Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension, 59032-59034 [2013-23353]
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59032
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 186 / Wednesday, September 25, 2013 / Notices
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, September 20, 2013.
Margaret McCloskey Shanks,
Deputy Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2013–23337 Filed 9–24–13; 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 February 28,
2017, the current Paperwork Reduction
Act (‘‘PRA’’) clearance for the FTC’s
enforcement of the information
collection requirements in its regulation
‘‘Used Motor Vehicle Trade Regulation
Rule’’ (‘‘Used Car Rule’’ or ‘‘Rule’’),
which applies to used vehicle dealers.
That clearance expires on February 28,
2014.
DATES: Comments must be filed by
November 25, 2013.
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 ‘‘Used Car Rule, PRA
Comment, P137606’’ on your comment
and file your comment online at https:
//ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/used
carrulepra 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: John
C. Hallerud, Attorney, Midwest Region,
Federal Trade Commission, 55 West
Monroe, Suite 1825, Chicago, IL 60603,
312–960–5634.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Used
Car Rule promotes informed purchasing
decisions by requiring used car dealers
to disclose information about warranty
coverage, if any, and purchasing advice
on used cars that they offer for sale. The
Rule requires that used car dealers
display a form called a ‘‘Buyers Guide’’
on each used car offered for sale that,
among other things, discloses
information about warranty coverage.
Burden statement:
Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501–3521,
Federal agencies must get OMB
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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 Rule has
no recordkeeping or reporting
requirements; as detailed further under
the Request for Comment, the FTC seeks
clearance for the Rule’s disclosure
requirements and the estimated PRA
burden for them.
Estimated total annual hours burden:
2,296,227 hours.
As explained in more detail below,
this estimate is based on the number of
used car dealers (55,432 1), the number
of used cars sold by dealers annually
(approximately 28,958,000 2), and the
time needed to fulfill the information
collection tasks required by the Rule.3
The Rule requires that used car
dealers display a one-page, double-sided
Buyers Guide on each used car that they
offer for sale. The component tasks
associated with the Rule’s required
display of Buyers Guides include: (1)
Ordering and stocking Buyers Guides;
(2) entering data on Buyers Guides; (3)
displaying the Buyers Guides on
vehicles; (4) revising Buyers Guides as
necessary; and (5) complying with the
Rule’s requirements for sales conducted
in Spanish.
1. Ordering and Stocking Buyers
Guides: Dealers should need no more
than an average of two hours per year
to obtain Buyers Guides, which are
readily available from many commercial
printers or can be produced by an office
word-processing or desk-top publishing
1 37,892 independent dealers in 2012. NIADA
Used Car Industry Report (2013), at 16. 17,540
franchised new car dealers in 2012. NADA Data
State-of-the Industry Report 2013, at 5.
2 The number of used car sales conducted by
dealers in 2012 is calculated by multiplying the
percentage of used car sales conducted by dealers
(71.5%) by the 40.5 million used cars sold in 2012.
NIADA Used Car Industry Report (2013),16–17. In
2012, franchised new car dealers conducted 36.9%,
and independent used car dealers conducted
34.6%, of used car sales. Id. Private parties sold the
remaining used cars. Id.
3 Some dealers opt to contract with outside
contractors to perform the various tasks associated
with complying with the Rule. Staff assumes that
outside contractors would require about the same
amount of time and incur similar cost as dealers to
perform these tasks. Accordingly, the hour and cost
burden totals shown, while referring to ‘‘dealers,’’
incorporate the time and cost borne by outside
companies in performing the tasks associated with
the Rule. The time estimates repeat those that the
FTC published, without receiving public comment,
when the FTC last pursued renewed clearance for
the Rule. See 75 FR 62538 (Oct. 12, 2010); 76 FR
144 (Jan. 3, 2011). Absent prospective specific
industry estimates to the contrary, staff will
continue to apply these estimates.
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system.4 Based on an estimated
population of 55,432 dealers in 2012,
the annual hours burden for producing
or obtaining and stocking Buyers Guides
is 110,864 hours.
