Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 2154-2156 [2018-00539]
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2154
ACTION:
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 16, 2018 / Notices
Notice.
The Federal Housing Finance
Agency (FHFA) has adjusted the cap on
average total assets that is used in
determining whether a Federal Home
Loan Bank (Bank) member qualifies as
a ‘‘community financial institution’’
(CFI) to $1,173,000,000, based on the
annual percentage increase in the
Consumer Price Index for all urban
consumers (CPI–U), as published by the
Department of Labor (DOL). These
changes took effect on January 1, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kaitlin Hildner, Division of Federal
Home Loan Bank Regulation, (202) 649–
3329, Kaitlin.Hildner@fhfa.gov; or Eric
M. Raudenbush, Associate General
Counsel, (202) 649–3084,
Eric.Raudenbush@fhfa.gov, (not toll-free
numbers), Federal Housing Finance
Agency, Constitution Center, 400
Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC
20219.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
I. Statutory and Regulatory Background
The Federal Home Loan Bank Act
(Bank Act) confers upon insured
depository institutions that meet the
statutory definition of a CFI certain
advantages over non-CFI insured
depository institutions in qualifying for
Bank membership, and in the purposes
for which they may receive long-term
advances and the collateral they may
pledge to secure advances.1 Section
2(10)(A) of the Bank Act and § 1263.1 of
FHFA’s regulations define a CFI as any
Bank member the deposits of which are
insured by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation and that has
average total assets below the statutory
cap.2 The Bank Act was amended in
2008 to set the statutory cap at $1
billion and to require FHFA to adjust
the cap annually to reflect the
percentage increase in the CPI–U, as
published by the DOL.3 For 2017, FHFA
set the CFI asset cap at $1,148,000,000,
which reflected a 1.7 percent increase
over 2016, based upon the increase in
the CPI–U between 2015 and 2016.4
II. The CFI Asset Cap for 2018
As of January 1, 2018, FHFA has
increased the CFI asset cap to
$1,173,000,000, which reflects a 2.2
percent increase in the unadjusted CPI–
U from November 2016 to November
2017. Consistent with the practice of
other Federal agencies, FHFA bases the
1 See
12 U.S.C. 1424(a), 1430(a).
12 U.S.C. 1422(10)(A); 12 CFR 1263.1.
3 See 12 U.S.C. 1422(10)(B); 12 CFR 1263.1
(defining the term CFI asset cap).
4 See 82 FR 6551 (Jan. 19, 2017).
2 See
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annual adjustment to the CFI asset cap
on the percentage increase in the CPI–
U from November of the year prior to
the preceding calendar year to
November of the preceding calendar
year, because the November figures
represent the most recent available data
as of January 1st of the current calendar
year. The new CFI asset cap was
obtained by applying the percentage
increase in the CPI–U to the unrounded
amount for the preceding year and
rounding to the nearest million, as has
been FHFA’s practice for all previous
adjustments.
In calculating the CFI asset cap, FHFA
uses CPI–U data that have not been
seasonally adjusted (i.e., the data have
not been adjusted to remove the
estimated effect of price changes that
normally occur at the same time and in
about the same magnitude every year).
The DOL encourages use of unadjusted
CPI–U data in applying ‘‘escalation’’
provisions such as that governing the
CFI asset cap, because the factors that
are used to seasonally adjust the data
are amended annually, and seasonally
adjusted data that are published earlier
are subject to revision for up to five
years following their original release.
Unadjusted data are not routinely
subject to revision, and previously
published unadjusted data are only
corrected when significant calculation
errors are discovered.
Dated: January 8, 2018.
Andre D. Galeano,
Deputy Director, Division of Federal Home
Loan Bank Regulation, Federal Housing
Finance Agency.
[FR Doc. 2018–00618 Filed 1–12–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8070–01–P
FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT
INVESTMENT BOARD
Sunshine Act; Notice of Meeting
January 12, 2018, 3:30 p.m.
Agenda
Federal Retirement Thrift Investment
Board Member Meeting, Telephonic.
STATUS: Closed to the public.
