Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension, 6185-6188 [2020-02111]
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 23 / Tuesday, February 4, 2020 / Notices
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Stephanie Rosenthal, Division of
Financial Practices, Bureau of Consumer
Protection, Federal Trade Commission,
600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW,
Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326–3332.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant
to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the FTC has
submitted to the Office of Management
and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) this request for
extension of the previously approved
collection of information discussed
below.
Title: Regulation O.
OMB Control Number: 3084–0157.
Type of Review: Extension of
currently approved collection.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
120.
Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 360.
Abstract: The FTC and CFPB share
enforcement authority for the Mortgage
Assistance Relief Services (Regulation
O), 12 CFR 1015. The rule includes
disclosure requirements to assist
purchasers of mortgage assistance relief
services in making well-informed
decisions and avoiding unfair or
deceptive acts and practices. The
information that must be retained under
Regulation O’s recordkeeping
requirements is used by the CFPB and
the FTC for enforcement purposes and
to ensure compliance by MARS
providers with Regulation O. The
information is requested only on a caseby-case basis.
Request for Comment: On October 31,
2019, the Commission sought comment
on the information collection
requirements associated with the
Commission’s shared enforcement with
the CFPB of Regulation O (12 CFR
1015). 84 FR 58388. One comment was
received from an interested person that
indicated ‘‘wholehearted support’’ for
the proposed three-year extension.
Pursuant to the OMB regulations, 5 CFR
part 1320, that implement the PRA, 44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq., the FTC is providing
this second opportunity for public
comment while seeking OMB approval
to renew the pre-existing clearance for
those information collection
requirements. An agency may not
conduct or sponsor, and a person is not
required to respond to a collection of
information unless it displays a valid
OMB control number.
Your comment—including your name
and your state—will be placed on the
public record of this proceeding.
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
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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.
Heather Hippsley,
Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2020–02104 Filed 2–3–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750–01–P
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Extension
Federal Trade Commission.
Notice.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Federal Trade
Commission (‘‘FTC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’)
is seeking public comment on its
proposal to extend for an additional
three years, the current Paperwork
Reduction Act (‘‘PRA’’) clearance for
information collection requirements
contained in its Funeral Industry
Practice Rule (‘‘Funeral Rule’’ or
‘‘Rule’’). That clearance expires on June
30, 2020.
DATES: Comments must be filed by April
6, 2020.
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 ‘‘Funeral Rule PRA
Comment: FTC File No. P084401’’ on
your comment, and file your comment
online at https://www.regulations.gov by
following the instructions on the webbased form. If you prefer to file your
comment on paper, 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
SUMMARY:
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6185
Commission, Office of the Secretary,
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW,
5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex J),
Washington, DC 20024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Patricia H. Poss, Division of Marketing
Practices, Bureau of Consumer
Protection, Federal Trade Commission,
600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW,
Washington, DC 20580, pposs@ftc.gov,
(202) 326–2413.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title of Collection: Funeral Industry
Practice Rule, 16 CFR 453.
OMB Control Number: 3084–0025.
Type of Review: Extension without
change of currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Private Sector:
Businesses and other for-profit entities.
Estimated Annual Burden Hours:
164,006.
Estimated Annual Labor Costs:
$5,429,859.
Abstract: The Funeral Rule ensures
that consumers who are purchasing
funeral goods and services have access
to accurate itemized price information
so they can purchase only the funeral
goods and services they want or need.
Among other things, the Rule requires a
funeral provider to: (1) Provide
consumers a copy of the funeral
provider’s General Price List that
itemizes the goods and services it offers;
(2) show consumers a Casket Price List
and an Outer Burial Container Price List
at the outset of any discussion of those
items or their prices, and in any event
before showing consumers caskets or
vaults; (3) provide price information
from its price lists over the telephone;
and (4) give consumers a Statement of
Funeral Goods and Services Selected
after determining the funeral
arrangements with the consumer during
an ‘‘arrangements conference.’’ The Rule
requires that funeral providers disclose
this information to consumers and
maintain records documenting their
compliance with the Rule.
