Notice2021-25012
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
November 16, 2021
Issuing agencies
Federal Trade Commission
Abstract
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 the agency's shared enforcement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) of the information collection requirements in subpart N of the CFPB's Regulation V (Rule). That clearance expires on February 28, 2022.
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 218 (Tuesday, November 16, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 16, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63387-63389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25012]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission).
ACTION: Notice.
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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 the agency's shared enforcement with the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CFPB) of the information collection requirements in
subpart N of the CFPB's Regulation V (Rule). That clearance expires on
February 28, 2022.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 18, 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 ``Regulation V, subpart
N; PRA Comment: FTC File No. P072108'' on your comment, and file your
comment online at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> 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: Requests for copies of the collection
of information and supporting documentation should be addressed to Ryan
Mehm, Attorney, Bureau of Consumer Protection, (202) 326-2918, Federal
Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Regulation V, Subpart N (12 CFR
1022.130-1022.138).
OMB Control Number: 3084-0128.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Abstract: The FTC shares enforcement authority with the CFPB for
subpart N of Regulation V. Subpart N requires nationwide consumer
reporting agencies and nationwide consumer specialty reporting agencies
to provide to consumers, upon request, one free file disclosure within
any 12-month period. Generally, it requires the nationwide consumer
reporting agencies, as defined in Section 603(p) of the Fair Credit
Reporting Act (FCRA), 15 U.S.C. 1681a(p), to create and operate a
centralized source that provides consumers with the ability to request
their free annual file disclosures from each of the nationwide consumer
reporting agencies through a centralized internet website, toll-free
telephone number, and postal address. Subpart N also requires the
nationwide consumer reporting agencies to establish a standardized form
for internet and mail requests for annual file disclosures and provides
a model standardized form that may be used to comply with that
requirement. It additionally requires nationwide specialty consumer
reporting agencies, as defined in Section 603(w) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C.
1681a(w), to establish a streamlined process for consumers to request
annual file disclosures. This streamlined process must include a toll-
free telephone number for consumers to make such requests.
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 Rule.
Burden Statement
Because the FTC shares enforcement authority with the CFPB for
subpart N, the two agencies split between them the related estimate of
PRA burden for firms under their co-enforcement jurisdiction. Estimated
PRA burden, excluding the halving (to be shown at the conclusion of
this analysis), are as follows:
A. Requests per Year From Consumers for Free Annual File Disclosures
When the FTC last sought clearance renewal for the Rule, the
Consumer Data Industry Association (``CDIA'') estimated that in 2016
and 2017, the nationwide consumer reporting agencies provided on
average approximately 25 million free annual file disclosures through
the centralized internet website required to be established by the FACT
Act and subpart N. Based on its knowledge of the industry, FTC staff
projected that the consumer reporting agencies provided no more than 6
million free annual file disclosures through the centralized toll-free
telephone number and postal address required to be established by the
FACT Act and subpart N. Accordingly, we estimated 31 million requests
per year as a representative average to calculate PRA burden. We expect
that the number of requests for free annual credit reports will rise
over the next three years because of increases in the population and
consumer awareness that they are entitled to a free annual report. As a
proxy, we are now estimating 34 million requests per year as a
representative average year to estimate PRA burden for purposes of the
instant analysis.
The Commission, however, seeks more recent estimates of the number
of requests consumers are making for free annual credit reports. In
addition to data on the number of requests, data on how the number of
requests has changed over time, and how these requests are being
received--by internet, phone, or by mail--would be most helpful.
B. Annual File Disclosures Provided Through the Internet
Both nationwide and nationwide specialty consumer reporting
agencies will likely handle the overwhelming majority of consumer
requests through internet websites. The annual file disclosure requests
processed through the internet will impose a de minimis hourly burden
in personnel costs per request on the nationwide and nationwide
specialty consumer reporting agencies, except for those requests that
are redirected to the mail process.\1\ However, consumer reporting
agencies periodically will be required to adjust the internet capacity
needed to handle the changing request volume. Consumer reporting
agencies likely will make such adjustments by negotiating or
renegotiating outsourcing service contracts annually or as conditions
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change. Trained personnel will need to spend time negotiating and
renegotiating such contracts. Commission staff estimates that
negotiating such contracts will require a cumulative total of 8,320
hours and $646,963 in labor costs.\2\ Such activity is treated as an
annual burden of maintaining and adjusting the changing internet
capacity requirements.
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\1\ See infra note 5.
\2\ Based on the time necessary for similar activity in the
federal government (including at the FTC), staff estimates that such
contracting and administration will require approximately 4 full-
time equivalent employees (FTE) for the web service contracts. Thus,
staff estimates that administering the contract will require four
FTE, which is 8,320 hours per year (four FTE x 2,080 hours/year).
The cost is based on the reported May 2020 Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) rate ($77.76) for computer and information systems
managers. See Occupational Employment and Wages--May 2020, Table 1,
available at <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ocwage.pdf">https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ocwage.pdf</a>. Thus,
the estimated setup and maintenance cost for an internet system is
$646,963 per year (8,320 hours x $77.76/hour).
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C. Annual File Disclosures Requested Over the Telephone
Most of the telephone requests for annual file disclosures will
also be handled in an automated fashion, with de minimis personnel
costs needed to process the requests except for those requests that are
redirected to the mail process.\3\ As with the internet, consumer
reporting agencies will require additional time and investment to
increase and administer the automated telephone capacity for the
expected increase in request volume. The nationwide and nationwide
specialty consumer reporting agencies will likely make such adjustments
by negotiating or renegotiating outsourcing service contracts annually
or as conditions change. Staff estimates that this will require a total
of 6,240 hours at a cost of $485,222 in labor costs.\4\ This activity
also is treated as an annual recurring burden necessary to obtain,
maintain, and adjust automated call center capacity.
