23704 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 96 / Wednesday, May 20, 2009 / Notices 

List of Subjects 

Environmental protection, Chemicals, 

Premanufacturer notices. 

Dated: May 4, 2009. 

Darryl S. Ballard 

Acting Director, Information Management 

Division, Office of Pollution Prevention and 

Toxics. 

[FR Doc. E9–11749 Filed 5–19–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–S 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2009–0211; FRL–8907–7] 

Notice of Receipt of a Clean Air Act 

Waiver Application To Increase the 

Allowable Ethanol Content of Gasoline 

to 15 Percent; Extension of Comment 

Period 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice; extension of comment 

period. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency (‘‘EPA’’), in response 

to many requests from the public, is 

extending the public comment period 

on the waiver application to increase 

the allowable ethanol content of 

gasoline to 15 percent (‘‘E15’’) which 

was submitted by Growth Energy and 54 

ethanol manufacturers on March 6, 

2009. EPA published notice of receipt 

and request for comment in the Federal 

Register for Growth Energy’s 

application on April 21, 2009 (74 FR 

18228). The public comment period was 

to end on May 21, 2009. The purpose of 

this document is to extend the comment 

period an additional 60 days until July 

20, 2009. This extension of the comment 

period is provided to allow the public 

additional time to respond to the legal 

and technical issues raised in the 

application. This action does not extend 

the 270-day statutory deadline for the 

Administrator to grant or deny the E15 

waiver request, which ends on 

December 1, 2009. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before July 20, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OAR–2009–0211, by one of the 

following methods: 

• http://www.regulations.gov: Follow 

the on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• E-mail: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov. 

• Fax: (202) 566–1741. 

• Mail: Air and Radiation Docket, 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2009– 

0211, Environmental Protection Agency, 

Mailcode: 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. 

Please include a total of two copies. 

• Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, 

Public Reading Room, EPA West 

Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. 

Such deliveries are only accepted 

during the Docket’s normal hours of 

operation, and special arrangements 

should be made for deliveries of boxed 

information. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2009– 

0211. EPA’s policy is that all comments 

received will be included in the public 

docket without change and may be 

made available online at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Do not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through http:// 

www.regulations.gov. The http:// 

www.regulations.gov Web site is an 

‘‘anonymous access’’ system, which 

means EPA will not know your identity 

or contact information unless you 

provide it in the body of your comment. 

If you send an e-mail comment directly 

to EPA without going through http:// 

www.regulations.gov your e-mail 

address will be automatically captured 

and included as part of the comment 

that is placed in the public docket and 

made available on the Internet. If you 

submit an electronic comment, EPA 

recommends that you include your 

name and other contact information in 

the body of your comment and with any 

disk or CD–ROM you submit. If EPA 

cannot read your comment due to 

technical difficulties and cannot contact 

you for clarification, EPA may not be 

able to consider your comment. 

Electronic files should avoid the use of 

special characters, any form of 

encryption, and be free of any defects or 

viruses. For additional information 

about EPA’s public docket visit the EPA 

Docket Center homepage at http:// 

www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. 

How Can I Access the Docket? 

EPA has established a public docket 

for this application under Docket ID No. 

EPA–HQ–OAR–2009–0211, which is 

available for Online viewing at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, or in person 

viewing at the EPA/DC Docket Center 

Public Reading Room, 1301 Constitution 

Avenue, NW., Room 3334, Washington, 

DC. The EPA/DC Public Reading Room 

is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, excluding legal 

holidays. The telephone number for the 

Reading Room is 202–566–1744, and the 

telephone number for the Air and 

Radiation Docket is 202–566–1742. 