Burden Statement
Estimated burden hours for the tasks
described below are based on the
number of funeral providers
(approximately 19,136),1 the number of
funerals per year (an estimated
2,813,503),2 and the time needed to
1 The estimated number of funeral providers is
from 2019 data provided on the National Funeral
Directors Association (‘‘NFDA’’) website (see https://
www.nfda.org/news/statistics) (within ‘‘General
Funeral Service Facts’’).
2 The estimated number of funerals conducted
annually is derived from the National Center for
Health Statistics (‘‘NCHS’’), https://www.cdc.gov/
nchs/nvss/deaths.htm. According to NCHS,
2,813,503 deaths occurred in the United States in
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 23 / Tuesday, February 4, 2020 / Notices
complete the information collection
tasks required by the Rule. Labor costs
associated with the Funeral Rule are
derived by applying hourly cost figures
to the burden hours for each task.
Recordkeeping: The Rule requires that
funeral providers retain copies of price
lists and statements of funeral goods
and services selected by consumers for
one year. Commission staff estimates
that providers will spend approximately
one hour per provider per year on
compliance with this task, resulting in
a total burden of 19,136 hours per year
(19,136 providers × 1 hour per year =
19,136 hours).
Hours per
respondent
Hourly wage and labor category
$45.09 Management Employees .....................................................................
$12.58 Clerical Workers ..................................................................................
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1. Maintaining accurate price lists
may require that funeral providers
revise their price lists occasionally to
reflect price changes. Staff estimates
that this task requires 2.5 hours per
provider per year. Thus, the total
burden for covered providers is 47,840
hours (19,136 providers × 2.5 hours per
year = 47,840 hours).
Staff estimates that the 2.5 hours
required, on average, to update price
lists consists of approximately 1.5 hours
of managerial or professional time, at
$45.09 per hour,4 and one hour of
clerical time, at $12.58 per hour, for a
total annual labor cost of $1,535,090 for
maintaining price lists:
Staff anticipates that clerical
personnel, at an hourly rate of $12.58,3
will typically perform these tasks. Based
on the estimated burden of 19,136
hours, the estimated labor cost for
recordkeeping is $240,731.
Disclosure: The Rule’s disclosure
requirements mandate that funeral
providers: (1) Maintain current price
lists for funeral goods and services, (2)
provide written documentation of the
funeral goods and services selected by
consumers making funeral
arrangements, and (3) provide
information about funeral prices in
response to telephone inquiries.
Total hourly
labor cost
Number of
respondents
Approx.
total annual
labor costs
1.5
1
$67.64
12.58
19,136
........................
$1,294,359
240,731
........................
........................
........................
1,535,090
2. The rulemaking record indicates
that 87% or more of funeral providers
provided written documentation of
funeral arrangements prior to the
enactment of the Rule and would
continue to do so absent the Rule’s
requirements.5 Based on this data, Staff
estimates that 13% of funeral providers
(typically, small funeral homes) may
prepare written documentation for
funeral goods and services selected by
consumers specifically due to the Rule’s
mandate. Staff estimates that these
smaller funeral homes arrange, on
average, approximately 20 funerals per
year and that it would take about three
minutes to record prices for each
consumer on the standard form. This
yields a total annual burden of 2,488
hours [(19,136 funeral providers × 13%)
× (20 statements per year × 3 minutes
per statement) = 2,488 hours].
Staff anticipates that managerial or
professional staff will typically perform
these tasks, at an hourly rate of $45.09
per hour. Based on the estimated burden
of 2,488 hours, the associated labor cost
would be $112,184.
3. The Funeral Rule also requires
funeral providers to provide information
about funeral prices in response to
telephone inquiries. The rulemaking
record indicates that approximately
12% of funeral purchasers request
funeral prices through telephone
inquiries, with each call lasting an
estimated 10 minutes.6 Assuming that
the average purchaser who makes
telephone inquiries places one call per
funeral to determine prices,7 the
estimated burden is 56,270 hours
(2,813,503 funerals per year × 12% × 10
minutes per inquiry = 56, 270 hours).
Staff understands that managerial or
professional time is typically required to
respond to telephone inquiries about
prices, at an hourly rate of $45.09 per
hour.8 Based on the estimated burden of
56,270 hours, the associated labor cost
is $2,537,214.