2. Entering Data on Buyers Guides:
The amount of time required to enter
applicable data on Buyers Guides may
vary substantially, depending on
whether a dealer has automated the
process. For used cars sold ‘‘as is,’’
copying vehicle-specific data from
dealer inventories to Buyers Guides and
checking the ‘‘No Warranty’’ box may
take two to three minutes per vehicle if
done by hand, and only seconds for
those dealers who have automated the
process or use pre-printed forms. Staff
estimates that dealers will require an
average of two minutes per Buyers
Guide to complete this task. Similarly,
for used cars sold under warranty, the
time required to check the ‘‘Warranty’’
box and to add warranty information,
such as the additional information
required in the Percentage of Labor/
Parts and the Systems Covered/Duration
sections of the Buyers Guide, will
depend on whether the dealer uses a
manual or automated process or Buyers
Guides that are pre-printed with the
dealer’s standard warranty terms. Staff
estimates that these tasks will take an
average of one additional minute, i.e.,
cumulatively, an average total time of
three minutes for each used car sold
under warranty.
Staff estimates that dealers sell
approximately fifty percent of used cars
‘‘as is’’ and the other half under
warranty. Therefore, staff estimates that
the overall time required to enter data
on Buyers Guides consists of 482,633
hours for used cars sold without a
warranty (28,958,000 vehicles × 50% ×
2 minutes per vehicle) and 723,950
hours for used cars sold under warranty
(28,958,000 vehicles × 50% × 3 minutes
per vehicle) for a cumulative estimated
total of 1,206,583 hours.
3. Displaying Buyers Guides on
Vehicles: Although the time required to
display the Buyers Guides on each used
car may vary substantially, FTC staff
estimates that dealers will spend an
average of 1.75 minutes per vehicle to
match the correct Buyers Guide to the
vehicle and to display it on the vehicle.
The estimated burden associated with
this task is approximately 844,608 hours
for the 28,958,000 vehicles sold in 2012
(28,958,000 vehicles × 1.75 minutes per
vehicle).
4. Revising Buyers Guides as
Necessary: If negotiations between the
4 Buyers Guides are also available online from the
FTC’s Web site, www.ftc.gov, at https://business.ftc.
gov/selected-industries/automobiles.
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 186 / Wednesday, September 25, 2013 / Notices
buyer and seller over warranty coverage
produce a sale on terms other than those
originally entered on the Buyers Guide,
the dealer must revise the Buyers Guide
to reflect the actual terms of sale.
According to the original rulemaking
record, bargaining over warranty
coverage rarely occurs. Staff notes that
consumers often do not need to
negotiate over warranty coverage
because they can find vehicles that are
offered with the desired warranty
coverage online or in other ways before
ever contacting a dealer. Accordingly,
staff assumes that dealers will revise the
Buyers Guide in no more than two
percent of sales, with an average time of
two minutes per revision. Therefore,
staff estimates that dealers annually will
spend approximately 19,305 hours
revising Buyers Guides (28,958,000
vehicles × 2% × 2 minutes per vehicle).
5. Spanish Language Sales: The Rule
requires dealers to make contract
disclosures in Spanish if the dealer
conducts a sale in Spanish.5 The Rule
permits displaying both an English and
a Spanish language Buyers Guide to
comply with this requirement.6 Many
dealers with large numbers of Spanishspeaking customers likely will post both
English and Spanish Buyers Guides to
avoid potential compliance violations.
Calculations from United States
Census Bureau surveys indicate that
approximately 5.6 percent of the United
States population speaks Spanish at
home, without also speaking fluent
English.7 Staff therefore projects that
dealers will conduct approximately 5.6
percent of used car sales in Spanish.
Dealers will incur the additional burden
of completing and displaying a second
Buyers Guide in 5.6 percent of sales
assuming that dealers choose to comply
with the Rule by posting both English
and Spanish Buyers Guides. The annual
hours burden associated with
completing and displaying Buyers
Guides is 2,051,191 hours (1,206,583
hours for entering data on Buyers
Guides + 844,608 hours for displaying
Buyers Guides). Therefore, staff
estimates that the additional burden
caused by the Rule’s requirement that
dealers display Spanish language
Buyers Guides when conducting sales in
Spanish is 114,867 hours (2,051,191
hours × 5.6% of sales). The other
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5 16
CFR 455.5.
6 Id.
7 U.S. Census Bureau, TableB16001. Language
Spoken at Home. 2011 American Community
Survey 1-Year Estimates, available at: https://fact
finder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/
productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_1YR_B16001&
prodType=table (5.6% of the United States
population 5 years or older who speaks Spanish or
Spanish Creole in the home speaks English less
than ‘‘very well.’’).
