Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension, 52569-52571 [2022-18407]
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2022 / Notices
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Abstract: As required by the
Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and
Abuse Prevention Act, 15 U.S.C. 6101–
6108 (the Telemarketing Act), the TSR
mandates certain disclosures for
telephone sales and requires
telemarketers to retain certain records
regarding advertising, sales, and
employees. The required disclosures
provide consumers with information
necessary to make informed purchasing
decisions. The required records are to be
made available for inspection by the
Commission and other law enforcement
personnel to determine compliance with
the Rule. Required records may also
yield information helpful to measuring
and redressing consumer injury
stemming from Rule violations.
Likely Respondents: Telemarketers to
consumers.
Estimated Annual Hours Burden:
1,228,050 hours.
• Disclosures (for live telemarketing
calls and prerecorded calls): 1,215,946
hours (which is derived from 826,389
hours for pre-sales disclosures +
363,048 hours for general sales
disclosures + 26,509 hours for specific
sales disclosures).
• Reporting: 219 hours.
• Recordkeeping: 11,885 hours.
Estimated Annual Labor Cost Burden:
$18,367,441 (which is derived from
$441,169 (recordkeeping) + $17,923,044
(disclosure) + $3,228 (reporting).1
Estimated Annual Non-Labor Cost:
$4,596,656 2 (which is derived from
$219,250 (office supplies) + $4,377,406
(telephone charges)).
On April 19, 2022, the FTC sought
comment on the information collection
requirements associated with the Rule.
87 FR 23177. The FTC received no
germane comments during the public
comment period. Pursuant to 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 preexisting clearance for the Rule. For more
details about the Rule requirements and
the basis for the calculations
summarized below, see 87 FR 15995.
Your comment—including your name
and your state—will be placed on the
public record of this proceeding.
Because your comment will be made
1 The hourly wage rates for sales and related
workers are based on mean hourly wages found at
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm
(‘‘Occupational Employment and Wages—May
2021,’’ U.S. Department of Labor, released March
2022, Table 1 (‘‘National employment and wage
data from the Occupational Employment Statistics
survey by occupation, May 2021’’).
2 This estimate corrects the prior estimate of
$4,642,347 that was set out in the 60-Day Federal
Register notice.
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public, you are solely responsible for
making sure that your comment does
not include any sensitive personal
information, such as anyone’s Social
Security number; date of birth; driver’s
license number or other state
identification number, or foreign
country equivalent; passport number;
financial account number; or credit or
debit card number. You are also solely
responsible for making sure that your
comment does not include any sensitive
health information, 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.
Josephine Liu,
Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2022–18406 Filed 8–25–22; 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:
In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(‘‘PRA’’), the Federal Trade Commission
(‘‘FTC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’) is seeking
public comment on its proposal to
extend for an additional three years the
FTC’s portion of the information
collection requirements contained in the
rules implementing the Hart-ScottRodino Antitrust Improvements Act
(‘‘HSR Rules’’) and corresponding
Notification and Report Form for
Certain Mergers and Acquisitions
(‘‘Notification and Report Form’’). The
current clearance expires on January 31,
2023.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before October 25, 2022.
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 ‘‘Paperwork Reduction Act
Comment: FTC File No. P072108’’ on
your comment, and file your comment
SUMMARY:
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52569
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
Commission, Office of the Secretary,
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW,
5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex J),
Washington, DC 20024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Robert L. Jones, Assistant Director,
Premerger Notification Office, Bureau of
Competition, Federal Trade
Commission, Room CC–5301, 600
Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington,
DC 20580, or by telephone to (202) 326–
2740.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: HSR Rules and Notification and
Report Form, 16 CFR parts 801–803.
OMB Control Number: 3084–0005.
Type of Review: Extension of a
currently approved collection.
Abstract: Section 7A of the Clayton
Act (‘‘Act’’), 15 U.S.C. 18a, as amended
by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust
Improvements Act of 1976, Public Law
94–435, 90 Stat. 1390, requires all
persons contemplating certain mergers
or acquisitions to file notification with
the Commission and the Assistant
Attorney General and to wait a
designated period of time before
consummating such transactions.