Compliance Training: Staff believes
that annual training burdens associated
with the Rule are minimal because
compliance training is typically
included in continuing education for
state licensing and voluntary
certification programs. Staff estimates
that four employees per firm would
each require one half-hour, at most, per
year, for training attributable to the
Rule’s requirements.9 Thus, the total
estimated time for required training is
38,272 hours (19,136 providers × 4
employees per firm × 0.5 hours = 38,272
hours).
2017, the most recent year for which final data is
available. Staff believes this estimate overstates the
number of funeral transactions conducted annually
because not all remains go to a funeral provider
covered by the Rule (e.g., remains sent directly to
a crematory that does not sell urns, remains sent to
a non-profit funeral provider, remains donated to a
medical school, unclaimed remains handled by a
local morgue or local government entity, etc.).
NFDA reports its member home handled about 113
calls in 2018, which, if multiplied by the total
number of homes (19,136 in 2019) would amount
to approximately 2,162,368 funerals.
3 Bureau of Labor Statistics, ‘‘May 2015 National
Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and
Wage Estimates, NAICS 812200—Death Care
Services,’’ available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/
current/naics4_812200.htm#11-0000. Clerical
estimates are based on the mean hourly wage data
for ‘‘receptionists and information clerks.’’
4 Id. Managerial or professional estimates are
based on the mean hourly wage data for ‘‘funeral
service managers.’’
5 See 87 FR 12602 (2017). In a 2002 public
comment, the National Funeral Directors
Association asserted that nearly every funeral home
had been providing consumers with some kind of
final statement in writing even before the Rule took
effect. Nonetheless, Staff retains its estimate that
13% of funeral providers may provide written
disclosures solely due to the Rule’s requirements
based on the original rulemaking record.
6 82 FR at 12603.
7 Although consumers who pre-plan their own
arrangements may comparison shop and call more
than one funeral home for pricing and other
information, consumers making ‘‘at need’’
arrangements after a death are less likely to take the
time to seek pricing information from more than
one home. Many do not seek pricing information by
telephone. Staff therefore believes that an average
of one call per funeral is an appropriate estimate.
8 Although some funeral providers may permit
staff who are not funeral directors to provide price
information by telephone, the great majority reserve
that task to a licensed funeral director. Since
funeral home managers are also licensed funeral
directors in most cases, Staff has used the mean
hourly wage for ‘‘funeral service managers,’’ rather
than ‘‘funeral directors,’’ for this calculation.
9 Funeral homes, depending on size and other
factors, may be run by as few as one owner,
manager, or other funeral director or multiple
directors at various compensation levels.
Extrapolating from past NFDA survey input, staff
has estimated that the average funeral home
employs approximately four employees (a funeral
services manager, funeral director, funeral service
worker, and a clerical receptionist) that may require
training associated with Funeral Rule compliance.
Compliance training for other employees (e.g.,
drivers, maintenance personnel, attendants) would
not be necessary.
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 23 / Tuesday, February 4, 2020 / Notices
Based on past consultations with
funeral directors, FTC staff estimates
that funeral homes will require no more
than two hours of training per year of
licensed and non-licensed funeral home
staff to comply with the Funeral Rule,10
with four employees of varying types
$45.09
$27.61
$19.70
$12.58
Hours per
respondent
Management Employees .....................................................................
Non-manager Funeral Directors ..........................................................
Funeral Service Workers .....................................................................
Clerical Workers ..................................................................................
Total hourly
labor cost
Number of
respondents
Approx.
total annual
labor costs
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
$22.55
13.81
9.85
6.29
19,136
........................
........................
........................
$431,517
264,268
188,490
120,365
........................
........................
........................
1,004,640
Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of
the PRA, the FTC invites comments on:
(1) Whether the disclosure and
recordkeeping 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) 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.
You can file a comment online or on
paper. For the FTC to consider your
comment, we must receive it on or
before April 6, 2020. Write ‘‘Funeral
Rule PRA Comment: FTC File No.
P084401’’ on your comment. Your
comment, including your name and
your state, will be placed on the public
record of this proceeding, including the
https://www.regulations.gov website.