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components of the annual hours burden,
i.e., purchasing Buyers Guides and
revising them for changes in warranty
coverage, remain unchanged.
Estimated annual cost burden:
$32,307,914 in labor costs and
$8,687,400 in non-labor costs.
1. Labor costs: Labor costs are derived
by applying appropriate hourly cost
figures to the burden hours described
above. Staff has determined that all of
the tasks associated with ordering
forms, entering data on Buyers Guides,
posting Buyers Guides on vehicles, and
revising them as needed, including the
corresponding tasks associated with
Spanish Buyers Guides, are typically
done by clerical or low-level
administrative personnel. Using a
clerical cost rate of $14.07 per hour 8
and an estimated burden of 2,296,227
hours for disclosure requirements, the
total labor cost burden is $32,307,914
($1,407 per hour × 2,296,277 hours).
2. Capital or other non-labor costs:
Although the cost of Buyers Guides can
vary considerably, staff estimates that
the average cost of each Buyers Guide is
thirty cents based on industry input.
Therefore, the estimated cost of Buyers
Guides for the 28,958,000 used cars sold
by dealers in 2012 is approximately
$8,687,400. In making this estimate,
staff conservatively assumes that all
dealers will purchase pre-printed forms
instead of producing them internally,
although dealers may produce them at
minimal expense using current office
automation technology. Capital and
start-up costs associated with the Rule
are minimal.
Request for Comment: 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 November 25, 2013.
You can file a comment online or on
paper. For the Commission to consider
your comment, we must receive it on or
before November 25, 2013. Write ‘‘Used
Car Rule, PRA Comment, P137606’’ 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), 16CFR
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).9 Your
comment will be kept confidential only
if the FTC General Counsel 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/
usedcarrulepra, 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.
8 The hourly rate is based on the Bureau of Labor
Statistics estimate of the mean hourly wage for
office clerks, general. Occupational Employment
and Wages, May 2012, 43–9061 Office Clerks,
General, available at: https://www.bls.gov/oes/
current/oes439061.htm#nat.
9 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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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 186 / Wednesday, September 25, 2013 / Notices
If you file your comment on paper,
write ‘‘Used Car Rule, PRA Comment,
P137606,’’ 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. 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 November 25, 2013. 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.
David C. Shonka,
Principal Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2013–23353 Filed 9–24–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
This notice announces the
intention of the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request
that the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) approve the proposed
information collection project: ‘‘Pretest
of the Ambulatory Surgery/Procedure
Survey on Patient Safety Culture
Questionnaire (Ambulatory Surgery
SOPS).’’ In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C.
3501–3521, AHRQ invites the public to
comment on this proposed information
collection.
This proposed information collection
was previously published in the Federal
Register on July 8th, 2013 and allowed
60 days for public comment. No
comments were received. The purpose
of this notice is to allow an additional
30 days for public comment.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be
received by October 25, 2013.
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Written comments should
be submitted to: AHRQ’s OMB Desk
Officer by fax at (202) 395–6974
(attention: AHRQ’s desk officer) or by
email at OIRA_submission@
omb.eop.gov (attention: AHRQ’s desk
officer).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ Reports
Clearance Officer, (301) 427–1477, or by
email at doris.lefkowitz@AHRQ.hhs.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ADDRESSES:
Proposed Project
Pretest of the Ambulatory Surgery/
Procedure Survey on Patient Safety
Culture Questionnaire (Ambulatory
Surgery SOPS)
One setting which has demonstrated
tremendous growth both in the volume
and complexity of procedures being
performed is ambulatory surgical and
procedure centers (ASCs). ASCs are
defined by the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services (CMS) as distinct
entities that operate exclusively to
provide surgical services to patients
who do not require hospitalization and
are not expected to need to stay in a
surgical facility longer than 24 hours (42
CFR 416.2). Many of the services
performed in these facilities extend
beyond procedures traditionally thought
of as surgery, including endoscopy, and
injections to treat chronic pain.
Currently, there are over 5,300
Medicare-certified ASCs in the U.S.,
which represents a greater than 54%
increase since 2001. In 2007, Medicare
paid for more than 6 million surgeries
performed in these facilities at a cost of
nearly $3 billion. Recent CMS audits
suggest infection control deficiencies in
these facilities are widespread. For
example, preliminary data from 2011
found that 51 percent of ASCs surveyed
had an infection control deficiency; 11
percent were considered very serious
deficiencies. These findings are only
slightly lower than 2010 audits and a
2008 sample of ASCs in three states.
