Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 37450-37451 [2017-16898]
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37450
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 153 / Thursday, August 10, 2017 / Notices
Matters relating to internal personnel
decisions, or internal rules and
practices.
Information the premature disclosure
of which would be likely to have a
considerable adverse effect on the
implementation of a proposed
Commission action.
Matters concerning participation in
civil actions or proceedings or
arbitration.
*
*
*
*
*
PERSON TO CONTACT FOR INFORMATION:
Judith Ingram, Press Officer, Telephone:
(202) 694–1220.
Laura E. Sinram,
Acting Deputy Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2017–17019 Filed 8–8–17; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 6715–01–P
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
Federal Trade Commission
(‘‘FTC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The FTC seeks public
comments on proposed information
requests sent pursuant to compulsory
process to a combined ten or more of the
largest cigarette manufacturers and
smokeless tobacco manufacturers. The
information sought would include,
among other things, data on
manufacturer annual sales and
marketing expenditures. The current
FTC clearance from the Office of
Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) to
conduct such information collection
expires January 31, 2018. The
Commission intends to ask OMB for
renewed three-year clearance to collect
this information.
DATES: Comments on the proposed
information requests must be received
on or before October 10, 2017.
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: ‘‘Tobacco Reports:
Paperwork Comment, FTC File No.
P054507’’ on your comment, and file the
comment online at https://
ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/
tobaccoreportspra by following the
instructions on the web-based form. If
you prefer to file your comment on
paper, mail or deliver your comment to
the following address: Federal Trade
Commission, Office of the Secretary,
600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite
mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:03 Aug 09, 2017
Jkt 241001
CC–5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC
20580, or deliver your comment to the
following address: Federal Trade
Commission, Office of the Secretary,
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW.,
5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex J),
Washington, DC 20024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or
copies of the proposed collection of
information should be addressed to
Michael Ostheimer, Division of
Advertising Practices, Bureau of
Consumer Protection, Federal Trade
Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW., Mailstop CC–10507, Washington,
DC 20580. Telephone: (202) 326–2699.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For fifty
years, the FTC has published periodic
reports containing data on domestic
cigarette sales and marketing
expenditures by the major U.S. cigarette
manufacturers. The Commission has
published comparable reports on
smokeless tobacco sales and marketing
expenditures for thirty years. Originally,
both reports were issued pursuant to
statutory mandates. After those statutory
mandates were terminated, the
Commission continued to collect and
publish information obtained from the
cigarette and smokeless tobacco
industries pursuant to Section 6(b) of
the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(b). As noted
above, the current PRA clearance to
collect this information is valid through
January 31, 2018 (OMB Control No.
3084–0134).
The Commission plans to continue
sending information requests annually
to the ultimate parent company of
several of the largest cigarette
companies and smokeless tobacco
companies in the United States
(‘‘industry members’’). The information
requests will seek data regarding, inter
alia: (1) The tobacco sales of industry
members; (2) how much industry
members spend advertising and
promoting their tobacco products, and
the specific amounts spent in each of a
number of specified expenditure
categories; (3) whether industry
members are involved in the appearance
of their products or brand imagery in
television shows, motion pictures, on
the Internet, or on social media; (4) how
much industry members spend on
advertising intended to reduce youth
tobacco usage; (5) the events, if any,
during which industry members’
tobacco brands are televised; (6) how
much industry members spend on
public entertainment events promoting
their companies but not specific tobacco
products or tobacco products generally;
and (7) for the cigarette industry, the
‘‘tar’’, nicotine, and carbon monoxide
PO 00000
Frm 00033
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
yields of their cigarettes. The
information will again be sought using
compulsory process under Section 6(b)
of the FTC Act.
Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501–3521,
federal agencies must obtain approval
from OMB for each collection of
information they conduct or sponsor.
‘‘Collection of information’’ means
agency requests or requirements that
members of the public submit reports,
keep records, or provide information to
a third party. 44 U.S.C. 3502(3), 5 CFR
1320.3(c). As required by section
3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC is
providing this opportunity for public
comment before requesting that OMB
extend the existing clearance for the
proposed collection of information.
The Commission invites comments
on: (1) Whether the proposed collection
of information is necessary for the
proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(2) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate
of the burden of the proposed collection
of information, including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used;
(3) ways to enhance the quality, utility,
and clarity of the information to be
collected; and (4) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on those who are to respond, including
through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or
other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information
technology.
