3170-0019 Supporting Statement Part A-Final

BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION
INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST

SUPPORTING STATEMENT PART A
CFPB STATE OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION RULE - 12 CFR §1320
(OMB CONTROL NUMBER: 3170-0019)

OMB TERMS OF CLEARANCE: Not applicable. The Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) provided no Terms of Clearance when it last approved this collection of information in
April 2012.
ABSTRACT: Section 1042 of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection
Act, 12 U.S.C. § 5552 (“Act”), gave authority to certain State and US territorial officials to
enforce the Act and regulations prescribed thereunder. Section 1042 also requires that the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“Bureau”) issue a rule establishing how states are to
provide notice to the Bureau before taking action to enforce the Act (or, in emergency situations,
immediately after taking such an action). In accordance with the requirements of the Act, the
Bureau issued a final rule (12 CFR § 1082.1) establishing that notice should be provided at least
10 days before the filing of an action, with certain exceptions, and setting forth a limited set of
information which is to be provided with the notice.
OMB’s approval for this collection of information is scheduled to expire on 04/30/2015.
Pursuant to the requirements set forth in the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) implementing
regulations at 5 CFR § 1320.12, Clearance of collections of information in current rules, this
request is for OMB to extend (renew) its Paperwork Reduction Act approval for this collection
of information for an additional three years.

PART A. JUSTIFICATION
1. Circumstances Necessitating the Data Collection
Section 1042 of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, 12 U.S.C. §
5552 (“the Act”), gave authority to certain state officials to enforce the Act and regulations
prescribed thereunder. Section 1042 also requires that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(“Bureau”) issue a rule establishing how states are to provide notice to the Bureau before taking
action to enforce the Act (or, in emergency situations, immediately after taking such an action).
In accordance with the requirements of the Act, the Bureau issued a final rule (12 CFR § 1082.1)

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establishing that notice should be provided at least 10 days1 before the filing of an action, with
certain exceptions, and setting forth a limited set of information which is to be provided with the
notice. The notification requirements substantially track the statutory language provided at 12
U.S.C. § 5552(b)) and include the following information:


the court or body in which the action or proceeding is to be initiated;



the identity of the parties to the action or proceeding;



the nature of the action or proceeding to be initiated;



the anticipated date of initiating the action or proceeding;



the alleged facts underlying the action or proceeding;



a contact name, electronic mail address, and phone number of an individual involved
with the matter in the office of the State Official with whom the Bureau may consult;



a determination as to whether there may be a need to coordinate the prosecution of the
action or proceeding so as not to interfere with any action, including any rulemaking,
undertaken by the Bureau, a prudential regulator, or another Federal agency; and



a complete and unredacted copy of any complaint, motion for relief, or similar document
that is the subject of the notice, in its form as of the date the notice is provided.

When notice is provided after the initiation of an action, the written description shall also include
the following information:


a brief description of any preceding that occurred as a result of the initiation of the action
or proceeding, including any orders issued by a court or other body;



any case number, matter number, or designation assigned to the action;



information on scheduled court or other administrative or regulatory proceedings; and



a complete, unredacted copy of any document filed by any party in relation to the action
and any orders issued by the court or other body.

By statute, as noted above, state officials are required to provide notice to the Bureau and, as
previously indicated, this notice is necessary to ensure that the Bureau is informed of pending
matters and can evaluate those matters and determine a course of action. Without this rule, the
Bureau’s awareness of how new authorities granted by the Act are being implemented will be
1