Congress empowered the Commission,
with the concurrence of the Assistant
Attorney General, to require ‘‘that the
notification . . . be in such form and
contain such documentary material and
information . . . as is necessary and
appropriate’’ to enable the agencies ‘‘to
determine whether such acquisitions
may, if consummated, violate the
antitrust laws.’’ 15 U.S.C. 18a(d).
Congress similarly granted rulemaking
authority to, among other things,
‘‘prescribe such other rules as may be
necessary and appropriate to carry out
the purposes of this section.’’ Id.
Pursuant to that section, the
Commission, with the concurrence of
the Assistant Attorney General,
developed the HSR Rules and the
corresponding Notification and Report
Form.
Likely Respondents: Merging Parties.
Estimated Annual Hours Burden:
264,947 hours [derived from 7,160 nonindex filings × 37 hours each) + (12
index filings × two hours each) + (one
withdrawn transaction later restarted ×
three hours)].
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2022 / Notices
Estimated Annual Cost Burden:
$121,875,620, which is derived from
$460/hour × 264,947 hours.
As required by section 3506(c)(2)(A)
of the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), the
FTC is providing this opportunity for
public comment before requesting that
OMB extend the existing clearance for
the information collection requirements
contained in the HSR Rules and
corresponding Notification and Report
Form.
Burden Statement
The following burden estimates are
primarily based on FTC data concerning
the number of HSR filings and FTC
staff’s informal consultations with
leading HSR counsel for outside parties.
Estimated Total Annual Hours
In fiscal year 2022, FTC staff estimates
that the FTC will receive a total of 6,580
non-index filings.1 Based on an average
annual increase in filings of 4.3% in the
pre-COVID fiscal years 2017–2019, FTC
staff projects an average of 7,160 nonindex filings per year for fiscal years
2023–2025, the time period for which
PRA clearance will be requested from
OMB.2 For index filings, FTC staff
projects an average of 12 index filings
for fiscal years 2022–2025, based on a
rough average of 12 such filings per year
over fiscal years 2017–2019. Retaining
prior assumptions, FTC staff estimates
that non-index filings require, on
average, approximately 37 hours per
filing and that index filings require an
average of two hours per filing.3
On rare occasions, a transaction for
which the HSR filing is automatically
withdrawn during the merger review
process (due to the parties’ Securities
and Exchange Commission filing
indicating that the transaction has been
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1 The
estimate is based on actual data for the first
three quarters of fiscal year 2022 and a projected
number of filings for the last quarter that is the
average of the number of filings received in the
second and third quarter of fiscal year 2022. The
second FR Notice will have the actual number of
filings for fiscal year 2022, and all calculations
based on the projected number of filings for fiscal
year 2022 will be updated accordingly.
2 Due to the exceptional volatility in the number
of filings in fiscal years 2020 and 2021, data for
these years was not included in the estimation of
the annual growth rate of filings.
3 Index filings pertain to certain transactions
described in Sections 7A(c)(6) and (c)(8) of the
Clayton Act that are subject to the approval of other
agencies and are exempt from the requirements of
the premerger notification program. Index filings
are incorporated into the FTC’s currently cleared
burden estimates, because the parties to these
exempt transactions must file copies of the
information submitted to the other agencies with
the Commission and the Assistant Attorney
General. However, the task of filing a copy of
information provided to another agency requires
significantly less time than the preparation of a
filing for a non-exempt transaction.
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16:59 Aug 25, 2022
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terminated) could be subsequently
restarted. Based on experience to date,
this would occur approximately once
every fifteen years, i.e., a historical
frequency of 0.067 transactions per year.
FTC staff believes that this new filing
would require the same work and
diligence as any new non-index filing.
Assuming, then, an average of 37 hours
for one transaction, when applied to a
historical frequency of 0.067, this
amounts to an annual average of three
hours, rounded up, for a withdrawn
transaction later restarted.
