) such
changes will occur no more often than once per year.
As calculated above, the total annual PRA burden for all affected
entities in a given year would be 2,000,000 hours and $42,544,000.
Estimated Capital/Other Non-Labor Costs Burden: Staff estimates
that the
[[Page 34772]]
capital or other non-labor costs associated with the document requests
are minimal. Covered entities will already be equipped to provide
written notices (e.g., computers with word processing programs,
typewriters, copying machines, mailing capabilities). Most likely, only
entities that already have on-line capabilities will offer consumers
the choice to receive notices via electronic format. As such, these
entities will already be equipped with the computer equipment and
software necessary to disseminate the required disclosures via
electronic means.
William Blumenthal,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 05-11748 Filed 6-14-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P
