Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension, 50106-50109 [2012-20389]

Download as PDF 50106 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 161 / Monday, August 20, 2012 / Notices liabilities in local currency), foreign liabilities to related offices, and local liabilities in a local currency. Schedule F—Ancillary Indicators The Ancillary Indicators Schedule would include total liabilities, retail funding, non-domestic net revenue, total net revenue, total gross revenue, equity market capitalization, gross value of all cash and gross fair value of securities lent in securities financing transactions, gross value of all cash and gross fair value of securities borrowed in securities financing transactions, gross positive fair value of OTC derivatives transactions, gross negative fair value of OTC derivatives transactions, unsecured settlement/clearing lines provided, and number of jurisdictions. The Federal Reserve proposes to implement the collection of the new systemic risk report as of December 31, 2012, so that it may be used in the next G–SIB data collection exercise, which is scheduled to begin in February 2013. noted, nonbanking activities will be conducted throughout the United States. 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 September 14, 2012. A. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (William Lang, Senior Vice President) 100 North 6th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19105– 1521: 1. Fulton Financial Corporation, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; to acquire up to 7.3 percent of the voting shares of Bryn Mawr Bank Corporation, and thereby indirectly acquire voting shares of The Bryn Mawr Trust Company, both in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, August 15, 2012. Robert deV. Frierson, Secretary of the Board. [FR Doc. 2012–20375 Filed 8–17–12; 8:45 am] Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, August 15, 2012. Robert deV. Frierson, Secretary of the Board. BILLING CODE 6210–01–P [FR Doc. 2012–20325 Filed 8–17–12; 8:45 am] Notice of Proposals To Engage in or To Acquire Companies Engaged in Permissible Nonbanking Activities BILLING CODE 6210–01–P FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Formations of, Acquisitions by, and Mergers of Bank Holding Companies The companies listed in this notice have applied to the Board for approval, pursuant to the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.) (BHC Act), Regulation Y (12 CFR part 225), and all other applicable statutes and regulations to become a bank holding company and/or to acquire the assets or the ownership of, control of, or the power to vote shares of a bank or bank holding company and all of the 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 applications will also 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 VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:25 Aug 17, 2012 Jkt 226001 FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM The companies listed in this notice have given notice under section 4 of the Bank Holding Company Act (12 U.S.C. 1843) (BHC Act) and Regulation Y, (12 CFR part 225) to engage de novo, or to acquire or control voting securities or assets of a company, including the companies listed below, that engages either directly or through a subsidiary or other company, in a nonbanking activity that is listed in § 225.28 of Regulation Y (12 CFR 225.28) or that the Board has determined by Order to be closely related to banking and permissible for bank holding companies. Unless otherwise noted, these activities will be conducted throughout the United States. Each notice is available for inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank indicated. The notice also will be available for inspection at the offices of the Board of Governors. Interested persons may express their views in writing on the question whether the proposal complies with the standards of section 4 of the BHC Act. Unless otherwise noted, comments regarding the applications must be received at the Reserve Bank indicated or the offices of the Board of Governors not later than September 14, 2012. A. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (William Lang, Senior Vice President) 100 North 6th Street, PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19105– 1521: 1. Customers Bancorp, Inc., Wyomissing, Pennsylvania; to acquire 100 percent of the voting shares of Acacia Federal Savings Bank, Falls Church, Virginia, and thereby engage in operating a savings association, pursuant to section 225.28(b)(4)(ii). Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, August 15, 2012. Robert deV. Frierson, Secretary of the Board. [FR Doc. 2012–20374 Filed 8–17–12; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6210–01–P FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension Federal Trade Commission (‘‘FTC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’). ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: The FTC intends to ask the Office of Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) to extend through November 30, 2015, the current Paperwork Reduction Act (‘‘PRA’’) clearance for the FTC’s shared enforcement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (‘‘CFPB’’) of the information collection requirements in subpart N of Regulation V. That clearance expires on November 30, 2012. DATES: Comments must be filed by October 19, 2012. ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ‘‘Subpart N of Regulation V, PRA Comment, P125403,’’ on your comment and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ ftc/SubpartNRegulationVPRA by following the instructions on the webbased form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H–113 (Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tiffany George, Attorney, Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, Bureau of Consumer Protection, (202) 326– 3040, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20580. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\20AUN1.SGM 20AUN1 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 161 / Monday, August 20, 2012 / Notices Consumer Protection Act 1 transferred rulemaking authority for several consumer financial protection laws to the CFPB. Accordingly, the Commission rescinded several rules under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, including the FTC’s Free Annual File Disclosures Rule that appeared under 16 CFR parts 610 and 698. On December 21, 2011, the CFPB issued an interim final rule, Regulation V (Fair Credit Reporting), 12 CFR part 1022, which incorporated within its subpart N (Duties of Consumer Reporting Agencies Regarding Disclosures to Consumers), with only minor changes (non-substantive, technical, formatting, and stylistic), the former Free Annual File Disclosures Rule, and in Appendix L to Part 1022, the associated model notice.2 Subpart N of Regulation V continues the disclosure requirements that had existed under the Free Annual File Disclosures Rule. Because the FTC shares enforcement authority with the CFPB for subpart N, the two agencies have split between them the related estimate of PRA burden for firms under their co-enforcement jurisdiction. Subpart N requires nationwide consumer reporting agencies and nationwide consumer specialty reporting agencies to provide to consumers, upon request, one free file disclosure within any 12-month period. Generally, it requires the nationwide consumer reporting agencies, as defined in Section 603(p) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681a(p), to create and operate a centralized source that provides consumers with the ability to request their free annual file disclosures from each of the nationwide consumer reporting agencies through a centralized Internet Web site, toll-free telephone number, and postal address. Subpart N also requires the nationwide consumer reporting agencies to establish a standardized form for Internet and mail requests for annual file disclosures, and provides a model standardized form that may be used to comply with that requirement. It additionally requires nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies, as defined in Section 603(w) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681a(w), to establish a streamlined process for consumers to request annual file disclosures. This streamlined process must include a toll-free telephone number for consumers to make such requests. 1 Public Law 111–203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010). Title X comprises sections 1001–1100H (collectively, the ‘‘Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010’’). 2 76 FR 79830, 79309 (Dec. 21, 2011). VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:25 Aug 17, 2012 Jkt 226001 Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501–3521, Federal agencies must get OMB approval for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. ‘‘Collection of information’’ includes agency requests or requirements to submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. 44 U.S.C. 3502(3); 5 CFR 1320.3(c). The FTC is seeking clearance for its assumed share of the estimated PRA burden regarding the disclosure requirements under subpart N of Regulation V. Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC invites comments on: (1) Whether the disclosure requirements are necessary, including whether the information will be practically useful; (2) the accuracy of our burden estimates, including whether the methodology and assumptions used are valid; (3) how to improve the quality, utility, and clarity of the disclosure requirements; and (4) how to minimize the burden of providing the required information to consumers. All comments should be filed as prescribed in the ADDRESSES section above, and must be received on or before October 19, 2012. Burden statement: On February 3, 2012, OMB cleared the FTC’s adjusting entries to split PRA burden with the CFPB regarding the formerly designated Free Annual File Disclosures Rule. The FTC’s currently cleared burden totals are 155,512 hours and $4,195,000 in non-labor/capital costs.3 Associated labor costs are $2,595,710. These figures represent a halving of the FTC’s prior burden estimates, including the incremental effects of the FTC’s 2010 final amendments 4 to the Free Annual File Disclosures Rule. The FTC’s updated estimates, excluding the halving (to be shown at the conclusion of this analysis), are as follows: A. Requests Per Year From Consumers for Free Annual File Disclosures The Consumer Data Industry Association has stated that between December 2004 and December 2006, the nationwide consumer reporting agencies provided over 52 million free annual file disclosures through the centralized Internet Web site, toll-free telephone number, and postal address required to be established by the FACT Act and the Rule,5 an annual rate of about 26 3 OMB Control No. 3084–0128. FR 9726 (Mar. 3, 2010). These amendments have been incorporated into Regulation V subpart N. As explained below, however, there is no longer any incremental PRA burden presented by those amendments. 5 Letter from Stuart K. Pratt, President & CEO, Consumer Data Industry Association, to Rep. Barney Frank, Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives (Dec. 1, 2006). 