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 through the
https://www.regulations.gov website by
following the instructions on the webbased form provided.
If you file your comment on paper,
write ‘‘Funeral Rule PRA Comment:
FTC File No. P084401’’ on your
comment and on the envelope, and mail
it 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. If possible,
submit your paper comment to the
Commission by courier or overnight
service.
Because your comment will be placed
on the public record, 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
10 Rule compliance is generally included in
continuing education requirements for licensing
and voluntary certification programs. Moreover, as
noted above, the FTC provides its compliance guide
to all funeral providers at no cost, and it is available
on the FTC website. Additionally, the NFDA
provides online guidance for compliance with the
Rule: https://www.nfda.org/onlinelearning-ftc.html.
11 Bureau of Labor Statistics, ‘‘May 2015 National
Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and
Wage Estimates, NAICS 812200—Death Care
Services,’’ available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/
current/naics4_812200.htm#11-0000 (mean hourly
wages for funeral service managers, funeral
directors, funeral service workers, and receptionists
and information clerks).
12 Although copies of the casket price list and
outer burial container price list must be shown to
consumers, the Rule does not require that they be
given to consumers. Thus, the cost of printing a
single copy of these two disclosures to show
consumers is de minimis, and is not included in
this estimate of printing costs.
Capital and other non-labor costs:
Staff estimates that the Rule imposes
minimal capital costs and no current
start-up costs. Funeral homes already
have access, for ordinary business
purposes, to the ordinary office
equipment needed for compliance, so
the Rule likely imposes minimal
additional capital expense.
Compliance with the Rule,
nonetheless, does entail some expense
to funeral providers for printing and
duplication of required disclosures.
Assuming, as required by the Rule, that
one copy of the general price list is
provided to consumers for each funeral
or cremation conducted, at a cost of 25¢
per copy,12 this would amount to
2,813,503 copies per year at a
cumulative industry cost of $703,376
(2,813,503 funerals per year × 25¢ per
copy). In addition, small funeral
providers that furnish consumers with a
statement of funeral goods and services
solely because of the Rule’s mandate
will incur printing and copying costs.
Assuming that those 2,488 providers
(19,136 funeral providers × 13%) use
the standard two-page form shown in
the compliance guide, at 25 cents per
copy, at an average of twenty funerals
per year, the added cost burden would
be $12,440 (2,488 providers × 20
funerals per year × 25¢). Thus,
estimated non-labor costs total $715,816
($703,376 + 12,440).
Request for Comment
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($19.70 per hour); and (d) a clerical
receptionist or administrative staff
member ($12.58).11 This amounts to
$1,004,640, cumulatively, for all funeral
homes:
each spending one half-hour on
training. FTC staff further estimates
labor costs for employee time required
for compliance training as follows: (a)
Funeral service manager ($45.09 per
hour); (b) non-manager funeral director
($27.61); (c) funeral service workers
Hourly wage and labor category
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 23 / Tuesday, February 4, 2020 / Notices
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 publicly at
www.regulations.gov—as legally
required by FTC Rule 4.9(b)—we cannot
redact or remove your comment, 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 April 6, 2020. 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.
Heather Hippsley,
Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2020–02111 Filed 2–3–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality
Supplemental Evidence and Data
Request on Cervical Ripening in the
Outpatient Setting
Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality (AHRQ), HHS.
ACTION: Request for supplemental
evidence and data submissions.
AGENCY:
The Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality (AHRQ) is seeking
scientific information submissions from
the public. Scientific information is
being solicited to inform our review on
Cervical Ripening in the Outpatient
Setting, which is currently being
conducted by the AHRQ’s Evidencebased Practice Centers (EPC) Program.
Access to published and unpublished
pertinent scientific information will
improve the quality of this review.
DATES: Submission Deadline on or
before 30 days after date of publication
in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES:
Email submissions: epc@
ahrq.hhs.gov.
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SUMMARY:
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Print submissions:
Mailing Address: Center for Evidence
and Practice Improvement, Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality,
ATTN: EPC SEADs Coordinator, 5600
Fishers Lane, Mail Stop 06E53A,
Rockville, MD 20857.