Use http://www.regulations.gov to 

obtain a copy of the waiver request, 

submit or view public comments, access 

the index listing of the contents of the 

docket, and to access those documents 

in the public docket that are available 

electronically. Once in the system, 

select ‘‘search,’’ then key in the docket 

ID number identified in this document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robert K. Anderson, Office of 

Transportation and Air Quality (6405J), 

Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 

Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, 

DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 

343–7518; fax number: (202) 343–2802; 

e-mail address: 

anderson.robert@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On March 6, 2009, Growth Energy and 

54 ethanol manufacturers submitted an 

application to the U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency for a waiver of the 

prohibition of the introduction into 

commerce of certain fuels and fuel 

additives set forth in section 211(f) of 

the Clean Air Act (‘‘the Act’’). This 

application seeks a waiver for ethanolgasoline blends of up to 15 percent by 

volume ethanol (‘‘E15’’). On April 21, 

2009, EPA published notice for the 

receipt of the application, and, as 

required by section 211(f)(4) of the Act, 

EPA requested public comment on all 

aspects of the waiver application that 

will assist the Administrator in 

determining whether the statutory basis 

for granting the waiver request for 

ethanol-gasoline blends containing up 

to E15 has been met (See 74 FR 18228). 

EPA originally provided a 30-day period 

for the public to respond. The deadline 

for public comment was May 21, 2009. 

In a letter dated April 17, 2009, the 

National Corn Growers Association 

requested a 60-day extension to the 

comment period. On April 27, 2009, 

EPA received a request from 36 national 

organizations who stated they represent 

a diverse cross-section of interests and 

who requested a 60-day extension to the 

comment window. Also on April 27, 

2009, the Alliance of Automobile 

Manufacturers requested a 45-day 

extension. Finally, on May 6, 2009, 

AllSAFE—a group of national 

consumer, manufacturing, and gasoline 

retailer associations that utilize gasoline 

and ethanol fuel blends—requested a 

minimum 30-day extension to the 

comment period. In general, these 

parties stated that additional time 

would be needed in order to allow 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 96 / Wednesday, May 20, 2009 / Notices 23705 

commenters more time to properly 

address the complex legal and technical 

issues and provide more thorough 

comments that would aid in considering 

the E15 waiver. 

Although EPA agrees that additional 

time for comments may be needed, this 

need must be balanced against the need 

to allow EPA ample time to review all 

relevant data and public submissions 

before the 270-day statutory decision 

deadline. EPA believes an additional 60 

days would allow adequate time for 

these stakeholders and others to provide 

meaningful comment on the E15 waiver 

request. EPA does not anticipate any 

further extension of the comment period 

for this waiver request. 

Extension of Comment Period 

EPA has determined that extension of 

the comment period would aid in 

providing the public an adequate 

amount of time to respond to the 

complex legal and technical issues that 

result from possibly allowing E15 to be 

sold commercially. Accordingly, the 

public comment period for the E15 

waiver to section 211(f) of the Act is 

extended until July 20, 2009. This 

action does not extend the 270-day 

statutory deadline of December 1, 2009, 

for the Administrator to grant or deny 

the E15 waiver request. 

Dated: May 14, 2009. 

Elizabeth Craig, 

Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air 

and Radiation. 

[FR Doc. E9–11785 Filed 5–19–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2009–0277; FRL–8904–6] 

Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: 

Request for Critical Use Exemption 

Applications for 2012 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of Solicitation of 

Applications and Information on 

Alternatives. 

SUMMARY: EPA is soliciting applications 

for the critical use exemption from the 

phaseout of methyl bromide for 2012 

and beyond. This exemption is an 

annual exemption and all entities 

interested in obtaining a critical use 

exemption must provide EPA with 

technical and economic information to 

support a ‘‘critical use’’ claim and must 

do so by the deadline specified in this 

notice even if they have previously 

applied for an exemption. Today’s 

notice also invites interested parties to 

provide EPA with new data on the 

technical and economic feasibility of 

methyl bromide alternatives. 

DATES: Applications for the critical use 

exemption must be postmarked on or 

before July 20, 2009. The response 

period reflects the clarifications and 

reduction of burden in the application. 