4 77 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 50107 million requests per year. Because the prospective clearance renewal would run through November 30, 2015, by that time, nine years will have passed since the Commission received the data informing its past estimate of the yearly volume of requests for free credit reports. We expect that the number of requests for free annual credit reports has increased since 2006, both because of increases in the population and because consumers will have become more aware that they are entitled to a free annual report. As a proxy, we will use an estimate of 30 million requests per year as a representative average year to estimate PRA burden for purposes of the instant analysis. The Commission, however, seeks more recent estimates of the number of requests consumers are making for free annual credit reports. In addition to data on the number of requests, data on how the number of requests has changed over time, and how these requests are being received—by Internet, phone, or by mail—would be most helpful. B. Annual File Disclosures Provided Through the Internet Both nationwide and nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies will likely handle the overwhelming majority of consumer requests through Internet Web sites. The annual file disclosure requests processed through the Internet will not impose any hours burden per request on the nationwide and nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies, even though consumer reporting agencies periodically will be required to adjust the Internet capacity needed to handle the changing request volume. Consumer reporting agencies likely will make such adjustments by negotiating or renegotiating outsourcing service contracts annually or as conditions change. Trained personnel will need to spend time negotiating and renegotiating such contracts. Commission staff estimates that negotiating such contracts will require a cumulative total of 8,320 hours and $502,611 in setup and/or maintenance costs.6 Such activity is treated as an 6 Based on the time necessary for similar activity in the federal government (including at the FTC), staff estimates that such contracting and administration will require approximately 4 fulltime equivalent employees (‘‘FTE’’) for the web service contracts. Thus, staff estimates that administering the contract will require 4 FTE, which is 8,320 hours per year (4 FTE × 2,080 hours/ year). The cost is based on the reported May 2011 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) rate ($60.41) for computer and information systems managers. See National Occupational and Wages—May 2011, Table 1, available at https://www.bls.gov/ E:\FR\FM\20AUN1.SGM Continued 20AUN1 50108 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 161 / Monday, August 20, 2012 / Notices annual burden of maintaining and adjusting the changing Internet capacity requirements. C. Annual File Disclosures Requested Over the Telephone Most of the telephone requests for annual file disclosures will also be handled in an automated fashion, without any additional personnel needed to process the requests. As with the Internet, consumer reporting agencies will require additional time and investment to increase and administer the automated telephone capacity for the expected increase in request volume. The nationwide and nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies will likely make such adjustments by negotiating or renegotiating outsourcing service contracts annually or as conditions change. Staff estimates that this will require a total of 6,240 hours at a cost of $376,958 in setup and/or maintenance costs.7 This activity also is treated as an annual recurring burden necessary to obtain, maintain, and adjust automated call center capacity. mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES D. Annual File Disclosures Requiring Processing by Mail Based on their knowledge of the industry, staff believes that no more than 1% of consumers (1% × 30 million, or 300,000) will request an annual file disclosure through U.S. postal service mail. Staff estimates that clerical personnel will require 10 minutes per request to handle these requests, thereby totaling 50,000 hours of time. [(300,000 × 10 minutes)/60 minutes = 50,000 hours] In addition, whenever the requesting consumer cannot be identified using an automated method (a Web site or automated telephone service), it will be necessary to redirect that consumer to send identifying material along with the request by mail. Staff estimates that this will occur in about 5% of the new requests (or 1,485,000)8 that were originally placed over the Internet or telephone. Staff estimates that clerical news.release/archives/ocwage_03272012.pdf. Thus, the estimated setup and maintenance cost for an Internet system is $502,611 per year (8,320 hours × $60.41/hour). 