MATTER TO BE CONSIDERED: Information
covered under 5 U.S.C. 552b (c)(9)(B).
CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Kimberly Weaver, Director, Office of
External Affairs, (202) 942–1640.
Dated: January 11, 2018.
Dharmesh Vashee,
Deputy General Counsel, Federal Retirement
Thrift Investment Board.
[FR Doc. 2018–00706 Filed 1–11–18; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 6760–01–P
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
Federal Trade Commission
(FTC or Commission).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The information collection
requirements described below will be
submitted to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for review, as
required by the Paperwork Reduction
Act (PRA). The FTC seeks public
comments on its proposal to extend for
three years the current PRA clearances
for information collection requirements
contained in the Commission’s rules
and regulations under the Wool
Products Labeling Act of 1939 (Wool
Rules). The clearance expires on April
30, 2018.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before March 19, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a
comment online or on paper by
following the instructions in the
Request for Comments part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
below. Write ‘‘Wool Rules: FTC File No.
P072108’’ on your comment, and file
your comment online at https://
ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/
woolrulespra1 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.
SUMMARY:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for copies of the collection of
information and supporting
documentation should be addressed to
Jock K. Chung, Attorney, Division of
Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer
Protection, Federal Trade Commission,
Mail Code CC–9528, 600 Pennsylvania
Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580, (202)
326–2984.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Proposed Information Collection
Activities
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act
(PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501–3520, federal
agencies must get OMB approval for
each collection of information they
conduct, sponsor, or require.
E:\FR\FM\16JAN1.SGM
16JAN1
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 16, 2018 / Notices
‘‘Collection of information’’ means
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). 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 PRA clearance
for the information collection
requirements associated with the
Commission’s rules and regulations
under the Wool Products Labeling Act
of 1939 (‘‘Wool Rules’’), 16 CFR part 300
(OMB Control Number 3084–0100).
The FTC 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. All
comments must be received on or before
March 19, 2018.
Burden Estimates
Staff’s burden estimates for the Wool
Rules are based on data from the
Department of Commerce’s Bureau of
the Census, the International Trade
Commission, the Department of Labor’s
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and
data or other input from the main
industry association, the American
Apparel and Footwear Association
(AAFA), and from SICCode.com, which
specializes in the business classification
of SIC (Standard Industrial
Classification) and NAICS (North
American Industry Classification
System) codes for business
identification, verification, and
targeting. The AAFA, a national trade
association which represents U.S.
apparel, footwear and other sewn
products companies and their suppliers,
has stated that ‘‘[t]he use of labels on
textiles and apparels is beneficial to
consumers, manufacturers, and business
in general as it allows for the necessary
flow of information along the supply
chain.’’ 1 The relevant information
collection requirements in these rules
and staff’s corresponding burden
estimates follow. The estimates address
the number of hours needed and the
labor costs incurred to comply with the
requirements. Staff believes that a
significant portion of hours and labor
costs currently attributable to burden
below are time and financial resources
usually and customarily incurred by
persons in the course of their regular
activity (e.g., industry participants
already have and/or would have care
labels regardless of the rule(s)) and
could be excluded from PRA-related
burden.2
The Wool Products Labeling Act of
1939 (‘‘Wool Act’’) 3 prohibits the
misbranding of wool products. The
Wool Rules establish disclosure
requirements that assist consumers in
making informed purchasing decisions
and recordkeeping requirements that
assist the Commission in enforcing the
Rules.
Estimated Annual Hours Burden:
1,880,000 hours (160,000 recordkeeping
hours + 1,720,000 disclosure hours).
Task
2155
Recordkeeping: Staff estimates that
approximately 4,000 wool firms are
subject to the Wool Rules’
recordkeeping requirements. Based on
an average annual burden of 40 hours
per firm, the total recordkeeping burden
is 160,000 hours.
