16988 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 57 / Friday, March 23, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

1390; Fax number (919) 541–3207; 

Email address: boyd.rochelle@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comment Period 

Due to requests received from 

industry to extend the public comment 

period, the EPA is extending the public 

comment period for an additional 14 

days. Therefore, the public comment 

period will end on April 13, 2012, 

rather than March 30, 2012. 

How can I get copies of this document 

and other related information? 

The EPA has established the official 

public docket No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2010– 

0544. The EPA has also developed a 

Web site for the proposed rulemaking at 

the addresses given above. 

Dated: March 20, 2012. 

Gina McCarthy, 

Assistant Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7029 Filed 3–22–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 82 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2011–0776; FRL–9651–2] 

RIN 2060–AR20 

Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: 

Amendment to HFO–1234yf SNAP Rule 

for Motor Vehicle Air Conditioning 

Sector 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is proposing to revise one 

of the use conditions required for use of 

hydrofluoroolefin (HFO)-1234yf 

(2,3,3,3-tetrafluoroprop-1-ene), a 

substitute for ozone-depleting 

substances (ODSs) in the motor vehicle 

air conditioning end-use within the 

refrigeration and air conditioning sector, 

as acceptable subject to use conditions 

under the EPA’s Significant New 

Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program. 

The revised use condition incorporates 

by reference a revised standard from 

SAE International. In the ‘‘Rules and 

Regulations’’ section of this Federal 

Register, we are revising a use condition 

for use of HFO-1234yf in motor vehicle 

air conditioning as a direct final rule 

without a prior proposed rule. If we 

receive no adverse comment, we will 

not take further action on this proposed 

rule. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received by April 23, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OAR–2011–0776 by mail to OAR Docket 

and Information Center, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Mailcode 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460. 

Comments may also be submitted 

electronically or through hand delivery/ 

courier by following the detailed 

instructions in the ADDRESSES section of 

the direct final rule located in the rules 

section of this Federal Register. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Margaret Sheppard, Stratospheric 

Protection Division, Office of 

Atmospheric Programs; Environmental 

Protection Agency, Mail Code 6205J, 

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20460; telephone 

number (202) 343–9163, fax number, 

(202) 343–2338; email address at 

sheppard.margaret@epa.gov. The 

published versions of notices and 

rulemakings under the SNAP program 

are available on EPA’s Stratospheric 

Ozone Web site at http://www.epa.gov/ 

ozone/snap/regs. The full list of SNAP 

decisions in all industrial sectors is 

available at http://www.epa.gov/ozone/ 

snap. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Why is EPA issuing this proposed 

rule? 

This action proposes revising a use 

condition for the refrigerant HFO– 

1234yf in motor vehicle air conditioning 

under EPA’s Significant New 

Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program. 

This action would incorporate by 

reference an updated edition of a 

standard from SAE International and 

clarifying the scope of the use 

condition. We have published a direct 

final rule which revises a condition for 

use of HFO-1234yf in motor vehicle air 

conditioning in the ‘‘Rules and 

Regulations’’ section of this Federal 

Register because we view this as a 

noncontroversial action and anticipate 

no adverse comment. We have 

explained our reasons for this action in 

the preamble to the direct final rule. 

If we receive no adverse comment and 

no requests for public hearings in 

response to this action, we will not take 

further action on this proposed rule. If 

we receive adverse comment, we will 

withdraw the direct final rule and it will 

not take effect. We would address all 

public comments in any subsequent 

final rule based on this proposed rule. 

If a public hearing is requested, EPA 

will provide notice in the Federal 

Register as to the location, date, and 

time. 

We do not intend to institute a second 

comment period on this action. Any 

parties interested in commenting must 

do so at this time. For further 

information, please see the information 

provided in the ADDRESSES section of 

this document. 

II. Does this action apply to me? 

This notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM) would regulate the use of HFO1234yf (2,3,3,3-tetrafluoroprop-1-ene, 

Chemical Abstracts Service Registry 

Number [CAS Reg. No.] 754–12–1) as a 

refrigerant in new motor vehicle air 

conditioning (MVAC) systems in new 

passenger cars and light-duty trucks. 