Pursuant to 12 U.S.C. 5552(b), for “Emergency actions’ 12 CFR §1082.1(b) requires that notice be provided “as
soon as is practicable and not later than 48 hours after initiation of the action or proceeding.”
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substantially hindered.
2. Use of the Information
The data is received each time a state official files an action to enforce the Act or a regulation
promulgated thereunder. The data is collected by the Bureau (through electronic mail
submissions), and specifically by the Division of Enforcement and the Executive Secretary, who
will share it as necessary and appropriate within the Bureau and elsewhere in government,
pursuant to the process set out in the rules. It will also be collected by the prudential regulators
(through postal mail or electronic mail submissions) where relevant. Unless used as part of a
legal proceeding in which the Bureau is engaged, it is not expected that the information will be
shared with the public by those receiving the notice, unless the information is already made
public by the state official providing the notice.
As discussed above, the information provided in the notice is used by the Bureau (and prudential
regulators, where relevant) to stay informed about the enforcement activities of state officials
enforcing the Act and to decide when and how, if at all, to react to such activities.
3. Use of Information Technology
To ensure that the process of providing notice is both easy and fast, notice to the Bureau is
provided by electronic mail. State officials have the option of providing notice electronically or
by postal mail to prudential regulators.
4. Efforts to Identify Duplication
The Bureau is not aware of any other formal process by which the Bureau would be notified of
pending state enforcement actions.
5. Efforts to Minimize Burdens on Small Entities
Not applicable. The information collected will come from state officials. Small businesses or
other small entities are not impacted by this collection of information.
6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection and Obstacles to Burden Reduction
As discussed above, failing to collect this information may leave the Bureau without the
necessary information as to pending state actions in an area of law for which the Bureau has
primary regulatory authority, which will limit the Bureau’s ability to consult with states and
become involved as appropriate before a case is filed.
7. Circumstances Requiring Special Information Collection
There are no special circumstances. The collection of information is conducted in a manner
consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR §1320. 5(d)(2).
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8. Consultation Outside the Agency
In accordance with 5 CFR §1320.8(d)(1), the Bureau has published a notice Federal Register
allowing the public 60 days to comment on this proposed the extension (renewal) of this
currently approved collection of information. Further and in accordance with 5 CFR
§1320.5(a)(1)(iv), the Bureau also published a notice in the Federal Register allowing the public
30 days to comment on the submission of this information collection request to the Office of
Management and Budget.
9. Payments or Gifts to Respondents
Not applicable. The information collection does not provide for making payments or gifts to
respondents.
10. Assurances of Confidentiality
As set forth in the rule at 12 CFR § 1082.1(e), unless and until the information becomes
Publically available, the substance and fact of the notice will not be disclosed by the Bureau or
any relevant prudential regulator who received the notice except:




as required by law;
with the permission of the state official who provided the notice; or
by the Bureau to another state of federal entity when necessary to protect the public
interest, after consultation with the state official who provided the notice.

Because this collection of information does not involve the collection of information from or
about individuals, the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended 5 U.S.C. § 552a is not implicated.
Therefore, no privacy impact assessment has been conducted nor has the Bureau published a
Systems of Records Notice relative to this collection of information.
11. Justification for Sensitive Questions
Not applicable. The collection of information does not impact individuals and does not collect
information that would be considered private.
12. Estimated Burden of Information Collection
The information sent under the notice provisions of the rule is primarily information which the
state officials providing the notice would have already collected and have available at the time
notice is given. The requirements apply to all fifty (50) states, the District of Columbia, and all
five (5) inhabited U.S. territories; therefore the total number of potential respondents is 56. It is
estimated that compiling and sending the requested information would require no more than 30
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minutes2 of additional work. Over the past three years, on average the Bureau has 3 per year.
Accordingly, the Bureau estimates the burden on states and territories as follows:
3 Notices per year x .5 hours = 1.5 annual burden hours.

13. Estimated Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Recordkeepers
There should be minimal annualized costs for the state officials to collect and submit this
information, consisting of only the de minimis costs related to compiling the information and
transmitting it to the CFPB
14. Estimated Cost to the Federal Government
The Bureau does not incur any new or unique costs as a result of this collection of information.
15. Program Changes or Adjustments
The Bureau is not reporting any program changes with this submission. The Bureau is reporting
an adjustment of 1 hour since the collection was last approved by OMB in April 2012. The
adjustment results from the Bureau’s experience administering its regulatory requirements for
state notifications.

Summary of Burden Changes
Total
Respondents
Total Annual Hours
3
Requested
Current OMB
1
Inventory
Difference (+/-)
+2
Program Change
0
Discretionary
0
New Statute
0
Violation
0
Adjustment
2

Annual
Responses

Burden Hours

Cost Burden
(O & M)

1

1.5

0

1

.5

0

0
0
0
0

+1.0
0
0
0
0
1

0
0
0
0

16. Plans for Tabulation, Statistical Analysis, and Publication
2

As part of the standard PRA clearance process, the Bureau, among other things, sought public comment on this
estimate (see 76 FR 71932 and 77 FR 12255). The Bureau received no comments in regards to this estimate.
Further, the Bureau has received no comments from states pertaining to this estimate.
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Not applicable. The information will not be published.
17. Display of Expiration Date
The OMB control number and expiration date will be displayed on the Federal government’s
electronic PRA docket at www.reginfo.gov.
18. Exceptions to the Certification Requirement
The Bureau certifies that this collection of information is consistent with the requirements of 5
CFR § 1320.9, and the related provisions of 5 CFR § 1320.8(b)(3) and is not seeking an
exemption to these certification requirements.

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