Disclosure: Approximately 8,000 wool
firms, producing or importing about
600,000,000 wool products annually,
are subject to the Wool Rules’ disclosure
requirements. Staff estimates the burden
of determining label content to be 30
hours per year per firm, or a total of
240,000 hours, and the burden of
drafting and ordering labels to be 60
hours per firm per year, or a total of
480,000 hours. Staff believes that the
process of attaching labels is now fully
automated and integrated into other
production steps for about 40 percent of
all affected products. For the remaining
360,000,000 items (60 percent of
600,000,000), the process is semiautomated and requires an average of
approximately ten seconds per item, for
a total of 1,000,000 hours per year.
Thus, the total estimated annual burden
for all firms is 1,720,000 hours (240,000
hours for determining label content +
480,000 hours to draft and order labels
+ 1,000,000 hours to attach labels). Staff
believes that any additional burden
associated with advertising disclosure
requirements would be minimal (less
than 10,000 hours) and can be
subsumed within the burden estimates
set forth above.
Estimated Annual Cost Burden:
$16,380,000, rounded to the nearest
thousand (solely relating to labor costs).
The chart below summarizes the total
estimated costs.
Hourly rate
Burden hours
Labor cost
Determine label content ...............................................................................................................
Draft and order labels ..................................................................................................................
Attach labels ................................................................................................................................
Recordkeeping .............................................................................................................................
$ 28.00
18.00
4 5.50
18.00
240,000
480,000
1,000,000
160,000
$6,720,000
8,640,000
5,500,000
2,880,000
Total ......................................................................................................................................
........................
........................
23,740,000
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Staff believes that there are no current
start-up costs or other capital costs
associated with the Wool Rules. Because
the labeling of wool products has been
an integral part of the manufacturing
process for decades, manufacturers have
1 Page one from comment by Kevin M. Burke,
President and CEO, American Apparel & Footwear
Association, March 26, 2012, Advance Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking; Request for Public Comment;
Rules and Regulations under the Wool Products
Labeling Act of 1939; 77 FR 4498 (Jan. 30, 2012).
2 5 CFR 1320.3(b)(2).
3 15 U.S.C. 68 et seq.
4 For imported products, the labels generally are
attached in the country where the products are
manufactured. According to information compiled
by an industry trade association using data from the
U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade
Administration and the U.S. Census Bureau,
approximately 97.5% of apparel used in the United
States is imported. With the remaining 2.5%
attributable to U.S. production at an approximate
domestic hourly wage of $11 to attach labels, staff
has calculated a weighted average hourly wage of
$5.50 per hour attributable to U.S. and foreign labor
combined. The estimated percentage of imports
supplied by particular countries is based on trade
data for the year ending in September 2014
compiled by the Office of Textiles and Apparel,
International Trade Administration. Wages in major
textile exporting countries, factored into the above
hourly wage estimate, were based on 2012 data
from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics. See Table 1.1 Indexes of hourly
compensation costs in manufacturing, U.S. dollar
basis, 1996–2012 (Index, U.S. = 100) available at:
https://www.bls.gov/fls/#compensation.
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2156
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 16, 2018 / Notices
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in place the capital equipment
necessary to comply with the Rules.
Based on knowledge of the industry,
staff believes that much of the
information required by the Wool Act
and Rules would be included on the
product label even absent their
requirements. Similarly, recordkeeping
and advertising disclosures are tasks
performed in the ordinary course of
business so that covered firms would
incur no additional capital or other nonlabor costs as a result of the Rules.
Request for Comments
You can file a comment online or on
paper. March 19, 2018. Write ‘‘Wool
Rules: FTC File No. P072108’’ 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
website, at https://www.ftc.gov/policy/
public-comments. 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/woolrulespra1 by following the
instructions on the web based form. If
this Notice appears at https://
www.regulations.gov, you also may file
a comment through that website.
If you file your comment on paper,
write ‘‘Wool Rules: FTC File No.
P072108’’ 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 C), 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 website
at 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
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22:48 Jan 12, 2018
Jkt 244001
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
website—as legally required by FTC
Rule 4.9(b)—we cannot redact or
remove your comment from the FTC
website, 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.
Visit the Commission website at
https://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 March 19, 2018. You can find
more information, including routine
uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in
the Commission’s privacy policy, at
https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/
privacy-policy.