Businesses in this end-use that might 

want to use HFO-1234yf in new MVAC 

systems in the future include: 

• Automobile manufacturers 

• Automobile repair shops 

Regulated entities may include: 

TABLE 1—POTENTIALLY REGULATED ENTITIES, BY NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE

Category NAICS code Description of regulated entities 

Industry ................................................................................................................... 336111 Automobile Manufacturing. 

Services .................................................................................................................. 811111 General Automotive Repair. 

This table is not intended to be 

exhaustive, but rather a guide regarding 

entities likely to be regulated by this 

action. If you have any questions about 

whether this action applies to a 

particular entity, consult the person 

listed in the preceding section, FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 

III. What is EPA proposing? 

EPA is proposing to revise one of the 

use conditions required for use of 

hydrofluoroolefin (HFO)-1234yf 

(2,3,3,3-tetrafluoroprop-1-ene), a 

substitute for ozone-depleting 

substances (ODSs) in the motor vehicle 

air conditioning end-use under EPA’s 

Significant New Alternatives Policy 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 57 / Friday, March 23, 2012 / Proposed Rules 16989 

1Formerly, the Society of Automotive Engineers. 

(SNAP) program. In March 2011, EPA 

listed HFO-1234yf as acceptable, subject 

to use conditions, for use in motor 

vehicle air conditioning (MVAC) 

systems in new passenger cars and lightduty trucks (March 29, 2011; 76 FR 

17488). We are revising the use 

condition that incorporated by reference 

the February 2011 edition of SAE 

International’s 1 (herein after, SAE) 

J2844 standard for connections with 

refrigerant containers. We are revising 

this use condition to incorporate by 

reference an updated edition of the 

standard, and we also are clarifying the 

scope of that use condition. This action 

does not place any significant burden on 

the regulated community and ensures 

consistency with industry standards. 

The direct final rule will be effective on 

May 22, 2012 without further notice 

unless we receive adverse comment (or 

a request for a public hearing) by April 

23, 2012. If EPA receives adverse 

comment or a request for a public 

hearing, we will publish a timely 

withdrawal in the Federal Register 

informing the public that all or part of 

this rule will not take effect. EPA will 

address all public comments in a 

subsequent final rule based on this 

proposed rule. We will not institute a 

second public comment period on this 

action. Any parties interested in 

commenting must do so at this time. 

You may claim that information in 

your comments is confidential business 

information, as allowed by 40 CFR part 

2. If you submit comments and include 

information that you claim as 

confidential business information, we 

request that you submit them directly to 

Margaret Sheppard in two versions: one 

clearly marked ‘‘Public’’ to be filed in 

the public docket, and the other marked 

‘‘Confidential’’ to be reviewed by 

authorized government personnel only. 

IV. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory 

Planning and Review and Executive 

Order 13563: Improving Regulation and 

Regulatory Review 

This action is not a ‘‘significant 

regulatory action’’ under the terms of 

Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, 

October 4, 1993) and is therefore not 

subject to review under Executive 

Orders 12866 and 13563 (76 FR 3821, 

January 21, 2011). 

B. Paperwork Reduction Act 

This action does not impose any new 

information collection burden. It 

contains no new requirements for 

reporting. However, the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) has 

previously approved the information 

collection requirements contained in the 

existing regulations in subpart G of 40 

CFR part 82 under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 

3501 et seq. and has assigned OMB 

control numbers 2060–0226 (EPA ICR 

No. 1596.08). This Information 

Collection Request (ICR) included five 

types of respondent reporting and 

recordkeeping activities pursuant to 

SNAP regulations: submission of a 

SNAP petition, filing a SNAP/TSCA 

Addendum, notification for test 

marketing activity, recordkeeping for 

substitutes acceptable subject to use 

restrictions, and recordkeeping for small 

volume uses. The OMB control numbers 

for EPA’s regulations are listed in 40 

CFR part 9. 

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

The RFA generally requires an agency 

to prepare a regulatory flexibility 

analysis of any rule subject to notice 

and comment rulemaking requirements 

under the Administrative Procedure Act 

or any other statutes unless the agency 

certifies that the rule will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

Small entities include small businesses, 

small organizations, and small 

governmental jurisdictions. 