7 Staff estimates that recurring contracting for automated telephone capacity will require approximately 3 FTE, a total of 6,240 hours (3 × 2,080 hours). Applying an hourly wage rate of $60.41 based on May 2011 BLS data for computer and information systems managers, the estimate for setup and maintenance cost is $376,958 (6,240 × $60.41) per year. See https://www.bls.gov/ news.release/archives/ocwage_03272012.pdf. 8 This figure reflects 5 percent of all requests, net of the estimated 1 percent of all requests that might initially be made by mail. That is, .05 × (30,000,000 ¥ 300,000) = 1,485,000. VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:25 Aug 17, 2012 Jkt 226001 personnel will require approximately 10 minutes per request to input and process those redirected requests for a cumulative total of 247,500 clerical hours. [(1,485,000 × 10 minutes)/60 minutes = 247,500 hours] E. Instructions to Consumers The Rule also requires that certain instructions be provided to consumers. See Rule sections 1022.136(b)(2)(iv)(A, B), 1022.137(a)(2)(iii)(A, B). Minimal associated time or cost is involved, however. Internet instructions to consumers are embedded in the centralized source Web site and do not require additional time or cost for the nationwide consumer reporting agencies. Similarly, for telephone requests, the automated phone systems provide the requisite instructions when consumers select certain options. Some consumers who request their credit reports by mail might additionally request printed instructions from the nationwide and nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies. Staff estimates that there will be a total of 1,785,000 requests each year for free annual file disclosures by mail.9 Based on their knowledge of the industry, staff estimates that, of the predicted 1,785,000 mail requests, 10% (or 178,500) will request instructions by mail. If printed instructions are sent to each of these consumers by mail, requiring 10 minutes of clerical time per consumer, this will total 29,750 hours. [(178,500 instructions × 10 minutes)/60 minutes per hour]. F. 2010 FTC Final Amendments 10 There is no further incremental PRA burden tied to the 2010 amendments. Previously FTC staff had estimated that administrative amendments to former section 610.2 (designed to prevent interference with consumers’ ability to obtain their free annual file disclosures through the centralized source) would impose no more than a minimal, onetime burden for the nationwide consumer reporting agency to reconfigure the centralized source and their own proprietary Web sites. Those amendments, however, became effective April 2, 2010, so the implementation should now be complete. Moreover, the other amendments, which were to former section 610.4, did not constitute 9 This figure includes both the estimated 1% of 30 million requests that will be made by mail each year (300,000), and the estimated 1,485,000 requests initially made over the Internet or telephone that will be redirected to the mail process (see supra note 8). 10 As noted above, the 2010 FTC amendments have been incorporated into what is now Regulation V, subpart N. PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 a PRA ‘‘collection of information’’ as defined by OMB’s regulations that implement the PRA. The section 610.4 amendment required that all advertisements for ‘‘free credit reports’’ contain certain prescribed disclosures tailored to the medium used. OMB excludes from the definition of ‘‘collection of information’’ the ‘‘public disclosure of information originally supplied by the Federal government to the recipient for the purpose of disclosure to the public.’’ 5 CFR 1320.3(c)(2). G. Labor Costs Labor costs are derived by applying hourly cost figures to the burden hours described above. Accordingly, staff estimates that processing of requests for annual file disclosures and instructions will be performed by clerical personnel, which will require 327,250 hours at a cost of $5,258,908. [(50,000 hours for handling initial mail request + 247,500 hours for handling requests redirected to mail + 29,750 hours for handling instructions mailed to consumers) × $16.07 per hour.11 H. Capital/Non-Labor Costs As in the previous PRA clearance analysis, FTC staff believes it is likely that consumer reporting agencies will use third-party contractors (instead of their own employees) to increase the capacity of their systems. Because of the way these contracts are typically established, these costs will likely be incurred on a continuing basis, and will be calculated based on the number of requests handled by the systems. Staff estimates that the total annual amount to be paid for services delivered under these contracts is $12.22 million.12 I. Net Burden for FTC, After 50:50 Split After halving the updated estimates to split the PRA burden with the CFPB regarding the formerly designated Free Annual File Disclosures Rule, the FTC’s burden totals are 170,905 hours and $6,111,000 in non-labor/capital costs. Associated labor costs are $3,069,239. Request for Comment: You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to consider your comment, we must receive it on or before October 19, 2012. Write ‘‘Subpart N of Regulation V, PRA Comment, P125403’’ 11 See National Occupational and Wages—May 2011, Table 1, available at https://www.bls.gov/ news.release/archives/ocwage_03272012.pdf (Office and administrative support workers, general). 12 This consists of an estimated $8.19 million for automated telephone cost ($1.82 per request × 4.5 million requests) and an estimated $4.03 million ($0.16 per request × 25.2 million requests) for Internet web service cost. Per unit cost estimates are based on staff’s knowledge of the industry. E:\FR\FM\20AUN1.SGM 20AUN1 50109 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 161 / Monday, August 20, 2012 / Notices on your comment. Your comment— including your name and your state— will be placed on the public record of this proceeding, including to the extent practicable, on the public Commission Web site, at https://www.ftc.gov/os/ publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the Commission tries to remove individuals’ home contact information from comments before placing them on the Commission Web site. Because your comment will be made public, you are solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any sensitive personal information, like anyone’s Social Security number, date of birth, driver’s license number or other state identification number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, financial account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any sensitive health information, like medical records or other individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not include any ‘‘[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information which is * * * privileged or confidential’’ as provided in Section 6(f) of the FTC Act 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, patterns devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names. If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained in FTC Rule 4.9(c).13 Your comment will be kept confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the public interest. Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your online comment, you must file it at https:// ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/ SubpartNRegulationVPRA, by following the instructions on the web-based form. If this Notice appears at https:// www.regulations.gov/#!home, you also may file a comment through that Web site. If you file your comment on paper, write ‘‘Subpart N of Regulation V, PRA Comment, P125403’’ on your comment and on the envelope, and mail or deliver it to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H–113 (Annex J) 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580. If possible, submit your paper comment to the Commission by courier or overnight service. Visit the Commission Web site at www.ftc.gov to read this Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws that the Commission administers permit the collection of public comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that it receives on or before October 19, 2012. You can find more information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in the Commission’s privacy policy, at https://www.ftc.gov/ ftc/privacy.htm. Willard K. Tom, General Counsel. ACTION: Notice; correction. This document corrects a technical error that appeared in the notice published in the July 24, 2012 Federal Register (77 FR 43329) entitled ‘‘State Allotments for Payment of Medicare Part B Premiums for Qualifying Individuals (QIs) for FY 2012.’’ SUMMARY: Effective Dates: The final QI allotments for payment of Medicare Part B premiums for FY 2011 are effective October 1, 2010. The preliminary QI allotments for FY 2012 are effective October 1, 2011. DATES: FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Strauss, (410) 786–2019. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background In FR Doc. 2012–17952 of July 24, 2012 (77 FR 43329), there was a technical error that is identified and corrected in the Correction of Error section below. The provision in this correction document is effective as if it had been included in the document published in the July 24, 2012 Federal Register. II. Summary of Errors In the ‘‘Background’’ section of the notice that was published in the July 24, 2012 Federal Register, we inadvertently omitted Chart 1 titled ‘‘Final Qualifying Individuals Allotments for October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011.’’ This notice is being issued to correct that error. [FR Doc. 2012–20389 Filed 8–17–12; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6750–01–P DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services III. Correction of Errors In the notice that was published in the July 24, 2012 Federal Register, make the following correction: In the ‘‘Background’’ section, include Chart 1 ‘‘State Allotments for Payment of Medicare Part B Premiums for Qualifying Individuals (QIs) for FY 2012.’’ [CMS–2385–CN] Medicaid Program; State Allotments for Payment of Medicare Part B Premiums for Qualifying Individuals (QIs) for FY 2012 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS. AGENCY: CHART 1—FINAL QUALIFYING INDIVIDUALS ALLOTMENTS FOR OCTOBER 1, 2010 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 2011 Initial QI allotments for FY 2011 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES State Number of individuals/3 (000s) Percentage of total Col B/Tot. Col B A B C Alabama .......................... Alaska ............................. Arizona ............................ Arkansas ......................... 40 2 21 23 D 2.75 0.14 1.45 1.58 13 In particular, the written request for confidential treatment that accompanies the VerDate Mar<15>2010 18:24 Aug 17, 2012 Jkt 226001 $24,363,386 1,218,169 12,790,778 14,008,947 FY 2011 Estimated QI expenditures/1 Need (difference) If E>D, E¥D Percentage of total need states F/(Tot. of F) E Initial QI allotment Col × $885,000,000 F Reduction pool for non-need States If D>=E, D¥E G $20,880,831 219,365 17,342,127 13,221,431 NA NA 4,551,349 NA NA NA 12.8514 NA H Frm 00032 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 I $3,482,555 998,804 Need 787,516 comment must include the factual and legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific PO 00000 Percentage of total nonneed States H/(Tot. of H) 1.4562 0.4177 Need 0.3293 Reduction adjustment for nonneed States Col. 1 × $35,415,135 Increase adjustment for need States Col. G × $35,415,135 J K $515,727 147,912 Need 116,622 NA NA 4,551,349 NA Final FY 2011 QI allotment/2 L $23,847,659 1,070,258 17,342,127 13,892,325 portions of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c). E:\FR\FM\20AUN1.SGM 20AUN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 161 (Monday, August 20, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50106-50109]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-20389]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Extension