David C. Shonka,
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2018–00539 Filed 1–12–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750–01–P
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
Federal Trade Commission
(FTC or Commission).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The information collection
requirements described below will be
submitted to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for review, as
required by the Paperwork Reduction
Act (PRA). The FTC seeks public
comments on its proposal to extend for
three years the current PRA clearances
for information collection requirements
contained in the Care Labeling of
Textile Wearing Apparel and Certain
Piece Goods As Amended (Care
Labeling Rule). The clearance expires on
April 30, 2018.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before March 19, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a
comment online or on paper by
following the instructions in the
Request for Comments part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
below. Write ‘‘Care Labeling Rule: FTC
File No. P072108’’ on your comment,
and file your comment online at https://
ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/
carelabelingrulepra1 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 copies of the collection of
information and supporting
documentation should be addressed to
Hampton Newsome, Attorney, Division
of Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer
Protection, Federal Trade Commission,
Mail Code CC–9528, 600 Pennsylvania
Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580, (202)
326–2889.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
Proposed Information Collection
Activities
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act
(PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501–3520, federal
agencies must get OMB approval for
each collection of information they
conduct, sponsor, or require.
‘‘Collection of information’’ means
E:\FR\FM\16JAN1.SGM
16JAN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2154-2156]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00539]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The information collection requirements described below will
be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review,
as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The FTC seeks public
comments on its proposal to extend for three years the current PRA
clearances for information collection requirements contained in the
Commission's rules and regulations under the Wool Products Labeling Act
of 1939 (Wool Rules). The clearance expires on April 30, 2018.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 19, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper by
following the instructions in the Request for Comments part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Wool Rules: FTC File
No. P072108'' on your comment, and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/woolrulespra1 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 copies of the collection
of information and supporting documentation should be addressed to Jock
K. Chung, Attorney, Division of Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer
Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Mail Code CC-9528, 600
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-2984.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Proposed Information Collection Activities
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520,
federal agencies must get OMB approval for each collection of
information they conduct, sponsor, or require.
[[Page 2155]]
``Collection of information'' means 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). 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 PRA
clearance for the information collection requirements associated with
the Commission's rules and regulations under the Wool Products Labeling
Act of 1939 (``Wool Rules''), 16 CFR part 300 (OMB Control Number 3084-
0100).
The FTC 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. All comments must be received on or before March 19,
2018.
Burden Estimates
Staff's burden estimates for the Wool Rules are based on data from
the Department of Commerce's Bureau of the Census, the International
Trade Commission, the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS), and data or other input from the main industry association, the
American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), and from SICCode.com,
which specializes in the business classification of SIC (Standard
Industrial Classification) and NAICS (North American Industry
Classification System) codes for business identification, verification,
and targeting. The AAFA, a national trade association which represents
U.S. apparel, footwear and other sewn products companies and their
suppliers, has stated that ``[t]he use of labels on textiles and
apparels is beneficial to consumers, manufacturers, and business in
general as it allows for the necessary flow of information along the
supply chain.'' \1\ The relevant information collection requirements in
these rules and staff's corresponding burden estimates follow. The
estimates address the number of hours needed and the labor costs
incurred to comply with the requirements. Staff believes that a
significant portion of hours and labor costs currently attributable to
burden below are time and financial resources usually and customarily
incurred by persons in the course of their regular activity (e.g.,
industry participants already have and/or would have care labels
regardless of the rule(s)) and could be excluded from PRA-related
burden.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Page one from comment by Kevin M. Burke, President and CEO,
American Apparel & Footwear Association, March 26, 2012, Advance
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking; Request for Public Comment; Rules and
Regulations under the Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939; 77 FR 4498
(Jan. 30, 2012).
\2\ 5 CFR 1320.3(b)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939 (``Wool Act'') \3\ prohibits
the misbranding of wool products. The Wool Rules establish disclosure
requirements that assist consumers in making informed purchasing
decisions and recordkeeping requirements that assist the Commission in
enforcing the Rules.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ 15 U.S.C. 68 et seq.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Annual Hours Burden: 1,880,000 hours (160,000
recordkeeping hours + 1,720,000 disclosure hours).