EPA has determined that it is not 

necessary to prepare a regulatory 

flexibility analysis in connection with 

this proposed rule because this rule will 

not have a significant economic impact 

on a substantial number of small 

entities. For purposes of assessing the 

impacts of today’s rule on small entities, 

small entity is defined as: (1) A small 

business as defined by the Small 

Business Administration’s (SBA) 

regulations at 13 CFR 121.201; for 

NAICS code 336111 (Automobile 

manufacturing), a small business has 

<1000 employees; and for NAICS code 

811111 (General Automotive Repair), a 

small business has annual receipts of 

less than $7.0 million; (2) a small 

governmental jurisdiction that is a 

government of a city, county, town, 

school district or special district with a 

population of less than 50,000; and (3) 

a small organization that is any not-forprofit enterprise which is independently 

owned and operated and is not 

dominant in its field. 

After considering the economic 

impacts of today’s proposed rule on 

small entities, EPA has concluded that 

this action will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. This rule will 

not impose any requirements on small 

entities beyond current industry 

practices. Today’s action effectively 

ensures consistency with current 

industry practices and standards, 

whereas without these revisions, small 

businesses would need to reconcile 

differences between EPA regulations 

and industry standards. 

It is not clear that there would be any 

cost differential between these new 

unique fittings, those used with the 

current automotive refrigerant, HFC134a, or other fittings that the 

automotive industry could adopt 

instead. It is possible that the fittings 

required in the revised use condition 

will be less expensive because they are 

a standard shape and size easily 

produced in a metal-working shop. 

Thus, cost impacts of this proposed rule 

on small entities are expected to be 

small. This proposed rule is expected to 

relieve burden for some small entities, 

such as automotive repair shops, by 

avoiding confusion over which fittings 

to use and by using a more robust fitting 

that allows quick detection of any leaks 

from the valve. 

Although this proposed rule will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities, 

EPA nonetheless has tried to reduce the 

impact of this rule on small entities. 

EPA has worked together with SAE 

International and with groups 

representing professional service 

technicians such as the Mobile Air 

Conditioning Society Worldwide, which 

conducts regular outreach with 

technicians and owners of small 

businesses such as retail refrigerant 

suppliers and automobile repair shops. 

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

This rule does not contain a Federal 

mandate that may result in expenditures 

of $100 million or more for State, local, 

and tribal governments, in the aggregate, 

or the private sector in any one year. 

This final rule will not impose any 

requirements beyond current industry 

practices, and thus, compliance costs 

are expected to be small. Thus, this rule 

is not subject to the requirements of 

sections 202 or 205 of UMRA. 

This rule is also not subject to the 

requirements of section 203 of UMRA 

because it contains no regulatory 

requirements that might significantly or 

uniquely affect small governments. The 

requirements of this rule apply to the 

servicing of motor vehicle air 

conditioning systems. The requirements 

of this rule for unique fittings are 

expected to be comparable in cost to 

those of current fittings. Requirements 

would be the same as those imposed on 

any other entity performing servicing on 

motor vehicle air conditioning systems. 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
16990 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 57 / Friday, March 23, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism 

This proposed rule does not have 

federalism implications. It will not have 

substantial direct effects on the States, 

on the relationship between the national 

government and the States, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government, as specified in 

Executive Order 13132. This regulation 

applies directly to facilities that use 

these substances and not to 

governmental entities. Thus, Executive 

Order 13132 does not apply to this rule. 

In the spirit of Executive Order 13132, 

and consistent with EPA policy to 

promote communications between EPA 

and State and local governments, EPA 

specifically solicits comment on this 

proposed action from State and local 

officials. 

F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation 

and Coordination With Indian Tribal 

Governments 

This action does not have tribal 

implications, as specified in Executive 

Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 

2000). It does not significantly or 

uniquely affect the communities of 

Indian tribal governments, because this 

regulation applies directly to facilities 

that use these substances and not to 

governmental entities. Thus, Executive 

Order 13175 does not apply to this 

action. 

EPA specifically solicits additional 

comment on this proposed action from 

tribal officials. 

G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of 

Children From Environmental Health 

Risks and Safety Risks 

Executive Order 13045: ‘‘Protection of 

Children from Environmental Health 

Risks and Safety Risks’’ (62 FR 19885, 

April 23, 1997) applies to any rule that: 

(1) is determined to be ‘‘economically 

significant’’ as defined under Executive 

Order 12866, and (2) concerns an 

environmental health or safety risk that 

EPA has reason to believe may have a 

disproportionate effect on children. If 

the regulatory action meets both criteria, 

the Agency must evaluate the 

environmental health or safety effects of 

the planned rule on children, and 

explain why the planned regulation is 

preferable to other potentially effective 

and reasonably feasible alternatives 

considered by the Agency. 