Thus, the total estimated hours
burden is 264,947 hours [(7,160 nonindex filings × 37 hours each) + (12
index filings × two hours each) + (one
withdrawn transaction later restarted ×
three hours))].
Estimated Total Annual Labor Cost
Using the burden hours (264,947)
estimated above and applying an
estimated average of $460/hour for
executive and/or attorney
compensation, FTC staff estimates that
the total labor cost associated with the
HSR Rules and the Notification and
Report Form is approximately
$121,875,620.
Estimated Total Annual Non-Labor Cost
The applicable requirements impose
minimal start-up costs, as businesses
subject to the HSR Rules generally have
or obtain necessary equipment for other
business purposes. Staff believes that
the above requirements necessitate
ongoing, regular training so that covered
entities stay current and have a clear
understanding of federal mandates, but
such training would be subsumed
within the ordinary training that
employees receive.
Request for Comments
Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of
the PRA, 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 maintaining records and
providing disclosures to consumers. All
comments must be received on or before
October 25, 2022.
You can file a comment online or on
paper. For the FTC to consider your
comment, we must receive it on or
before October 25, 2022. Write
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‘‘Paperwork Reduction Act Comment:
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 the https://
www.regulations.gov website.
Due to the public health emergency in
response to the COVID–19 outbreak and
the agency’s heightened security
screening, postal mail addressed to the
Commission will be subject to delay. We
encourage you to submit your comments
online through the https://
www.regulations.gov website.
If you prefer to file your comment on
paper, write ‘‘Paperwork Reduction Act
Comment: 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 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 become
publicly available at https://
www.regulations.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,’’
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2022 / Notices
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 publicly at
www.regulations.gov, 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 October 25, 2022. 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.
Josephine Liu,
Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2022–18407 Filed 8–25–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
[30Day–22–22IK]
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Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork
Reduction Act Review
In accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
has submitted the information
collection request titled Study to
Explore Early Development (SEED)
Follow-up Study to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and approval. CDC previously
published a ‘‘Proposed Data Collection
Submitted for Public Comment and
Recommendations’’ notice on October 4,
2021 to obtain comments from the
public and affected agencies. CDC did
not receive comments related to the
previous notice. This notice serves to
allow an additional 30 days for public
and affected agency comments.
CDC will accept all comments for this
proposed information collection project.
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16:59 Aug 25, 2022
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The Office of Management and Budget
is particularly interested in comments
that:
(a) Evaluate 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;
(b) Evaluate the accuracy of the
agencies estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
(c) Enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected;
(d) 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,
e.g., permitting electronic submission of
responses; and
(e) Assess information collection
costs.
To request additional information on
the proposed project or to obtain a copy
of the information collection plan and
instruments, call (404) 639–7570.
Comments and recommendations for the
proposed information collection should
be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/
do/PRAMain. Find this particular
information collection by selecting
‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open
for Public Comments’’ or by using the
search function. Direct written
comments and/or suggestions regarding
the items contained in this notice to the
Attention: CDC Desk Officer, Office of
Management and Budget, 725 17th
Street NW, Washington, DC 20503 or by
fax to (202) 395–5806. Provide written
comments within 30 days of notice
publication.
Proposed Project
Study to Explore Early Development
(SEED), Follow-up Study—New—
National Center on Birth Defects and
Developmental Disabilities
(NCBDDD), Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).
Background and Brief Description
In 2016, an estimated one in 54
children eight years of age living in 11
communities across the United States
had autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a
developmental disability that can cause
significant social, communication, and
behavior challenges. Total annual costs
associated with ASD have been
estimated between $11.5–60.9 billion
(2011, US dollars), yet major gaps in
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knowledge remain about risk factors for
ASD, and associated challenges and
needs for persons with ASD and their
families. Additionally, while most
research on ASD has focused on
children, ASD is considered a lifelong
condition, and although an estimated
70,000 to 111,000 youth with ASD turn
18 years of age annually, little is known
about the transition to adolescence and
adulthood for persons with ASD.
Despite the call to address transition
and lifespan issues in the Autism
CARES Acts of 2014 and 2019, only 2%
of ASD funding from 2008–2018 was
spent on lifespan issues. The 2016–2017
Interagency Autism Coordinating
Committee (IACC) Strategic Plan
highlighted the need for more
information about the services and
support needed to maximize the quality
of life for people on the autism
spectrum, especially as individuals with
ASD progress into adulthood.
The Study to Explore Early
Development (SEED) was originally
initiated to address the Children’s
Health Act of 2000, which mandated
CDC to conduct ASD surveillance and
implement research programs to address
the number, incidence, and causes of
ASD and related developmental
disabilities. SEED was a multi-phase,
multi-site, case-control study comparing
children with ASD, identified at ages 2–
5 years, to children with other non-ASD
developmental disabilities (DD), and
from the general population (POP).
SEED was initially implemented in
three phases during 2007–2021. The
current information collection request is
to conduct longitudinal follow-up
studies of SEED 1–3 participants at
older ages, thereby addressing the
priorities established in the Autism
CARES Acts of 2014 and 2019, and the
need for research highlighted in the
IACC Strategic Plan.
Given the size of the original SEED
birth cohorts and the wealth of baseline
information collected, a follow-up study
of participants can help us address the
research gaps described above. The
information collected from this study
will allow us to better understand the
developmental trajectory of children
with ASD, their health outcomes and
co-occurring conditions at older ages,
and the associated early predictors of
these outcomes, including intellectual
abilities.
The data collected in this study also
provides the opportunity to obtain
important self-reported measures of
well-being among young adults with
ASD. Recent evidence suggests that
individuals with ASD, with average to
above average levels of intellectual
functioning, may still struggle with
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 165 (Friday, August 26, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52569-52571]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18407]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Extension
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(``PRA''), the Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') is
seeking public comment on its proposal to extend for an additional
three years the FTC's portion of the information collection
requirements contained in the rules implementing the Hart-Scott-Rodino
Antitrust Improvements Act (``HSR Rules'') and corresponding
Notification and Report Form for Certain Mergers and Acquisitions
(``Notification and Report Form''). The current clearance expires on
January 31, 2023.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 25, 2022.
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 ``Paperwork Reduction
Act Comment: FTC File No. P072108'' 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: Robert L. Jones, Assistant Director,
Premerger Notification Office, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade
Commission, Room CC-5301, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20580, or by telephone to (202) 326-2740.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: HSR Rules and Notification and Report Form, 16 CFR parts
801-803.
OMB Control Number: 3084-0005.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Abstract: Section 7A of the Clayton Act (``Act''), 15 U.S.C. 18a,
as amended by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976,
Public Law 94-435, 90 Stat. 1390, requires all persons contemplating
certain mergers or acquisitions to file notification with the
Commission and the Assistant Attorney General and to wait a designated
period of time before consummating such transactions. Congress
empowered the Commission, with the concurrence of the Assistant
Attorney General, to require ``that the notification . . . be in such
form and contain such documentary material and information . . . as is
necessary and appropriate'' to enable the agencies ``to determine
whether such acquisitions may, if consummated, violate the antitrust
laws.'' 15 U.S.C. 18a(d). Congress similarly granted rulemaking
authority to, among other things, ``prescribe such other rules as may
be necessary and appropriate to carry out the purposes of this
section.'' Id. Pursuant to that section, the Commission, with the
concurrence of the Assistant Attorney General, developed the HSR Rules
and the corresponding Notification and Report Form.
Likely Respondents: Merging Parties.
Estimated Annual Hours Burden: 264,947 hours [derived from 7,160
non-index filings x 37 hours each) + (12 index filings x two hours
each) + (one withdrawn transaction later restarted x three hours)].
[[Page 52570]]
Estimated Annual Cost Burden: $121,875,620, which is derived from
$460/hour x 264,947 hours.
As required by section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, 44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(2)(A), the FTC is providing this opportunity for public comment
before requesting that OMB extend the existing clearance for the
information collection requirements contained in the HSR Rules and
corresponding Notification and Report Form.