Given the widespread impact of ASCs
on patient safety, the new Ambulatory
Surgery/Procedure Survey on Patient
Safety Culture (Ambulatory Surgery
SOPS) will measure ASC staff
perceptions about what is important in
their organization and what attitudes
and behaviors related to patient safety
culture are supported, rewarded, and
expected. The survey will help ASCs to
identify and discuss strengths and
weaknesses of patient safety culture
within their individual facilities. They
can then use that knowledge to develop
appropriate action plans to improve
their practices and their culture of
patient safety. This survey is designed
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for use in ASCs that practice all types
of surgical procedures including those
that require incisions and less invasive
or non-surgical procedures such as
gastrointestinal procedures or pain
management injections.
This research has the following goals:
(1) Develop, cognitively test and
modify as necessary the Ambulatory
Surgery/Procedure Survey on Patient
Safety Culture Questionnaire
(Ambulatory Surgery SOPS);
(2) Pretest and modify the
questionnaire as necessary, and
(3) Make the final questionnaire
publicly available.
This study is being conducted by
AHRQ through its contractor, Health
Research & Educational Trust (HRET),
and subcontractor, Westat, pursuant to
AHRQ’s statutory authority to conduct
and support research on healthcare and
on systems for the delivery of such care,
including activities with respect to the
quality, effectiveness, efficiency,
appropriateness and value of healthcare
services and with respect to quality
measurement and improvement. 42
U.S.C. 299a(a)(1) and (2).
Method of Collection
To achieve the projects’ goals the
following activities and data collections
will be implemented:
(1) Cognitive interviews. One round of
cognitive interviews on the Ambulatory
Surgery SOPS will be conducted by
telephone with 15 respondents from
ASCs. The purpose of these interviews
is to understand the cognitive processes
the respondent engages in when
answering a question on the survey and
to refine the survey’s items and
composites. These interviews will be
conducted with a mix of physicians,
management, nurses, surgical
technicians, and administrative staff
throughout the U.S. from ASCs with
varying characteristics (e.g., size,
geographic location, and type of
ownership).
(2) Pretest for the Ambulatory Surgery
SOPS. The draft questionnaire will be
pretested with physicians and staff from
40 ASCs. The purpose of the pretest is
to collect data for an assessment of the
reliability and construct validity of the
survey items and composites, allowing
for their further refinement. A site-level
point of contact (POC) will be recruited
in each ASC to manage the data
collection at that organization (compile
sample information, distribute surveys,
promote survey response, etc.).
(3) Dissemination activities. The final
questionnaire will be made publicly
available through the AHRQ Web site.
This activity does not impose a burden
on the public and is therefore not
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 186 (Wednesday, September 25, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59032-59034]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-23353]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 February 28, 2017, the current Paperwork
Reduction Act (``PRA'') clearance for the FTC's enforcement of the
information collection requirements in its regulation ``Used Motor
Vehicle Trade Regulation Rule'' (``Used Car Rule'' or ``Rule''), which
applies to used vehicle dealers. That clearance expires on February 28,
2014.
DATES: Comments must be filed by November 25, 2013.
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 ``Used Car Rule, PRA
Comment, P137606'' on your comment and file your comment online at
https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/usedcarrulepra 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: John C. Hallerud, Attorney, Midwest
Region, Federal Trade Commission, 55 West Monroe, Suite 1825, Chicago,
IL 60603, 312-960-5634.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Used Car Rule promotes informed
purchasing decisions by requiring used car dealers to disclose
information about warranty coverage, if any, and purchasing advice on
used cars that they offer for sale. The Rule requires that used car
dealers display a form called a ``Buyers Guide'' on each used car
offered for sale that, among other things, discloses information about
warranty coverage.
Burden statement:
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 Rule has no
recordkeeping or reporting requirements; as detailed further under the
Request for Comment, the FTC seeks clearance for the Rule's disclosure
requirements and the estimated PRA burden for them.
Estimated total annual hours burden: 2,296,227 hours.
