Trade Regulation Rule: Labeling and Advertising of Home Insulation; Technical Amendments

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BILLING CODE 6750-01-M 16 CFR Part 460 Trade Regulation Rule: Labeling and Advertising of Home Insulation; Technical Amendments AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission. ACTION: Technical amendment to rule. SUMMARY: The Commission is publishing a technical amendment to its trade regulation rule on labeling and advertising of home insulation. The amendment is effective immediately. The technical amendment would permit manufacturers of home insulation to include on the fact sheets required by § 460.13 any disclosures which are required by federal laws or regulations to be made on the fact sheet. The amendment corrects a drafting error which would have made it a violation of the rule to include such required disclosures on the. fact sheets. DATES: Although the technical amendment is effective October 17,1980 the Commission will receive public comment on the amendment until December 16,1980.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Secretary, Federal Trade Commission, 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Submissions should be captioned "Comment—Technical Amendment to Home Insulation Rule.” FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kent C. Howerton, Attorney, Division of Energy and Product Information, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D.C. 20580, (202) 724-1514.

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68928 Federal Register / Vol. 45, No. 203 / Friday, O ctober 17, 1980 / Rules and Regulations SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Text of the Amendment Voted by the Commission.

Accordingly, Chapter I of 16 CFR is amended by revising the first four sentences in the first paragraph of § 460.13 to read as follows: § 460.13 Fact Sheets.

If you are a manufacturer, you must give retailers and installers fact sheets for the insulation products you sell to them. Each sheet must contain what is listed here. You can add any disclosures that are required by federal laws, regulations, rules, or orders. You can add any disclosures that are required by state or local laws, rules, and orders, unless they are inconsistent with the provisions of this regulation. Do not add anything else.

* * * * * II. Reasons for the Amendment Due to a drafting error in the first paragraph of Section 460.13, the rule prohibited manufacturers from putting disclosures on the fact sheet which were required to be placed there by other federal laws, regulations, rules, or orders. This result clearly put manufacturers in an unfair position: by complying with one set of federal regulations, the manufacturer violates another set of federal regulations. This result is clearly not in the public interest, nor is it consistent with the Commission’s intent. Accordingly the Commission has amended § 460.13 to make clear that manufacturers may put disclosures on the fact sheet if required to do so by other federal laws, regulations, rules or orders. This problem was brought to the Commission’s attention by a proposed rule of the Consumer Product Safety • Commission, published at 45 Federal Register 39434. Under this proposed rule, manufacturers of urea-formaldehyde foam insulation would be required to include certain health risk disclosures on the fact sheet required by Section 460.13 and 460.15 of the home insulation rule. The Commission is unaware of any other federal rules, regulations, laws, or orders which would require disclosure on the fact sheet required by the Commission’s home insulation rule. However, the Commission believes the amendment is necessary to prevent confusion arising out of any future federal regulations.

The amendment does not create any substantive change in the rule. The purpose of the provision prohibiting additional disclosures was to prevent manufacturers from vitiating the required disclosures by making distracting promotional claims. The exception to this prohibition for state and local laws, rules, and orders was intended simply to clarify the preemptive effect of the required disclosures. These purposes are not changed by the amendment. Since other federal actions are equally valid with the Commission’s actions, the only effect of the amendment is to remove any potential liability for manufacturers who comply with other federal regulations, rules, laws, or orders. It does not change any duties required by the rule.

III. Public Comment To avoid any potential conflict with other federal laws, regulations, rules, or orders, the Commission has decided that the amendment should take effect immediately upon publication. The Commission finds that notice and public procedure relating to the amendment are unnecessary and would cause a delay which would be contrary to the public interest. Therefore, under § 1.15 of the Commission’s Rules of Practice, the . Commission has decided to dispense with the procedures set out in subpart 1 of those Rules. However, the Commission will accept public comment on the amendment action for a period of sixty days following publication in the Federal Register.

By direction of the Commission. Carol M. Thomas, Secretary.

[FR Doc. 80-32514 Filed 10-16-80; 8:45 am]