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

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The FTC intends to ask the Office of Management and Budget 
(``OMB'') to extend through November 30, 2015, the current Paperwork 
Reduction Act (``PRA'') clearance for the FTC's shared enforcement with 
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (``CFPB'') of the information 
collection requirements in subpart N of Regulation V. That clearance 
expires on November 30, 2012.

DATES: Comments must be filed by October 19, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Subpart N of 
Regulation V, PRA Comment, P125403,'' on your comment and file your 
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/SubpartNRegulationVPRA by following the instructions on the web-based 
form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail or deliver your 
comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of 
the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20580.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tiffany George, Attorney, Division of 
Privacy and Identity Protection, Bureau of Consumer Protection, (202) 
326-3040, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform 
and

[[Page 50107]]

Consumer Protection Act \1\ transferred rulemaking authority for 
several consumer financial protection laws to the CFPB. Accordingly, 
the Commission rescinded several rules under the Fair Credit Reporting 
Act, including the FTC's Free Annual File Disclosures Rule that 
appeared under 16 CFR parts 610 and 698.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Public Law 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010). Title X comprises 
sections 1001-1100H (collectively, the ``Consumer Financial 
Protection Act of 2010'').
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    On December 21, 2011, the CFPB issued an interim final rule, 
Regulation V (Fair Credit Reporting), 12 CFR part 1022, which 
incorporated within its subpart N (Duties of Consumer Reporting 
Agencies Regarding Disclosures to Consumers), with only minor changes 
(non-substantive, technical, formatting, and stylistic), the former 
Free Annual File Disclosures Rule, and in Appendix L to Part 1022, the 
associated model notice.\2\ Subpart N of Regulation V continues the 
disclosure requirements that had existed under the Free Annual File 
Disclosures Rule. Because the FTC shares enforcement authority with the 
CFPB for subpart N, the two agencies have split between them the 
related estimate of PRA burden for firms under their co-enforcement 
jurisdiction.
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    \2\ 76 FR 79830, 79309 (Dec. 21, 2011).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Subpart N requires nationwide consumer reporting agencies and 
nationwide consumer specialty reporting agencies to provide to 
consumers, upon request, one free file disclosure within any 12-month 
period. Generally, it requires the nationwide consumer reporting 
agencies, as defined in Section 603(p) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681a(p), 
to create and operate a centralized source that provides consumers with 
the ability to request their free annual file disclosures from each of 
the nationwide consumer reporting agencies through a centralized 
Internet Web site, toll-free telephone number, and postal address. 
Subpart N also requires the nationwide consumer reporting agencies to 
establish a standardized form for Internet and mail requests for annual 
file disclosures, and provides a model standardized form that may be 
used to comply with that requirement. It additionally requires 
nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies, as defined in Section 
603(w) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681a(w), to establish a streamlined 
process for consumers to request annual file disclosures. This 
streamlined process must include a toll-free telephone number for 
consumers to make such requests.
    Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, Federal agencies must get OMB 
approval for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. 
``Collection of information'' includes agency requests or requirements 
to submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third 
party. 44 U.S.C. 3502(3); 5 CFR 1320.3(c). The FTC is seeking clearance 
for its assumed share of the estimated PRA burden regarding the 
disclosure requirements under subpart N of Regulation V.
    Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC invites 
comments on: (1) Whether the disclosure requirements are necessary, 
including whether the information will be practically useful; (2) the 
accuracy of our burden estimates, including whether the methodology and 
assumptions used are valid; (3) how to improve the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the disclosure requirements; and (4) how to minimize the 
burden of providing the required information to consumers. All comments 
should be filed as prescribed in the ADDRESSES section above, and must 
be received on or before October 19, 2012.
    Burden statement: On February 3, 2012, OMB cleared the FTC's 
adjusting entries to split PRA burden with the CFPB regarding the 
formerly designated Free Annual File Disclosures Rule. The FTC's 
currently cleared burden totals are 155,512 hours and $4,195,000 in 
non-labor/capital costs.\3\ Associated labor costs are $2,595,710. 
These figures represent a halving of the FTC's prior burden estimates, 
including the incremental effects of the FTC's 2010 final amendments 
\4\ to the Free Annual File Disclosures Rule.
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    \3\ OMB Control No. 3084-0128.
    \4\ 77 FR 9726 (Mar. 3, 2010). These amendments have been 
incorporated into Regulation V subpart N. As explained below, 
however, there is no longer any incremental PRA burden presented by 
those amendments.
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    The FTC's updated estimates, excluding the halving (to be shown at 
the conclusion of this analysis), are as follows:

A. Requests Per Year From Consumers for Free Annual File Disclosures

    The Consumer Data Industry Association has stated that between 
December 2004 and December 2006, the nationwide consumer reporting 
agencies provided over 52 million free annual file disclosures through 
the centralized Internet Web site, toll-free telephone number, and 
postal address required to be established by the FACT Act and the 
Rule,\5\ an annual rate of about 26 million requests per year. Because 
the prospective clearance renewal would run through November 30, 2015, 
by that time, nine years will have passed since the Commission received 
the data informing its past estimate of the yearly volume of requests 
for free credit reports. We expect that the number of requests for free 
annual credit reports has increased since 2006, both because of 
increases in the population and because consumers will have become more 
aware that they are entitled to a free annual report. As a proxy, we 
will use an estimate of 30 million requests per year as a 
representative average year to estimate PRA burden for purposes of the 
instant analysis.
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    \5\ Letter from Stuart K. Pratt, President & CEO, Consumer Data 
Industry Association, to Rep. Barney Frank, Committee on Financial 
Services, U.S. House of Representatives (Dec. 1, 2006).
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    The Commission, however, seeks more recent estimates of the number 
of requests consumers are making for free annual credit reports. In 
addition to data on the number of requests, data on how the number of 
requests has changed over time, and how these requests are being 
received--by Internet, phone, or by mail--would be most helpful.