As explained in more detail below, this estimate is based on the
number of used car dealers (55,432 \1\), the number of used cars sold
by dealers annually (approximately 28,958,000 \2\), and the time needed
to fulfill the information collection tasks required by the Rule.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 37,892 independent dealers in 2012. NIADA Used Car Industry
Report (2013), at 16. 17,540 franchised new car dealers in 2012.
NADA Data State-of-the Industry Report 2013, at 5.
\2\ The number of used car sales conducted by dealers in 2012 is
calculated by multiplying the percentage of used car sales conducted
by dealers (71.5%) by the 40.5 million used cars sold in 2012. NIADA
Used Car Industry Report (2013),16-17. In 2012, franchised new car
dealers conducted 36.9%, and independent used car dealers conducted
34.6%, of used car sales. Id. Private parties sold the remaining
used cars. Id.
\3\ Some dealers opt to contract with outside contractors to
perform the various tasks associated with complying with the Rule.
Staff assumes that outside contractors would require about the same
amount of time and incur similar cost as dealers to perform these
tasks. Accordingly, the hour and cost burden totals shown, while
referring to ``dealers,'' incorporate the time and cost borne by
outside companies in performing the tasks associated with the Rule.
The time estimates repeat those that the FTC published, without
receiving public comment, when the FTC last pursued renewed
clearance for the Rule. See 75 FR 62538 (Oct. 12, 2010); 76 FR 144
(Jan. 3, 2011). Absent prospective specific industry estimates to
the contrary, staff will continue to apply these estimates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Rule requires that used car dealers display a one-page, double-
sided Buyers Guide on each used car that they offer for sale. The
component tasks associated with the Rule's required display of Buyers
Guides include: (1) Ordering and stocking Buyers Guides; (2) entering
data on Buyers Guides; (3) displaying the Buyers Guides on vehicles;
(4) revising Buyers Guides as necessary; and (5) complying with the
Rule's requirements for sales conducted in Spanish.
1. Ordering and Stocking Buyers Guides: Dealers should need no more
than an average of two hours per year to obtain Buyers Guides, which
are readily available from many commercial printers or can be produced
by an office word-processing or desk-top publishing system.\4\ Based on
an estimated population of 55,432 dealers in 2012, the annual hours
burden for producing or obtaining and stocking Buyers Guides is 110,864
hours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Buyers Guides are also available online from the FTC's Web
site, www.ftc.gov, at https://business.ftc.gov/selected-industries/automobiles.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Entering Data on Buyers Guides: The amount of time required to
enter applicable data on Buyers Guides may vary substantially,
depending on whether a dealer has automated the process. For used cars
sold ``as is,'' copying vehicle-specific data from dealer inventories
to Buyers Guides and checking the ``No Warranty'' box may take two to
three minutes per vehicle if done by hand, and only seconds for those
dealers who have automated the process or use pre-printed forms. Staff
estimates that dealers will require an average of two minutes per
Buyers Guide to complete this task. Similarly, for used cars sold under
warranty, the time required to check the ``Warranty'' box and to add
warranty information, such as the additional information required in
the Percentage of Labor/Parts and the Systems Covered/Duration sections
of the Buyers Guide, will depend on whether the dealer uses a manual or
automated process or Buyers Guides that are pre-printed with the
dealer's standard warranty terms. Staff estimates that these tasks will
take an average of one additional minute, i.e., cumulatively, an
average total time of three minutes for each used car sold under
warranty.
Staff estimates that dealers sell approximately fifty percent of
used cars ``as is'' and the other half under warranty. Therefore, staff
estimates that the overall time required to enter data on Buyers Guides
consists of 482,633 hours for used cars sold without a warranty
(28,958,000 vehicles x 50% x 2 minutes per vehicle) and 723,950 hours
for used cars sold under warranty (28,958,000 vehicles x 50% x 3
minutes per vehicle) for a cumulative estimated total of 1,206,583
hours.
3. Displaying Buyers Guides on Vehicles: Although the time required
to display the Buyers Guides on each used car may vary substantially,
FTC staff estimates that dealers will spend an average of 1.75 minutes
per vehicle to match the correct Buyers Guide to the vehicle and to
display it on the vehicle. The estimated burden associated with this
task is approximately 844,608 hours for the 28,958,000 vehicles sold in
2012 (28,958,000 vehicles x 1.75 minutes per vehicle).