Shipping Address (FedEx, UPS, etc.):
Center for Evidence and Practice
Improvement, Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality, ATTN: EPC
SEADs Coordinator, 5600 Fishers Lane,
Mail Stop 06E77D, Rockville, MD
20857.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jenae Benns, Telephone: 301–427–1496
or Email: epc@ahrq.hhs.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality has commissioned the
Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPC)
Program to complete a review of the
evidence for Cervical Ripening in the
Outpatient Setting. AHRQ is conducting
this systematic review pursuant to
Section 902(a) of the Public Health
Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 299a(a).
The EPC Program is dedicated to
identifying as many studies as possible
that are relevant to the questions for
each of its reviews. In order to do so, we
are supplementing the usual manual
and electronic database searches of the
literature by requesting information
from the public (e.g., details of studies
conducted). We are looking for studies
that report on Cervical Ripening in the
Outpatient Setting, including those that
describe adverse events. The entire
research protocol is available online at:
https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/
products/cervical-ripening/protocol.
This is to notify the public that the
EPC Program would find the following
information on Cervical Ripening in the
Outpatient Setting helpful:
D A list of completed studies that
your organization has sponsored for this
indication. In the list, please indicate
whether results are available on
ClinicalTrials.gov along with the
ClinicalTrials.gov trial number.
D For completed studies that do not
have results on ClinicalTrials.gov, a
summary, including the following
elements: Study number, study period,
design, methodology, indication and
diagnosis, proper use instructions,
inclusion and exclusion criteria,
primary and secondary outcomes,
baseline characteristics, number of
patients screened/eligible/enrolled/lost
to follow-up/withdrawn/analyzed,
effectiveness/efficacy, and safety results.
D A list of ongoing studies that your
organization has sponsored for this
indication. In the list, please provide the
ClinicalTrials.gov trial number or, if the
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trial is not registered, the protocol for
the study including a study number, the
study period, design, methodology,
indication and diagnosis, proper use
instructions, inclusion and exclusion
criteria, and primary and secondary
outcomes.
D Description of whether the above
studies constitute ALL Phase II and
above clinical trials sponsored by your
organization for this indication and an
index outlining the relevant information
in each submitted file.
Your contribution is very beneficial to
the Program. Materials submitted must
be publicly available or able to be made
public. Materials that are considered
confidential; marketing materials; study
types not included in the review; or
information on indications not included
in the review cannot be used by the EPC
Program. This is a voluntary request for
information, and all costs for complying
with this request must be borne by the
submitter.
The draft of this review will be posted
on AHRQ’s EPC Program website and
available for public comment for a
period of 4 weeks. If you would like to
be notified when the draft is posted,
please sign up for the email list at:
https://www.effective
healthcare.ahrq.gov/email-updates.
The systematic review will answer the
following questions. This information is
provided as background. AHRQ is not
requesting that the public provide
answers to these questions.
Key Questions (KQ)
KQ1: How do the effectiveness and
harms of cervical ripening (CR) using
prostaglandins compare in the
outpatient vs. inpatient setting?
1a: How do effectiveness and harms
vary by choice of prostaglandin?
1b: Do effectiveness and harms vary
by important patient characteristics
(such as gestational age, parity,
uncomplicated pregnancy, prior
cesarean delivery, etc.)?
KQ2: How do the effectiveness and
harms of CR using mechanical methods
(e.g., balloon catheters) compare in the
outpatient vs. inpatient setting?
2a: How do effectiveness and harms
vary by choice of mechanical method in
the inpatient versus the outpatient
setting?
2b: Do effectiveness and harms vary
by important patient characteristics
(such as gestational age, parity,
uncomplicated pregnancy, prior
cesarean delivery, etc.)?
KQ3: How do the effectiveness and
harms of CR in the outpatient setting
vary by method of CR compared with
each other?
E:\FR\FM\04FEN1.SGM
04FEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 4, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6185-6188]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-02111]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Extension
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') is
seeking public comment on its proposal to extend for an additional
three years, the current Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'') clearance
for information collection requirements contained in its Funeral
Industry Practice Rule (``Funeral Rule'' or ``Rule''). That clearance
expires on June 30, 2020.
DATES: Comments must be filed by April 6, 2020.
