Labeling and Advertising of Home insulation; Trade Regulation Rule

Page 28

BILLING CODE 6750-01-M 16 CFR Part 460 Labeling and Advertising of Home insulation; Trade Regulation Rule AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission. ACTION: Invitation for public comment on tentative decision to grant a partial exemption to manufacturers of a type of flat roofing insulation, and notice of a temporary stay of a labeling requirement for those manufacturers. s u m m a r y : The Federal Trade Commission has tentatively decided to grant an exemption to manufacturers of a certain type of flat roofing insulation product used almost exclusively in industrial and commercial applications from the requirement in § 460.12 of its trade regulation rule on labeling and advertising of home insula tion(16 CFR Part 460). Section 460.12 requires all home insulation products to be labeled with certain information about R-value. The Commission has tentatively decided to deny an exception to such manufacturers from any other provision of the rule. The Commission has issued a temporary stay of § 460.12 insofar as it applies to this particular type of roof insulation.

DATES: Effective date: September 29, 1980.

Written comments regarding the Commission tentative decision to grant the exemption in part, and deny it in part', will be accepted until November 17,1980.

ADDRESS: Written comments should be addressed to the Secretary, Federal Trade Commission, 6th and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. All comments should be captioned: “Comment on Proposed Partial Exemption for Flat Roof Insulation Manufacturers—Home Insulation Rule."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kent C. Howerton, 202-724-1514, Attorney, Division of Energy and Product Information, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D.C. 20580. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 31,1980, the Commission announced that the effective date of the rule would be September 29,1980 (45 FR 54702).

Two trade associations (The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. [SPI] and Thermal Insulation Manufacturers Association [TIMA]) and four manufacturers (Apache Building Products Company, GAF Corporation, Grefço Inc., and the Celotex Corporation) have petitioned the Commission for an exemption from the rule for rigid roof insulation which is used in flat built-up roofs. TIMA and the four manufacturers have requested an exemption from all requirements of the rule, including those requiring disclosures in advertisements (§ 460.18 and § 460.19). SPI has limited its request to an exemption from the labeling requirements of § 460.12 of the rule. The labeling provisions of § 460.12 require all home insulation products to be labeled with basic information about the type of insulation, its R-value, and the coverage of the product. This type of information was intended to provide consumers purchasing the product directly or through installers with basic information needed to evaluate the thermal performance of the insulation product.

The trade associations and manufacturers state that more than ninety-five percent of the rigid roof insulation boards are used in commercial or industrial buildings, and are therefore not covered by the rule. However, some of the product is used in multi-family residential buildings, such

Page 29

Federal Register / Vol. 45, No. 203 / Friday, O ctober 17, 1980 / Rules and Regulations 68929 as flat-roof apartment or condominium buildings. The trade associations and manufacturer state that they have no way of knowing which products will be used in residential applications, and which will not. If they are required to label their products which go into residential use, they would be required to assume the unnecessary expenses of labeling every package of insulation even though only a small percentage of them would be used in residential applications. Furthermore, since the product can only be used in large, multifamily, flat-roof buildings, they argue that the labeling information is unnecessary because the product will be selected by an architect or another professional, not the consumer. The Commission has tentatively decided to grant an exemption to manufacturers of this type of rigid flatroof insulation board from the requirement in § 460.12 that all insulation materials which might be used in homes be labeled with R-value information.

However, the Commission has tentatively decided to deny the request for an exemption from any other provision of the rule. Section 460.13, in combination with §§ 460.15 and 460.16, requires unstallers to show consumers a fact sheet with essential R-value information and new home sellers to disclose in sales contracts the R-value of the insulation installed in the home. The compliance costs of producing the fact sheets in the few instances where the rigid insulation board is in fact used in residential applications are modest. These sections ensure that, when necessary, consumers will get the relevant R-value information. Similarly, the Commission has tentatively decided to deny the petition for exemption from any of the rule’s * provisions which require disclosures in advertising. Most of the claims made for the rigid roof boardstock are made in professional publications, and Would therefore not be covered by the rule. But where claims are directed at consumers, there would appear to be no reason to treat claims for this product any differently than other insulation performance or energy savings claims. In view of the Commission’s tentative determination to exempt manufacturers of rigid roof insulation from the labeling requirements of § 460.12, the Commission has tentatively stayed § 460.12 insofar as it applies to such manufacturers, pending a final Commission decision on the exemption request.

The petitions from the two trade associations and the four manufacturers have been placed on the public record and are available for public inspection. They have been filed as documents V-Z through V-7 in FTC file number 215-59. By Direction of the Commission. Carol M. Thomas, Secretary.

[FR Doc. 80-32515 Filed 10-10-80; 8:45 am]