Estimated hours burden: The FTC
staff’s estimate of the hours burden is
based on the time required each year to
respond to the Commission’s
information request. Although the FTC
currently anticipates sending
information requests each year to the
four largest cigarette companies and the
five largest smokeless tobacco
companies, the burden estimate is based
on up to 15 information requests being
issued per year to take into account any
future changes in these industries.
These companies vary greatly in size, in
the number of products they sell, and in
the extent and variety of their
advertising and promotion.
The companies have not taken issue
with the staff’s burden estimates in prior
requests for PRA reauthorization,1
suggesting that the time most companies
would require to gather, organize,
format, and produce their responses
would range from 30 to 80 hours per
information request for the smaller
companies, to as much as hundreds of
hours for the very largest companies. As
1 E.g., 79 FR 47463 (Aug. 13, 2014); 79 FR 72176
(Dec. 5, 2014).
E:\FR\FM\10AUN1.SGM
10AUN1
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 153 / Thursday, August 10, 2017 / Notices
mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with NOTICES
an approximation, staff continues to
assume a per company average of 180
hours for the nine largest recipients of
the Commission’s information requests
to comply—cumulatively, 1,620 hours
per year.
Staff anticipates that if the
Commission decides to issue
information requests to any additional
companies, those companies would be
smaller than the primary nine recipients
and that the response burden per
additional recipient would be less than
for the larger companies. Staff believes
that the burden should not exceed 60
hours per entity for the smaller
recipients of the information requests.
Cumulatively, then, the total burden for
six additional respondents should not
exceed 360 hours per year. Thus, the
overall estimated burden for a
maximum of 15 recipients of the
information requests is 1,980 hours per
year. These estimates include any time
spent by separately incorporated
subsidiaries and other entities affiliated
with the ultimate parent company that
has received the information request.
Estimated cost burden: Commission
staff cannot calculate with precision the
labor costs associated with this data
production, as those costs entail varying
compensation levels of management
and/or support staff among companies
of different sizes. The staff assumes that
paralegals and computer analysts will
perform most of the work involved in
responding to the Commission Orders,
although in-house legal personnel will
be involved in reviewing the actual
submission to the Commission. The staff
continues to use a combined hourly
wage of $100/hour for the combined
efforts of these individuals.2 Using this
figure, staff’s best estimate for the total
labor costs for up to 15 information
requests is $198,000 per year. Staff
believes that the capital or other nonlabor costs associated with the
information requests are minimal.
Although the information requests may
necessitate that industry members
maintain the requested information
provided to the Commission, they
should already have in place the means
2 Commission staff believes this estimate is
conservative: According to data from the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, the mean hourly wages for these
three occupations are as follows: $25.57 for
paralegals; $44.36 for computer and information
analysts; and $67.25 for lawyers. Economic News
Release, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 1—
National employment and wage data from the
Occupational Employment Statistics survey by
occupation, May 2016 (Mar. 31, 2011) (Table 1),
available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/
ocwage.t01.htm. Even if employees of the major
cigarette and smokeless tobacco manufacturers earn
more than these hourly wages, the staff believes its
$100/hour estimate is appropriate.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:03 Aug 09, 2017
Jkt 241001
to compile and maintain business
records.
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
10, 2017. Write ‘‘Tobacco Reports:
Paperwork Comment, FTC File No.
P054507’’ 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.
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, or to send them to the
Commission by courier or overnight
service. To make sure that the
Commission considers your online
comment, you must file it at https://
ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/
tobaccoreportspra, by following the
instructions on the web-based form.
When 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 ‘‘Tobacco Reports: Paperwork
Comment, FTC File No. P054507’’ on
your comment and on the envelope, and
mail your comment to the following
address: Federal Trade Commission,
Office of the Secretary, 600
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC–
5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20580,
or deliver your comment to the
following address: Federal Trade
Commission, Office of the Secretary,
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW.,
5th Floor, Suite 5610, Washington, DC
20024. If possible, submit your paper
comment to the Commission by courier
or overnight service.
Because your comment will be placed
on the publicly accessible FTC Web site
at https://www.ftc.gov/, you are solely
responsible for making sure that your
comment does not include any sensitive
or confidential information. In
particular, your comment should not
include any sensitive personal
information, such as your or anyone
else’s Social Security number; date of
birth; driver’s license number or other
state identification number, or foreign
country equivalent; passport number;
financial account number; or credit or
debit card number. You are also solely
responsible for making sure that your
comment does not include any sensitive
health information, such as medical
records or other individually
identifiable health information. In
addition, your comment should not
PO 00000
Frm 00034
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
37451
include any ‘‘trade secret or any
commercial or financial information
which . . . is privileged or
confidential’’—as provided by Section
6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and
FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2)—
including in particular competitively
sensitive information such as costs,
sales statistics, inventories, formulas,
patterns, devices, manufacturing
processes, or customer names.