Recordkeeping: Staff estimates that approximately 4,000 wool firms
are subject to the Wool Rules' recordkeeping requirements. Based on an
average annual burden of 40 hours per firm, the total recordkeeping
burden is 160,000 hours.
Disclosure: Approximately 8,000 wool firms, producing or importing
about 600,000,000 wool products annually, are subject to the Wool
Rules' disclosure requirements. Staff estimates the burden of
determining label content to be 30 hours per year per firm, or a total
of 240,000 hours, and the burden of drafting and ordering labels to be
60 hours per firm per year, or a total of 480,000 hours. Staff believes
that the process of attaching labels is now fully automated and
integrated into other production steps for about 40 percent of all
affected products. For the remaining 360,000,000 items (60 percent of
600,000,000), the process is semi-automated and requires an average of
approximately ten seconds per item, for a total of 1,000,000 hours per
year. Thus, the total estimated annual burden for all firms is
1,720,000 hours (240,000 hours for determining label content + 480,000
hours to draft and order labels + 1,000,000 hours to attach labels).
Staff believes that any additional burden associated with advertising
disclosure requirements would be minimal (less than 10,000 hours) and
can be subsumed within the burden estimates set forth above.
Estimated Annual Cost Burden: $16,380,000, rounded to the nearest
thousand (solely relating to labor costs). The chart below summarizes
the total estimated costs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Task Hourly rate Burden hours Labor cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Determine label content......................................... $ 28.00 240,000 $6,720,000
Draft and order labels.......................................... 18.00 480,000 8,640,000
Attach labels................................................... \4\ 5.50 1,000,000 5,500,000
Recordkeeping................................................... 18.00 160,000 2,880,000
-----------------------------------------------
Total....................................................... .............. .............. 23,740,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff believes that there are no current start-up costs or other
capital costs associated with the Wool Rules. Because the labeling of
wool products has been an integral part of the manufacturing process
for decades, manufacturers have
[[Page 2156]]
in place the capital equipment necessary to comply with the Rules.
Based on knowledge of the industry, staff believes that much of the
information required by the Wool Act and Rules would be included on the
product label even absent their requirements. Similarly, recordkeeping
and advertising disclosures are tasks performed in the ordinary course
of business so that covered firms would incur no additional capital or
other non-labor costs as a result of the Rules.
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\4\ For imported products, the labels generally are attached in
the country where the products are manufactured. According to
information compiled by an industry trade association using data
from the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade
Administration and the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 97.5% of
apparel used in the United States is imported. With the remaining
2.5% attributable to U.S. production at an approximate domestic
hourly wage of $11 to attach labels, staff has calculated a weighted
average hourly wage of $5.50 per hour attributable to U.S. and
foreign labor combined. The estimated percentage of imports supplied
by particular countries is based on trade data for the year ending
in September 2014 compiled by the Office of Textiles and Apparel,
International Trade Administration. Wages in major textile exporting
countries, factored into the above hourly wage estimate, were based
on 2012 data from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics. See Table 1.1 Indexes of hourly compensation costs in
manufacturing, U.S. dollar basis, 1996-2012 (Index, U.S. = 100)
available at: https://www.bls.gov/fls/#compensation.
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Request for Comments
You can file a comment online or on paper. March 19, 2018. Write
``Wool Rules: FTC File No. P072108'' 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 website, at https://www.ftc.gov/policy/public-comments.
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/woolrulespra1 by following the instructions on the web based form.
If this Notice appears at https://www.regulations.gov, you also may
file a comment through that website.
If you file your comment on paper, write ``Wool Rules: FTC File No.
P072108'' 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 C),
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
website at 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 website--as legally required by FTC Rule
4.9(b)--we cannot redact or remove your comment from the FTC website,
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.
Visit the Commission website at https://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 March 19,
2018. You can find more information, including routine uses permitted
by the Privacy Act, in the Commission's privacy policy, at https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy.
David C. Shonka,
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2018-00539 Filed 1-12-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P