B. Annual File Disclosures Provided Through the Internet

    Both nationwide and nationwide specialty consumer reporting 
agencies will likely handle the overwhelming majority of consumer 
requests through Internet Web sites. The annual file disclosure 
requests processed through the Internet will not impose any hours 
burden per request on the nationwide and nationwide specialty consumer 
reporting agencies, even though consumer reporting agencies 
periodically will be required to adjust the Internet capacity needed to 
handle the changing request volume. Consumer reporting agencies likely 
will make such adjustments by negotiating or renegotiating outsourcing 
service contracts annually or as conditions change. Trained personnel 
will need to spend time negotiating and renegotiating such contracts. 
Commission staff estimates that negotiating such contracts will require 
a cumulative total of 8,320 hours and $502,611 in setup and/or 
maintenance costs.\6\ Such activity is treated as an

[[Page 50108]]

annual burden of maintaining and adjusting the changing Internet 
capacity requirements.
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    \6\ Based on the time necessary for similar activity in the 
federal government (including at the FTC), staff estimates that such 
contracting and administration will require approximately 4 full-
time equivalent employees (``FTE'') for the web service contracts. 
Thus, staff estimates that administering the contract will require 4 
FTE, which is 8,320 hours per year (4 FTE x 2,080 hours/year). The 
cost is based on the reported May 2011 Bureau of Labor Statistics 
(BLS) rate ($60.41) for computer and information systems managers. 
See National Occupational and Wages--May 2011, Table 1, available at 
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ocwage_03272012.pdf. Thus, 
the estimated setup and maintenance cost for an Internet system is 
$502,611 per year (8,320 hours x $60.41/hour).
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C. Annual File Disclosures Requested Over the Telephone

    Most of the telephone requests for annual file disclosures will 
also be handled in an automated fashion, without any additional 
personnel needed to process the requests. As with the Internet, 
consumer reporting agencies will require additional time and investment 
to increase and administer the automated telephone capacity for the 
expected increase in request volume. The nationwide and nationwide 
specialty consumer reporting agencies will likely make such adjustments 
by negotiating or renegotiating outsourcing service contracts annually 
or as conditions change. Staff estimates that this will require a total 
of 6,240 hours at a cost of $376,958 in setup and/or maintenance 
costs.\7\ This activity also is treated as an annual recurring burden 
necessary to obtain, maintain, and adjust automated call center 
capacity.
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    \7\ Staff estimates that recurring contracting for automated 
telephone capacity will require approximately 3 FTE, a total of 
6,240 hours (3 x 2,080 hours). Applying an hourly wage rate of 
$60.41 based on May 2011 BLS data for computer and information 
systems managers, the estimate for setup and maintenance cost is 
$376,958 (6,240 x $60.41) per year. See https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ocwage_03272012.pdf.
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D. Annual File Disclosures Requiring Processing by Mail

    Based on their knowledge of the industry, staff believes that no 
more than 1% of consumers (1% x 30 million, or 300,000) will request an 
annual file disclosure through U.S. postal service mail. Staff 
estimates that clerical personnel will require 10 minutes per request 
to handle these requests, thereby totaling 50,000 hours of time. 
[(300,000 x 10 minutes)/60 minutes = 50,000 hours]
    In addition, whenever the requesting consumer cannot be identified 
using an automated method (a Web site or automated telephone service), 
it will be necessary to redirect that consumer to send identifying 
material along with the request by mail. Staff estimates that this will 
occur in about 5% of the new requests (or 1,485,000)\8\ that were 
originally placed over the Internet or telephone. Staff estimates that 
clerical personnel will require approximately 10 minutes per request to 
input and process those redirected requests for a cumulative total of 
247,500 clerical hours. [(1,485,000 x 10 minutes)/60 minutes = 247,500 
hours]
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    \8\ This figure reflects 5 percent of all requests, net of the 
estimated 1 percent of all requests that might initially be made by 
mail. That is, .05 x (30,000,000 - 300,000) = 1,485,000.
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E. Instructions to Consumers