4. Revising Buyers Guides as Necessary: If negotiations between the
[[Page 59033]]
buyer and seller over warranty coverage produce a sale on terms other
than those originally entered on the Buyers Guide, the dealer must
revise the Buyers Guide to reflect the actual terms of sale. According
to the original rulemaking record, bargaining over warranty coverage
rarely occurs. Staff notes that consumers often do not need to
negotiate over warranty coverage because they can find vehicles that
are offered with the desired warranty coverage online or in other ways
before ever contacting a dealer. Accordingly, staff assumes that
dealers will revise the Buyers Guide in no more than two percent of
sales, with an average time of two minutes per revision. Therefore,
staff estimates that dealers annually will spend approximately 19,305
hours revising Buyers Guides (28,958,000 vehicles x 2% x 2 minutes per
vehicle).
5. Spanish Language Sales: The Rule requires dealers to make
contract disclosures in Spanish if the dealer conducts a sale in
Spanish.\5\ The Rule permits displaying both an English and a Spanish
language Buyers Guide to comply with this requirement.\6\ Many dealers
with large numbers of Spanish-speaking customers likely will post both
English and Spanish Buyers Guides to avoid potential compliance
violations.
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\5\ 16 CFR 455.5.
\6\ Id.
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Calculations from United States Census Bureau surveys indicate that
approximately 5.6 percent of the United States population speaks
Spanish at home, without also speaking fluent English.\7\ Staff
therefore projects that dealers will conduct approximately 5.6 percent
of used car sales in Spanish. Dealers will incur the additional burden
of completing and displaying a second Buyers Guide in 5.6 percent of
sales assuming that dealers choose to comply with the Rule by posting
both English and Spanish Buyers Guides. The annual hours burden
associated with completing and displaying Buyers Guides is 2,051,191
hours (1,206,583 hours for entering data on Buyers Guides + 844,608
hours for displaying Buyers Guides). Therefore, staff estimates that
the additional burden caused by the Rule's requirement that dealers
display Spanish language Buyers Guides when conducting sales in Spanish
is 114,867 hours (2,051,191 hours x 5.6% of sales). The other
components of the annual hours burden, i.e., purchasing Buyers Guides
and revising them for changes in warranty coverage, remain unchanged.
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\7\ U.S. Census Bureau, TableB16001. Language Spoken at Home.
2011 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, available at:
https://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_1YR_B16001&prodType=table (5.6% of
the United States population 5 years or older who speaks Spanish or
Spanish Creole in the home speaks English less than ``very well.'').
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Estimated annual cost burden: $32,307,914 in labor costs and
$8,687,400 in non-labor costs.
1. Labor costs: Labor costs are derived by applying appropriate
hourly cost figures to the burden hours described above. Staff has
determined that all of the tasks associated with ordering forms,
entering data on Buyers Guides, posting Buyers Guides on vehicles, and
revising them as needed, including the corresponding tasks associated
with Spanish Buyers Guides, are typically done by clerical or low-level
administrative personnel. Using a clerical cost rate of $14.07 per hour
\8\ and an estimated burden of 2,296,227 hours for disclosure
requirements, the total labor cost burden is $32,307,914 ($1,407 per
hour x 2,296,277 hours).
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\8\ The hourly rate is based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics
estimate of the mean hourly wage for office clerks, general.
Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2012, 43-9061 Office Clerks,
General, available at: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes439061.htm#nat.
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2. Capital or other non-labor costs: Although the cost of Buyers
Guides can vary considerably, staff estimates that the average cost of
each Buyers Guide is thirty cents based on industry input. Therefore,
the estimated cost of Buyers Guides for the 28,958,000 used cars sold
by dealers in 2012 is approximately $8,687,400. In making this
estimate, staff conservatively assumes that all dealers will purchase
pre-printed forms instead of producing them internally, although
dealers may produce them at minimal expense using current office
automation technology. Capital and start-up costs associated with the
Rule are minimal.
Request for Comment: 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 November 25, 2013.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before November 25,
2013. Write ``Used Car Rule, PRA Comment, P137606'' 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), 16CFR
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).\9\ Your comment will be kept confidential only if
the FTC General Counsel grants your request in accordance with the law
and the public interest.
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\9\ 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/usedcarrulepra, 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.
[[Page 59034]]
If you file your comment on paper, write ``Used Car Rule, PRA
Comment, P137606,'' 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.
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 November 25, 2013. 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.
David C. Shonka,
Principal Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2013-23353 Filed 9-24-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P