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 ``Funeral Rule PRA
Comment: FTC File No. P084401'' on your comment, and file your comment
online at https://www.regulations.gov by following the instructions on
the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, 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 (Annex J), Washington, DC
20024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia H. Poss, Division of
Marketing Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade
Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580,
[email protected], (202) 326-2413.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title of Collection: Funeral Industry Practice Rule, 16 CFR 453.
OMB Control Number: 3084-0025.
Type of Review: Extension without change of currently approved
collection.
Affected Public: Private Sector: Businesses and other for-profit
entities.
Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 164,006.
Estimated Annual Labor Costs: $5,429,859.
Abstract: The Funeral Rule ensures that consumers who are
purchasing funeral goods and services have access to accurate itemized
price information so they can purchase only the funeral goods and
services they want or need. Among other things, the Rule requires a
funeral provider to: (1) Provide consumers a copy of the funeral
provider's General Price List that itemizes the goods and services it
offers; (2) show consumers a Casket Price List and an Outer Burial
Container Price List at the outset of any discussion of those items or
their prices, and in any event before showing consumers caskets or
vaults; (3) provide price information from its price lists over the
telephone; and (4) give consumers a Statement of Funeral Goods and
Services Selected after determining the funeral arrangements with the
consumer during an ``arrangements conference.'' The Rule requires that
funeral providers disclose this information to consumers and maintain
records documenting their compliance with the Rule.
Burden Statement
Estimated burden hours for the tasks described below are based on
the number of funeral providers (approximately 19,136),\1\ the number
of funerals per year (an estimated 2,813,503),\2\ and the time needed
to
[[Page 6186]]
complete the information collection tasks required by the Rule. Labor
costs associated with the Funeral Rule are derived by applying hourly
cost figures to the burden hours for each task.
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\1\ The estimated number of funeral providers is from 2019 data
provided on the National Funeral Directors Association (``NFDA'')
website (see https://www.nfda.org/news/statistics) (within ``General
Funeral Service Facts'').
\2\ The estimated number of funerals conducted annually is
derived from the National Center for Health Statistics (``NCHS''),
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/deaths.htm. According to NCHS,
2,813,503 deaths occurred in the United States in 2017, the most
recent year for which final data is available. Staff believes this
estimate overstates the number of funeral transactions conducted
annually because not all remains go to a funeral provider covered by
the Rule (e.g., remains sent directly to a crematory that does not
sell urns, remains sent to a non-profit funeral provider, remains
donated to a medical school, unclaimed remains handled by a local
morgue or local government entity, etc.). NFDA reports its member
home handled about 113 calls in 2018, which, if multiplied by the
total number of homes (19,136 in 2019) would amount to approximately
2,162,368 funerals.
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Recordkeeping: The Rule requires that funeral providers retain
copies of price lists and statements of funeral goods and services
selected by consumers for one year. Commission staff estimates that
providers will spend approximately one hour per provider per year on
compliance with this task, resulting in a total burden of 19,136 hours
per year (19,136 providers x 1 hour per year = 19,136 hours).
Staff anticipates that clerical personnel, at an hourly rate of
$12.58,\3\ will typically perform these tasks. Based on the estimated
burden of 19,136 hours, the estimated labor cost for recordkeeping is
$240,731.
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\3\ Bureau of Labor Statistics, ``May 2015 National Industry-
Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, NAICS 812200--
Death Care Services,'' available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_812200.htm#11-0000. Clerical estimates are based on the mean
hourly wage data for ``receptionists and information clerks.''
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Disclosure: The Rule's disclosure requirements mandate that funeral
providers: (1) Maintain current price lists for funeral goods and
services, (2) provide written documentation of the funeral goods and
services selected by consumers making funeral arrangements, and (3)
provide information about funeral prices in response to telephone
inquiries.
1. Maintaining accurate price lists may require that funeral
providers revise their price lists occasionally to reflect price
changes. Staff estimates that this task requires 2.5 hours per provider
per year. Thus, the total burden for covered providers is 47,840 hours
(19,136 providers x 2.5 hours per year = 47,840 hours).