This proposed rule is not 

economically significant as defined in 

Executive Order 12866, and the Agency 

does not have reason to believe the 

environmental health or safety risks 

addressed by this action present a 

disproportionate risk to children. This 

action concerns only use of a specific 

fitting that may reduce technician’s 

exposure in the course of professional 

servicing of MVAC systems. Therefore, 

we did not conduct further health or 

risk assessments beyond those in the 

original rulemaking (March 29, 2011; 76 

FR 17488). This rule is not subject to 

Executive Order 13045 because it is not 

economically significant as defined in 

Executive Order 12866 and because the 

Agency does not have reason to believe 

the environmental health or safety risks 

addressed by this action present a 

disproportionate risk to children. 

The public is invited to submit 

comments or identify peer-reviewed 

studies and data that assess effects of 

early life exposure to HFO-1234yf. 

H. Executive Order 13211: Actions 

Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use 

This action is not subject to Executive 

Order 13211 (66 FR 28355 (May 22, 

2001)), because it is not a significant 

regulatory action under Executive Order 

12866. 

I. National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act 

Section 12(d) of the National 

Technology Transfer and Advancement 

Act of 1995 (NTTAA), Public Law 104– 

113, Section 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 note) 

directs EPA to use voluntary consensus 

standards in regulatory activities unless 

to do so would be inconsistent with 

applicable law or otherwise impractical. 

Voluntary consensus standards are 

technical standards (e.g., materials 

specifications, test methods, sampling 

procedures, and business practices) that 

are developed or adopted by voluntary 

consensus standards bodies. The 

NTTAA directs EPA to provide 

Congress, through OMB, explanations 

when the Agency decides not to use 

available and applicable voluntary 

consensus standards. 

This rulemaking involves technical 

standards. EPA proposes to use SAE 

International’s most recent version of 

the SAE J2844 standard, ‘‘R-1234yf 

(HFO-1234yf) New Refrigerant Purity 

and Container Requirements for Use in 

Mobile Air-Conditioning Systems.’’ This 

standard can be obtained from http:// 

www.sae.org/technical/standards/. This 

standard addresses, among other things, 

appropriate fittings and other 

requirements for refrigerant containers 

for use for professional servicing of 

MVAC systems using the alternative 

refrigerant HFO-1234yf. 

EPA welcomes comments on this 

aspect of the proposed rulemaking and, 

specifically, invites the public to 

identify potentially-applicable 

voluntary consensus standards and to 

explain why such standards should be 

used in this regulation. 

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal 

Actions To Address Environmental 

Justice in Minority Populations and 

Low-Income Populations 

Executive Order (EO) 12898 (59 FR 

7629 (Feb. 16, 1994)) establishes Federal 

executive policy on environmental 

justice. Its main provision directs 

Federal agencies, to the greatest extent 

practicable and permitted by law, to 

make environmental justice part of their 

mission by identifying and addressing, 

as appropriate, disproportionately high 

and adverse human health or 

environmental effects of their programs, 

policies, and activities on minority 

populations and low-income 

populations in the United States. 

EPA has determined that this 

proposed rule will not have 

disproportionately high and adverse 

human health or environmental effects 

on minority or low-income populations 

because it does not affect the level of 

protection provided to human health or 

the environment. This final rule 

requires specific use conditions for 

unique fittings for use with refrigerant 

containers for professional servicing of 

MVAC systems, for those servicing 

MVAC systems using this low global 

warming potential refrigerant 

alternative. It does not directly affect the 

amount of exposure to or emissions of 

HFO-1234yf expected. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 82 

Environmental protection, 

Administrative practice and procedure, 

Air pollution control, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, 

Stratospheric ozone layer. 

Dated: March 15, 2012. 

Lisa P. Jackson, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2012–6918 Filed 3–22–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Parts 158 and 171 

[EPA–HQ–OPP–2010–0670 and EPA–HQ– 

OPP–2011–0049; FRL–9341–1] 

RIN 2070–AJ80 and 2070–AJ77 

Notification of Submission to the 

Secretary of Agriculture of Two Draft 

Regulatory Documents Under FIFRA 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS