2020-11293. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request  

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    AGENCY:

    Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

    ACTION:

    Notice and request for comment.

    SUMMARY:

    The FTC requests that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) extend for three years the current Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) clearance for information collection requirements contained in the Informal Dispute Settlement Procedures Rule (the Dispute Settlement Rule or the Rule). The current clearance expires on May 31, 2020.

    DATES:

    Comments must be received by June 26, 2020.

    ADDRESSES:

    Written 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. The reginfo.gov web link is a United States Government website produced by OMB and the General Services Administration (GSA). Under PRA requirements, OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) reviews Federal information collections.

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    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

    Christine M. Todaro, Attorney, Division of Marketing Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-3711.

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    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Title: Informal Dispute Settlement Procedures Rule (the Dispute Settlement Rule or the Rule), 16 CFR part 703.

    OMB Control Number: 3084-0113.Start Printed Page 31781

    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

    Likely Respondents: Warrantors (Automobile Manufacturers) and Informal Dispute Settlement Mechanisms.

    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 9,055 (derived from 6,121 recordkeeping hours in addition to 2,040 reporting hours and 894 disclosure hours).

    Estimated Annual Labor Costs: $209,595.

    Estimated Annual Capital or Other Non-labor Costs: $314,566.

    Abstract: On March 16, 2020, the FTC sought public comment on the information collection requirements associated with the Rule. 85 FR 14939. No germane comments were received.[1] 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 the Rule.

    The Dispute Settlement Rule is one of three rules that the FTC implemented pursuant to requirements of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. 2301 et seq. (Warranty Act or Act). The Rule specifies the minimum standards which must be met by any informal dispute settlement mechanism (IDSM) that is incorporated into a written consumer product warranty and which the consumer is required to use before pursuing legal remedies under the Act in court (known as the “prior resort requirement”).

    The Dispute Settlement Rule standards for IDSMs include requirements concerning the mechanism's structure (e.g., funding, staffing, and neutrality), the qualifications of staff or decision makers, the mechanism's procedures for resolving disputes (e.g., notification, investigation, time limits for decisions, and follow-up), recordkeeping, and annual audits. The Rule requires that IDSMs establish written operating procedures and provide copies of those procedures upon request.

    Request for Comment

    Your comment—including your name and your state—will be placed on the public record of this proceeding at the https://www.regulations.gov website. Because your comment will be made 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.

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    Josephine Liu,

    Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel.

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    Footnotes

    1.  The Commission received six non-germane comments.

    Back to Citation

    [FR Doc. 2020-11293 Filed 5-26-20; 8:45 am]

    BILLING CODE 6750-01-P

Document Information

Published:
05/27/2020
Department:
Federal Trade Commission
Entry Type:
Notice
Action:
Notice and request for comment.
Document Number:
2020-11293
Dates:
Comments must be received by June 26, 2020.
Pages:
31780-31781 (2 pages)
PDF File:
2020-11293.Pdf