    The Rule also requires that certain instructions be provided to 
consumers. See Rule sections 1022.136(b)(2)(iv)(A, B), 
1022.137(a)(2)(iii)(A, B). Minimal associated time or cost is involved, 
however. Internet instructions to consumers are embedded in the 
centralized source Web site and do not require additional time or cost 
for the nationwide consumer reporting agencies. Similarly, for 
telephone requests, the automated phone systems provide the requisite 
instructions when consumers select certain options. Some consumers who 
request their credit reports by mail might additionally request printed 
instructions from the nationwide and nationwide specialty consumer 
reporting agencies. Staff estimates that there will be a total of 
1,785,000 requests each year for free annual file disclosures by 
mail.\9\ Based on their knowledge of the industry, staff estimates 
that, of the predicted 1,785,000 mail requests, 10% (or 178,500) will 
request instructions by mail. If printed instructions are sent to each 
of these consumers by mail, requiring 10 minutes of clerical time per 
consumer, this will total 29,750 hours. [(178,500 instructions x 10 
minutes)/60 minutes per hour].
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    \9\ This figure includes both the estimated 1% of 30 million 
requests that will be made by mail each year (300,000), and the 
estimated 1,485,000 requests initially made over the Internet or 
telephone that will be redirected to the mail process (see supra 
note 8).
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F. 2010 FTC Final Amendments \10\
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    \10\ As noted above, the 2010 FTC amendments have been 
incorporated into what is now Regulation V, subpart N.
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    There is no further incremental PRA burden tied to the 2010 
amendments. Previously FTC staff had estimated that administrative 
amendments to former section 610.2 (designed to prevent interference 
with consumers' ability to obtain their free annual file disclosures 
through the centralized source) would impose no more than a minimal, 
one-time burden for the nationwide consumer reporting agency to 
reconfigure the centralized source and their own proprietary Web sites. 
Those amendments, however, became effective April 2, 2010, so the 
implementation should now be complete. Moreover, the other amendments, 
which were to former section 610.4, did not constitute a PRA 
``collection of information'' as defined by OMB's regulations that 
implement the PRA. The section 610.4 amendment required that all 
advertisements for ``free credit reports'' contain certain prescribed 
disclosures tailored to the medium used. OMB excludes from the 
definition of ``collection of information'' the ``public disclosure of 
information originally supplied by the Federal government to the 
recipient for the purpose of disclosure to the public.'' 5 CFR 
1320.3(c)(2).

G. Labor Costs

    Labor costs are derived by applying hourly cost figures to the 
burden hours described above. Accordingly, staff estimates that 
processing of requests for annual file disclosures and instructions 
will be performed by clerical personnel, which will require 327,250 
hours at a cost of $5,258,908. [(50,000 hours for handling initial mail 
request + 247,500 hours for handling requests redirected to mail + 
29,750 hours for handling instructions mailed to consumers) x $16.07 
per hour.\11\
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    \11\ See National Occupational and Wages--May 2011, Table 1, 
available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ocwage_03272012.pdf (Office and administrative support workers, general).
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H. Capital/Non-Labor Costs

    As in the previous PRA clearance analysis, FTC staff believes it is 
likely that consumer reporting agencies will use third-party 
contractors (instead of their own employees) to increase the capacity 
of their systems. Because of the way these contracts are typically 
established, these costs will likely be incurred on a continuing basis, 
and will be calculated based on the number of requests handled by the 
systems. Staff estimates that the total annual amount to be paid for 
services delivered under these contracts is $12.22 million.\12\
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    \12\ This consists of an estimated $8.19 million for automated 
telephone cost ($1.82 per request x 4.5 million requests) and an 
estimated $4.03 million ($0.16 per request x 25.2 million requests) 
for Internet web service cost. Per unit cost estimates are based on 
staff's knowledge of the industry.
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I. Net Burden for FTC, After 50:50 Split

    After halving the updated estimates to split the PRA burden with 
the CFPB regarding the formerly designated Free Annual File Disclosures 
Rule, the FTC's burden totals are 170,905 hours and $6,111,000 in non-
labor/capital costs. Associated labor costs are $3,069,239.
    Request for Comment: You can file a comment online or on paper. For 
the Commission to consider your comment, we must receive it on or 
before October 19, 2012. Write ``Subpart N of Regulation V, PRA 
Comment, P125403''

[[Page 50109]]

on your comment. Your comment--including your name and your state--will 
be placed on the public record of this proceeding, including to the 
extent practicable, on the public Commission Web site, at https://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the 
Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact information from 
comments before placing them on the Commission Web site.
    Because your comment will be made public, you are solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive personal information, like anyone's Social Security number, 
date of birth, driver's license number or other state identification 
number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, financial 
account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive health information, like medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not 
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information 
which is * * * privileged or confidential'' as provided in Section 6(f) 
of the FTC Act 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 
4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive 
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, 
patterns devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
    If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential 
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for 
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained 
in FTC Rule 4.9(c).\13\ Your comment will be kept confidential only if 
the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole discretion, grants your 
request in accordance with the law and the public interest.
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    \13\ In particular, the written request for confidential 
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and 
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions 
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/SubpartNRegulationVPRA, by following the instructions on the web-
based form. If this Notice appears at https://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you also may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Subpart N of Regulation 
V, PRA Comment, P125403'' on your comment and on the envelope, and mail 
or deliver it to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, 
Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex J) 600 Pennsylvania Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20580. If possible, submit your paper comment to 
the Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Visit the Commission Web site at www.ftc.gov to read this Notice 
and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws that the 
Commission administers permit the collection of public comments to 
consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The Commission will 
consider all timely and responsive public comments that it receives on 
or before October 19, 2012. You can find more information, including 
routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in the Commission's privacy 
policy, at https://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

Willard K. Tom,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2012-20389 Filed 8-17-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P
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