Staff estimates that the 2.5 hours required, on average, to update
price lists consists of approximately 1.5 hours of managerial or
professional time, at $45.09 per hour,\4\ and one hour of clerical
time, at $12.58 per hour, for a total annual labor cost of $1,535,090
for maintaining price lists:
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\4\ Id. Managerial or professional estimates are based on the
mean hourly wage data for ``funeral service managers.''
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Approx. total
Hourly wage and labor category Hours per Total hourly Number of annual labor
respondent labor cost respondents costs
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$45.09 Management Employees..................... 1.5 $67.64 19,136 $1,294,359
$12.58 Clerical Workers......................... 1 12.58 .............. 240,731
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.............. .............. .............. 1,535,090
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2. The rulemaking record indicates that 87% or more of funeral
providers provided written documentation of funeral arrangements prior
to the enactment of the Rule and would continue to do so absent the
Rule's requirements.\5\ Based on this data, Staff estimates that 13% of
funeral providers (typically, small funeral homes) may prepare written
documentation for funeral goods and services selected by consumers
specifically due to the Rule's mandate. Staff estimates that these
smaller funeral homes arrange, on average, approximately 20 funerals
per year and that it would take about three minutes to record prices
for each consumer on the standard form. This yields a total annual
burden of 2,488 hours [(19,136 funeral providers x 13%) x (20
statements per year x 3 minutes per statement) = 2,488 hours].
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\5\ See 87 FR 12602 (2017). In a 2002 public comment, the
National Funeral Directors Association asserted that nearly every
funeral home had been providing consumers with some kind of final
statement in writing even before the Rule took effect. Nonetheless,
Staff retains its estimate that 13% of funeral providers may provide
written disclosures solely due to the Rule's requirements based on
the original rulemaking record.
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Staff anticipates that managerial or professional staff will
typically perform these tasks, at an hourly rate of $45.09 per hour.
Based on the estimated burden of 2,488 hours, the associated labor cost
would be $112,184.
3. The Funeral Rule also requires funeral providers to provide
information about funeral prices in response to telephone inquiries.
The rulemaking record indicates that approximately 12% of funeral
purchasers request funeral prices through telephone inquiries, with
each call lasting an estimated 10 minutes.\6\ Assuming that the average
purchaser who makes telephone inquiries places one call per funeral to
determine prices,\7\ the estimated burden is 56,270 hours (2,813,503
funerals per year x 12% x 10 minutes per inquiry = 56, 270 hours).
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\6\ 82 FR at 12603.
\7\ Although consumers who pre-plan their own arrangements may
comparison shop and call more than one funeral home for pricing and
other information, consumers making ``at need'' arrangements after a
death are less likely to take the time to seek pricing information
from more than one home. Many do not seek pricing information by
telephone. Staff therefore believes that an average of one call per
funeral is an appropriate estimate.
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Staff understands that managerial or professional time is typically
required to respond to telephone inquiries about prices, at an hourly
rate of $45.09 per hour.\8\ Based on the estimated burden of 56,270
hours, the associated labor cost is $2,537,214.
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\8\ Although some funeral providers may permit staff who are not
funeral directors to provide price information by telephone, the
great majority reserve that task to a licensed funeral director.
Since funeral home managers are also licensed funeral directors in
most cases, Staff has used the mean hourly wage for ``funeral
service managers,'' rather than ``funeral directors,'' for this
calculation.
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Compliance Training: Staff believes that annual training burdens
associated with the Rule are minimal because compliance training is
typically included in continuing education for state licensing and
voluntary certification programs. Staff estimates that four employees
per firm would each require one half-hour, at most, per year, for
training attributable to the Rule's requirements.\9\ Thus, the total
estimated time for required training is 38,272 hours (19,136 providers
x 4 employees per firm x 0.5 hours = 38,272 hours).
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\9\ Funeral homes, depending on size and other factors, may be
run by as few as one owner, manager, or other funeral director or
multiple directors at various compensation levels. Extrapolating
from past NFDA survey input, staff has estimated that the average
funeral home employs approximately four employees (a funeral
services manager, funeral director, funeral service worker, and a
clerical receptionist) that may require training associated with
Funeral Rule compliance. Compliance training for other employees
(e.g., drivers, maintenance personnel, attendants) would not be
necessary.
