Announced Actions for April 22, 1998

Consent agreements given final approval: Following a public comment period, the Commission has made final a consent agreement with the following entity. The Commission action makes the consent order binding on the respondent.

• The final consent order with Shell Oil Company and Texaco, Inc. will require Shell to divest a package of assets, including Shell’s refinery in Anacortes, Washington; a Hawaiian terminal; and retail gasoline stations in Hawaii and California, to settle FTC charges that their proposed joint venture would raise gasoline prices by tens of millions of dollars and would violate federal antitrust laws. The Commission vote to make the order final was 4-0, with Commissioner Mary L. Azcuenaga concurring in part and dissenting in part, and Commissioner Mozelle W. Thompson not participating. (See news release dated December 19, 1997; Docket No. C-3803. Staff contact is Richard Liebeskind, 202-326-2441.)

Regulatory Review: As part of its ongoing periodic review of its rules and guides, the FTC is seeking public comment on the overall costs and benefits and the continuing need for its Procedures for State Application for Exemption from the Provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which prohibits deceptive, unfair and abusive practices by third party debt collectors. A notice describing the procedures for state applications for exemptions from the Act, which the Commission promulgated in 1979, and a series of questions about the need for the procedures was published today in the Federal Register. The Commission vote to publish the notice was 5-0. (FTC File No. P984805; Staff contact is Thomas E. Kane, 202-326-2304, email: tkane@ftc.gov)

Copies of the documents referenced above are available from the FTC’s web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580; 202-FTC-HELP (202- 382-4357); TDD for the hearing impaired 1-866-653-4261. Consent agreements subject to public comment also are available by calling 202-326-3627. To find out the latest news as it is announced, call the FTC NewsPhone recording at 202-326-2710.