ADDRESSES: Applications for the methyl 

bromide critical use exemption should 

be submitted in duplicate (two copies) 

by mail to: U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, Office of Air and 

Radiation, Stratospheric Protection 

Division, Attention Methyl Bromide 

Team, Mail Code 6205J, 1200 

Pennsylvania Ave, NW., Washington, 

DC 20460 or by courier delivery (other 

than U.S. Post Office overnight) to: U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Office of Air and Radiation, 

Stratospheric Protection Division, 

Attention Methyl Bromide Review 

Team, 1310 L St. NW., Room 1040, 

Washington DC 20005. EPA also 

encourages users to submit their 

applications electronically to Robert 

Burchard, Stratospheric Protection 

Division, at burchard.robert@epa.gov. If 

the application is submitted 

electronically, applicants must fax a 

signed copy of Worksheet 1 to Robert 

Burchard at 202–343–2338 by the 

application deadline. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

General Information: U.S. EPA 

Stratospheric Ozone Information 

Hotline, 1–800–296–1996; also http:// 

www.epa.gov/ozone/mbr. 

Technical Information: Bill Chism, 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 

Office of Pesticide Programs (7503P), 

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 

Washington, DC, 20460, 703–308–8136. 

E-mail: chism.bill@epa.gov. 

Economic Information: Elisa Rim, 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 

Office of Pesticide Programs (7503P), 

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 

Washington, DC, 20460, 703–308–8123. 

E-mail: rim.elisa@epa.gov. 

Regulatory Information: Robert 

Burchard, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, Stratospheric 

Protection Division (6205J), 1200 

Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, 

DC, 20460, 202–343–9126. E-mail: 

burchard.robert@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. What do I need to know to respond to this 

request for applications? 

A. Who can respond to this request for 

information? 

B. Whom can I contact to find out whether 

a consortium is submitting an 

application for my methyl bromide use? 

C. How do I obtain an application form for 

the methyl bromide critical use 

exemption? 

D. What alternatives must applicants 

address when applying for a critical use 

exemption? 

E. What portions of the applications will be 

considered confidential business 

information? 

F. Must I submit a ‘‘Notice of Intent to 

Apply’’? 

G. What if I submit an incomplete 

application? 

H. What if I applied for a critical use 

exemption in a previous year? 

II. What is the legal authority for the critical 

use exemption? 

A. What is the Clean Air Act (CAA) 

authority for the critical use exemption? 

B. What is the Montreal Protocol authority 

for the critical use exemption? 

III. How is the U.S. implementing the critical 

use exemption? 

I. What do I need to know to respond 

to this request for applications? 

A. Who can respond to this request for 

information? 

Entities interested in obtaining a 

critical use exemption must complete 

the application form available at 

http://www.epa.gov/ozone/mbr. The 

application form may be submitted 

either by a consortium representing 

multiple users who have similar 

circumstances or by individual users 

who anticipate needing methyl bromide 

in 2012 and believe there are no 

technically and economically feasible 

alternatives. EPA encourages groups of 

users with similar circumstances of use 

to submit a single application (for 

example, any number of pre-plant users 

with similar soil, pest, and climactic 

conditions can join together to submit a 

single application). In some instances, 

state agencies will assist users with the 

application process (see discussion of 

voluntary state involvement in Part I.B. 

below). Given that this is the eighth 

round of the critical use exemption 

process, EPA will take a skeptical view 

regarding supporting new nominations 

(meaning, specific applicants who have 

not previously been nominated by the 

U.S. Government for an exemption) 

unless the applicant demonstrates that 

an unforeseeable change in 

circumstances (e.g., withdrawal or 

significant change in registration status 

of an alternative) justifies the need. 

In addition to requesting information 

from applicants for the critical use 

exemption, this solicitation for 

information provides an opportunity for 

any interested party to provide EPA 

with information on methyl bromide 

alternatives (e.g., technical and/or 

economic feasibility research). The 

application form for the methyl bromide 

critical use exemption and other