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[[Page 6187]]
Based on past consultations with funeral directors, FTC staff
estimates that funeral homes will require no more than two hours of
training per year of licensed and non-licensed funeral home staff to
comply with the Funeral Rule,\10\ with four employees of varying types
each spending one half-hour on training. FTC staff further estimates
labor costs for employee time required for compliance training as
follows: (a) Funeral service manager ($45.09 per hour); (b) non-manager
funeral director ($27.61); (c) funeral service workers ($19.70 per
hour); and (d) a clerical receptionist or administrative staff member
($12.58).\11\ This amounts to $1,004,640, cumulatively, for all funeral
homes:
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\10\ Rule compliance is generally included in continuing
education requirements for licensing and voluntary certification
programs. Moreover, as noted above, the FTC provides its compliance
guide to all funeral providers at no cost, and it is available on
the FTC website. Additionally, the NFDA provides online guidance for
compliance with the Rule: https://www.nfda.org/onlinelearning-ftc.html.
\11\ Bureau of Labor Statistics, ``May 2015 National Industry-
Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, NAICS 812200--
Death Care Services,'' available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_812200.htm#11-0000 (mean hourly wages for funeral service
managers, funeral directors, funeral service workers, and
receptionists and information clerks).
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Approx. total
Hourly wage and labor category Hours per Total hourly Number of annual labor
respondent labor cost respondents costs
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$45.09 Management Employees..................... 0.5 $22.55 19,136 $431,517
$27.61 Non-manager Funeral Directors............ 0.5 13.81 .............. 264,268
$19.70 Funeral Service Workers.................. 0.5 9.85 .............. 188,490
$12.58 Clerical Workers......................... 0.5 6.29 .............. 120,365
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.............. .............. .............. 1,004,640
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Capital and other non-labor costs: Staff estimates that the Rule
imposes minimal capital costs and no current start-up costs. Funeral
homes already have access, for ordinary business purposes, to the
ordinary office equipment needed for compliance, so the Rule likely
imposes minimal additional capital expense.
Compliance with the Rule, nonetheless, does entail some expense to
funeral providers for printing and duplication of required disclosures.
Assuming, as required by the Rule, that one copy of the general price
list is provided to consumers for each funeral or cremation conducted,
at a cost of 25[cent] per copy,\12\ this would amount to 2,813,503
copies per year at a cumulative industry cost of $703,376 (2,813,503
funerals per year x 25[cent] per copy). In addition, small funeral
providers that furnish consumers with a statement of funeral goods and
services solely because of the Rule's mandate will incur printing and
copying costs. Assuming that those 2,488 providers (19,136 funeral
providers x 13%) use the standard two-page form shown in the compliance
guide, at 25 cents per copy, at an average of twenty funerals per year,
the added cost burden would be $12,440 (2,488 providers x 20 funerals
per year x 25[cent]). Thus, estimated non-labor costs total $715,816
($703,376 + 12,440).
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\12\ Although copies of the casket price list and outer burial
container price list must be shown to consumers, the Rule does not
require that they be given to consumers. Thus, the cost of printing
a single copy of these two disclosures to show consumers is de
minimis, and is not included in this estimate of printing costs.
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Request for Comment
Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC invites
comments on: (1) Whether the disclosure and recordkeeping 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) 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.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the FTC to consider
your comment, we must receive it on or before April 6, 2020. Write
``Funeral Rule PRA Comment: FTC File No. P084401'' on your comment.
Your comment, including your name and your state, will be placed on the
public record of this proceeding, including the https://www.regulations.gov website.
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 through the https://www.regulations.gov website by following the instructions on the web-
based form provided.
If you file your comment on paper, write ``Funeral Rule PRA
Comment: FTC File No. P084401'' on your comment and on the envelope,
and mail it 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. If possible, submit your paper comment to the Commission by
courier or overnight service.
Because your comment will be placed on the public record, 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
[[Page 6188]]
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 publicly at www.regulations.gov--as legally required by FTC
Rule 4.9(b)--we cannot redact or remove your comment, 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 April 6, 2020.
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.
Heather Hippsley,
Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2020-02111 Filed 2-3-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P