Comments containing material for
which confidential treatment is
requested must be filed in paper form,
must be clearly labeled ‘‘Confidential,’’
and must comply with FTC Rule 4.9(c).
In particular, the written request for
confidential treatment that accompanies
the comment must include the factual
and legal basis for the request, and must
identify the specific portions of the
comment to be withheld from the public
record. See FTC Rule 4.9(c). Your
comment will be kept confidential only
if the General Counsel grants your
request in accordance with the law and
the public interest. Once your comment
has been posted on the public FTC Web
site—as legally required by FTC Rule
4.9(b)—we cannot redact or remove
your comment from the FTC Web site,
unless you submit a confidentiality
request that meets the requirements for
such treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c),
and the General Counsel grants that
request.
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 10, 2017. For
information on the Commission’s
privacy policy, including routine uses
permitted by the Privacy Act, see
https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/
privacy-policy.
David C. Shonka,
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2017–16898 Filed 8–9–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750–01–P
GENERAL SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION
[Notice–ID–2017–02; Docket 2017–0002;
Sequence No. 14]
Privacy Act of 1974; System of
Records
General Services
Administration (GSA).
ACTION: Notice of a modified system of
records.
AGENCY:
E:\FR\FM\10AUN1.SGM
10AUN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 153 (Thursday, August 10, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37450-37451]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-16898]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'').
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The FTC seeks public comments on proposed information requests
sent pursuant to compulsory process to a combined ten or more of the
largest cigarette manufacturers and smokeless tobacco manufacturers.
The information sought would include, among other things, data on
manufacturer annual sales and marketing expenditures. The current FTC
clearance from the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') to conduct
such information collection expires January 31, 2018. The Commission
intends to ask OMB for renewed three-year clearance to collect this
information.
DATES: Comments on the proposed information requests must be received
on or before October 10, 2017.
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: ``Tobacco Reports:
Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P054507'' on your comment, and file the
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/tobaccoreportspra by following the instructions on the web-based form.
If you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail or deliver your
comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of
the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610 (Annex J),
Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address:
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center,
400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC
20024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or
copies of the proposed collection of information should be addressed to
Michael Ostheimer, Division of Advertising Practices, Bureau of
Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW., Mailstop CC-10507, Washington, DC 20580. Telephone: (202) 326-
2699.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For fifty years, the FTC has published
periodic reports containing data on domestic cigarette sales and
marketing expenditures by the major U.S. cigarette manufacturers. The
Commission has published comparable reports on smokeless tobacco sales
and marketing expenditures for thirty years. Originally, both reports
were issued pursuant to statutory mandates. After those statutory
mandates were terminated, the Commission continued to collect and
publish information obtained from the cigarette and smokeless tobacco
industries pursuant to Section 6(b) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(b). As
noted above, the current PRA clearance to collect this information is
valid through January 31, 2018 (OMB Control No. 3084-0134).
The Commission plans to continue sending information requests
annually to the ultimate parent company of several of the largest
cigarette companies and smokeless tobacco companies in the United
States (``industry members''). The information requests will seek data
regarding, inter alia: (1) The tobacco sales of industry members; (2)
how much industry members spend advertising and promoting their tobacco
products, and the specific amounts spent in each of a number of
specified expenditure categories; (3) whether industry members are
involved in the appearance of their products or brand imagery in
television shows, motion pictures, on the Internet, or on social media;
(4) how much industry members spend on advertising intended to reduce
youth tobacco usage; (5) the events, if any, during which industry
members' tobacco brands are televised; (6) how much industry members
spend on public entertainment events promoting their companies but not
specific tobacco products or tobacco products generally; and (7) for
the cigarette industry, the ``tar'', nicotine, and carbon monoxide
yields of their cigarettes. The information will again be sought using
compulsory process under Section 6(b) of the FTC Act.
Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, federal agencies must obtain
approval from OMB for each collection of information they conduct or
sponsor. ``Collection of information'' means agency requests or
requirements that members of the public submit reports, keep records,
or provide information to a third party. 44 U.S.C. 3502(3), 5 CFR
1320.3(c). As required by section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC is
providing this opportunity for public comment before requesting that
OMB extend the existing clearance for the proposed collection of
information.
The Commission invites comments on: (1) Whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the agency, including whether the information will
have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of
the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected;
and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology.