Burden Statement
The following burden estimates are primarily based on FTC data
concerning the number of HSR filings and FTC staff's informal
consultations with leading HSR counsel for outside parties.
Estimated Total Annual Hours
In fiscal year 2022, FTC staff estimates that the FTC will receive
a total of 6,580 non-index filings.\1\ Based on an average annual
increase in filings of 4.3% in the pre-COVID fiscal years 2017-2019,
FTC staff projects an average of 7,160 non-index filings per year for
fiscal years 2023-2025, the time period for which PRA clearance will be
requested from OMB.\2\ For index filings, FTC staff projects an average
of 12 index filings for fiscal years 2022-2025, based on a rough
average of 12 such filings per year over fiscal years 2017-2019.
Retaining prior assumptions, FTC staff estimates that non-index filings
require, on average, approximately 37 hours per filing and that index
filings require an average of two hours per filing.\3\
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\1\ The estimate is based on actual data for the first three
quarters of fiscal year 2022 and a projected number of filings for
the last quarter that is the average of the number of filings
received in the second and third quarter of fiscal year 2022. The
second FR Notice will have the actual number of filings for fiscal
year 2022, and all calculations based on the projected number of
filings for fiscal year 2022 will be updated accordingly.
\2\ Due to the exceptional volatility in the number of filings
in fiscal years 2020 and 2021, data for these years was not included
in the estimation of the annual growth rate of filings.
\3\ Index filings pertain to certain transactions described in
Sections 7A(c)(6) and (c)(8) of the Clayton Act that are subject to
the approval of other agencies and are exempt from the requirements
of the premerger notification program. Index filings are
incorporated into the FTC's currently cleared burden estimates,
because the parties to these exempt transactions must file copies of
the information submitted to the other agencies with the Commission
and the Assistant Attorney General. However, the task of filing a
copy of information provided to another agency requires
significantly less time than the preparation of a filing for a non-
exempt transaction.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On rare occasions, a transaction for which the HSR filing is
automatically withdrawn during the merger review process (due to the
parties' Securities and Exchange Commission filing indicating that the
transaction has been terminated) could be subsequently restarted. Based
on experience to date, this would occur approximately once every
fifteen years, i.e., a historical frequency of 0.067 transactions per
year. FTC staff believes that this new filing would require the same
work and diligence as any new non-index filing. Assuming, then, an
average of 37 hours for one transaction, when applied to a historical
frequency of 0.067, this amounts to an annual average of three hours,
rounded up, for a withdrawn transaction later restarted.
Thus, the total estimated hours burden is 264,947 hours [(7,160
non-index filings x 37 hours each) + (12 index filings x two hours
each) + (one withdrawn transaction later restarted x three hours))].
Estimated Total Annual Labor Cost
Using the burden hours (264,947) estimated above and applying an
estimated average of $460/hour for executive and/or attorney
compensation, FTC staff estimates that the total labor cost associated
with the HSR Rules and the Notification and Report Form is
approximately $121,875,620.
Estimated Total Annual Non-Labor Cost
The applicable requirements impose minimal start-up costs, as
businesses subject to the HSR Rules generally have or obtain necessary
equipment for other business purposes. Staff believes that the above
requirements necessitate ongoing, regular training so that covered
entities stay current and have a clear understanding of federal
mandates, but such training would be subsumed within the ordinary
training that employees receive.
Request for Comments
Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, 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 maintaining records and providing disclosures to
consumers. All comments must be received on or before October 25, 2022.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the FTC to consider
your comment, we must receive it on or before October 25, 2022. Write
``Paperwork Reduction Act Comment: 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 the https://www.regulations.gov website.
Due to the public health emergency in response to the COVID-19
outbreak and the agency's heightened security screening, postal mail
addressed to the Commission will be subject to delay. We encourage you
to submit your comments online through the https://www.regulations.gov
website.
If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``Paperwork
Reduction Act Comment: 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 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 become publicly available at https://www.regulations.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,''
[[Page 52571]]
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 publicly
at www.regulations.gov, 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 October 25,
2022. 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.
Josephine Liu,
Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2022-18407 Filed 8-25-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P