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\3\ See infra note 5.
\4\ Staff estimates that recurring contracting for automated
telephone capacity will require approximately 3 FTE, a total of
6,240 hours (3 x 2,080 hours). Applying an hourly wage rate of
$77.76 (see supra note 2), estimated setup and maintenance cost is
$485,222 (6,240 x $77.76) per year.
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D. Annual File Disclosures Requiring Processing by Mail
Based on their knowledge of the industry, staff believes that no
more than 1% of consumers (1% x 34 million, or 340,000) will request an
annual file disclosure through U.S. postal service mail. Staff
estimates that clerical personnel will require 10 minutes per request
to handle these requests, thereby totaling 56,667 hours of time.
[(340,000 x 10 minutes)/60 minutes per hour = 56,667 hours]
In addition, whenever the requesting consumer cannot be identified
using an automated method (a website or automated telephone service),
it will be necessary to redirect that consumer to send identifying
material along with the request by mail. Staff estimates that this will
occur in about 5% of the new requests (or 1,683,000) \5\ that were
originally placed over the internet or telephone. Staff estimates that
clerical personnel will require approximately 10 minutes per request to
input and process those redirected requests for a cumulative total of
280,500 clerical hours. [(1,683,000 x 10 minutes)/60 minutes per hour =
280,500 hours]
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\5\ This figure reflects five percent of all requests, net of
the estimated one percent of all requests that might initially be
made by mail. That is, 0.05 x (34,000,000-340,000) = 1,683,000.
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E. Instructions to Consumers
The Rule also requires that certain instructions be provided to
consumers. See Rule sections 1022.136(b)(2)(iv)(A-B),
1022.137(a)(2)(iii)(A-B). Minimal associated time or cost is involved,
however. Internet instructions to consumers are embedded in the
centralized source website and do not require additional time or cost
for the nationwide consumer reporting agencies. Similarly, for
telephone requests, the automated phone systems provide the requisite
instructions when consumers select certain options. Some consumers who
request their credit reports by mail might additionally request printed
instructions from the nationwide and nationwide specialty consumer
reporting agencies. Staff estimates that there will be a total of
2,023,000 requests each year for free annual file disclosures by
mail.\6\ Based on their knowledge of the industry, staff estimates
that, of the predicted 2,023,000 mail requests, 10% (or 202,300) will
request instructions by mail. If printed instructions are sent to each
of these consumers by mail, requiring 10 minutes of clerical time per
consumer, this will total 33,717 hours. [(202,300 instructions x 10
minutes)/60 minutes per hour].
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\6\ This figure includes both the estimated 1% of 34 million
requests that will be made by mail each year (340,000), and the
estimated 1,683,000 requests initially made over the internet or
telephone that will be redirected to the mail process (see supra
note 5).
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F. Labor Costs
Labor costs are derived by applying hourly cost figures to the
burden hours described above. Staff anticipates that processing of
requests for annual file disclosures and instructions will be performed
by clerical personnel and estimates that the processing will require
370,884 hours at a cost of $7,013,416. [(56,667 hours for handling
initial mail requests + 280,500 hours for handling requests redirected
to mail + 33,717 hours for handling instructions mailed to consumers) x
$18.91 per hour.\7\]
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\7\ See Occupational Employment and Wages--May 2020, Table 1,
available at <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ocwage.pdf">https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ocwage.pdf</a> (Office
and administrative support workers, all others).
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As elaborated on above, staff estimates that a total of 14,560
labor hours will be needed to negotiate or renegotiate outsourced
service contracts annually (or as conditions otherwise change) to
increase internet (8,320 hours) and telephone (6,240 hours) capacity
requirements for internet web services and the automated telephone call
center. This will result in approximately $1,132,186 per year in labor
costs. [14,560 hours x $77.76 per hour \8\]
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\8\ See supra notes 2 and 4.
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Thus, estimated cumulative labor costs are $8,145,602.
G. Capital/Non-Labor Costs
As in the previous PRA clearance analysis, FTC staff believes it is
likely that consumer reporting agencies will use third-party
contractors (instead of their own employees) to increase the capacity
of their systems. Because of the way these contracts are typically
established, these costs will likely be incurred on a continuing basis
and will be calculated based on the number of requests handled by the
systems. Staff estimates that the total annual amount to be paid for
services delivered under these contracts is $12,454,200.\9\
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\9\ This consists of an estimated $8,323,200 for automated
telephone cost ($1.36 per request x 6.12 million requests) and an
estimated $4,131,000 ($0.15 per request x 27.54 million requests)
for internet web service cost. Per unit cost estimates are based on
staff's knowledge of the industry.
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H. Net Burden for FTC, After 50:50 Split
After halving the updated estimates to split the PRA burden with
the CFPB regarding the Rule, the FTC's burden totals are 192,722 hours,
$4,072,801 in associated labor costs, and $6,227,100 in non-labor/
capital costs.
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
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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 January 18, 2022.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the FTC to consider
your comment, we must receive it on or before January 18, 2022. Write
``Regulation V, subpart N; PRA 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 <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> 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 <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>
website.
If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``Regulation V,
subpart N; PRA 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 <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, 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 publicly at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, 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 January 18,
2022. For information on the Commission's privacy policy, including
routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy">https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy</a>.
Josephine Liu,
Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2021-25012 Filed 11-15-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P
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