Estimated hours burden: The FTC staff's estimate of the hours
burden is based on the time required each year to respond to the
Commission's information request. Although the FTC currently
anticipates sending information requests each year to the four largest
cigarette companies and the five largest smokeless tobacco companies,
the burden estimate is based on up to 15 information requests being
issued per year to take into account any future changes in these
industries. These companies vary greatly in size, in the number of
products they sell, and in the extent and variety of their advertising
and promotion.
The companies have not taken issue with the staff's burden
estimates in prior requests for PRA reauthorization,\1\ suggesting that
the time most companies would require to gather, organize, format, and
produce their responses would range from 30 to 80 hours per information
request for the smaller companies, to as much as hundreds of hours for
the very largest companies. As
[[Page 37451]]
an approximation, staff continues to assume a per company average of
180 hours for the nine largest recipients of the Commission's
information requests to comply--cumulatively, 1,620 hours per year.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ E.g., 79 FR 47463 (Aug. 13, 2014); 79 FR 72176 (Dec. 5,
2014).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff anticipates that if the Commission decides to issue
information requests to any additional companies, those companies would
be smaller than the primary nine recipients and that the response
burden per additional recipient would be less than for the larger
companies. Staff believes that the burden should not exceed 60 hours
per entity for the smaller recipients of the information requests.
Cumulatively, then, the total burden for six additional respondents
should not exceed 360 hours per year. Thus, the overall estimated
burden for a maximum of 15 recipients of the information requests is
1,980 hours per year. These estimates include any time spent by
separately incorporated subsidiaries and other entities affiliated with
the ultimate parent company that has received the information request.
Estimated cost burden: Commission staff cannot calculate with
precision the labor costs associated with this data production, as
those costs entail varying compensation levels of management and/or
support staff among companies of different sizes. The staff assumes
that paralegals and computer analysts will perform most of the work
involved in responding to the Commission Orders, although in-house
legal personnel will be involved in reviewing the actual submission to
the Commission. The staff continues to use a combined hourly wage of
$100/hour for the combined efforts of these individuals.\2\ Using this
figure, staff's best estimate for the total labor costs for up to 15
information requests is $198,000 per year. Staff believes that the
capital or other non-labor costs associated with the information
requests are minimal. Although the information requests may necessitate
that industry members maintain the requested information provided to
the Commission, they should already have in place the means to compile
and maintain business records.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Commission staff believes this estimate is conservative:
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean
hourly wages for these three occupations are as follows: $25.57 for
paralegals; $44.36 for computer and information analysts; and $67.25
for lawyers. Economic News Release, Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Table 1--National employment and wage data from the Occupational
Employment Statistics survey by occupation, May 2016 (Mar. 31, 2011)
(Table 1), available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm. Even if employees of the major cigarette and
smokeless tobacco manufacturers earn more than these hourly wages,
the staff believes its $100/hour estimate is appropriate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 10, 2017. Write ``Tobacco Reports: Paperwork Comment,
FTC File No. P054507'' 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.
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, or to send them to the Commission by courier or
overnight service. To make sure that the Commission considers your
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/tobaccoreportspra, by following the instructions on the web-based
form. When 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 ``Tobacco Reports:
Paperwork Comment, FTC File No. P054507'' on your comment and on the
envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade
Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite
CC-5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary,
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610,
Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the
Commission by courier or overnight service.
Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible FTC
Web site at https://www.ftc.gov/, you are solely responsible for making
sure that your comment does not include any sensitive or confidential
information. In particular, your comment should not include any
sensitive personal information, such as your or anyone else's Social
Security number; date of birth; driver's license number or other state
identification number, or foreign country equivalent; passport number;
financial account number; or credit or debit card number. You are also
solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include
any sensitive health information, such as medical records or other
individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment
should not include any ``trade secret or any commercial or financial
information which . . . is privileged or confidential''--as provided by
Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2),
16 CFR 4.10(a)(2)--including in particular competitively sensitive
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas,
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is
requested must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled
``Confidential,'' and must comply with FTC Rule 4.9(c). In particular,
the written request for confidential treatment that accompanies the
comment must include the factual and legal basis for the request, and
must identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from
the public record. See FTC Rule 4.9(c). Your comment will be kept
confidential only if the General Counsel grants your request in
accordance with the law and the public interest. Once your comment has
been posted on the public FTC Web site--as legally required by FTC Rule
4.9(b)--we cannot redact or remove your comment from the FTC Web site,
unless you submit a confidentiality request that meets the requirements
for such treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), and the General Counsel
grants that request.
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 10,
2017. For information on the Commission's privacy policy, including
routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy.
David C. Shonka,
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2017-16898 Filed 8-9-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P