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 Environmental Protection Agency [EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0669; FRL-9116-04-OAR]
 AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
 ACTION: Notice.
 SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued calendar year 2024 allowances for the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons in accordance with the Agency's regulations. This issuance of allowances is undertaken pursuant to the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, which directs the Environmental Protection Agency by October 1 of each calendar year to determine the quantity of production and consumption allowances for the following calendar year. In this notice, the Agency is also providing notice of separate Agency actions finalizing administrative consequences for certain entities. These administrative consequences were applied to withhold, retire, and revoke entities' remaining calendar year 2023 and newly issued calendar year 2024 allowances in accordance with the administrative consequence regulatory provisions.
 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andy Chang, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Stratospheric Protection Division, telephone number: 202-564-6658; email address: 
                        *chang.andy@epa.gov.*
                         You may also visit EPA's website at 
                        *https://www.epa.gov/​climate-hfcs-reduction*
                         for further information.


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Subsection (e)(2)(D)(i) of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020 (AIM Act) directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine, by October 1 of each calendar year, the quantity of allowances for the production and consumption of regulated substances that may be used for the following calendar year. EPA has codified the production and consumption baselines and phasedown schedules for regulated substances in 40 CFR 84.7. Under the phasedown schedule, for 2024, total production allowances may not exceed 229,521,263 metric tons of exchange value equivalent (MTEVe) and total consumption allowances may not exceed 181,522,990 MTEVe. EPA regulations at 40 CFR part 84, subpart A, outline the process by which the Agency determines the number of allowances each entity is allocated. EPA allocated allowances consistent with this process for calendar year 2024, and has posted entity-specific allowance allocations on its website at 
                    *https://www.epa.gov/​climate-hfcs-reduction.*
                     An allowance allocated under the AIM Act does not constitute a property right and is a limited authorization for the production or consumption of a regulated substance. Note that while allowances may be transferred or conferred once they are allocated, they can only be expended to cover imports and production in the calendar year for which they are allocated. In other words, calendar year 2024 allowances may only be expended for production and import of bulk HFCs between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024. Application-Specific Allowances EPA established the methodology for issuing application-specific allowances in the 2021 final rule titled 
                    *Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Establishing the Allowance Allocation and Trading Program Under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act*
                     (86 FR 55116) and codified the methodology for issuing allowance allocations in 40 CFR 84.13. Because application-specific allowances can be expended to either produce or import HFCs, and application-specific allowances must be provided from within the overall annual production and consumption caps, EPA subtracts the amount of application-specific allowances allocated from both the production and consumption general allowance pools. EPA issues application-specific allowances to end users in five applications established by the AIM Act: propellants in metered dose inhalers (MDIs), defense sprays, structural composite preformed polyurethane foam for marine use and trailer use, etching of semiconductor material or wafers and the cleaning of chemical vapor deposition chambers within the semiconductor manufacturing sector, and onboard aerospace fire suppression. Additionally, EPA issues application-specific allowances to the U.S. Department of Defense for mission-critical military end uses. EPA's 2023 final rule titled 
                    *Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Allowance Allocation Methodology for 2024 and Later Years*
                     (88 FR 46836), updated the methodology for how the Agency would issue production and consumption allowances for 2024 through 2028. These updates are codified in 40 CFR 84.9 (production) and 40 CFR 84.11 (consumption), and EPA is issuing allowances to entities who meet the criteria in the regulations, including those who were previously issued consumption allowances as new market entrants pursuant to 40 CFR 84.15. EPA's final calculations for allocation of allowances for each entity on September 29, 2023, follows below. EPA followed the methodology from the applicable regulations in determining allocations, 
                    *i.e.,*40 CFR 84.13 for application-specific allowances, 40 CFR 84.9 for production allowances, and 40 CFR 84.11 for consumption allowances. Applying the methodology codified in 40 CFR 84.13, EPA allocated the number of application-specific allowances shown in Table 1.
                    ( print page 72061) Table 1—Number of Calendar Year 2024 Application-Specific Allowances Allocated per Entity
Entity
Application
Application-
                             specific  
                             allowances  
                             (MTEVe) allocatedAnalog devices
Semiconductors
18,130.0Applied Materials
Semiconductors
10,666.7Armstrong Pharmaceuticals
Propellants in MDIs
230,001.2ASML US
Semiconductors
1,033.8AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals
Propellants in MDIs
3,848.9Aurobindo Pharma USA
Propellants in MDIs
28,316.9Broadcom
Semiconductors
213.1Compsys
Structural Composite Preformed Polyurethane Foam
19,928.6Defense Technology
Defense Sprays
1,537.4Diodes Incorporated
Semiconductors
2,584.5General Electric
Semiconductors
73.9GlaxoSmithKline
Propellants in MDIs
523,906.9GlobalFoundries
Semiconductors
152,916.2Guardian Protective Devices
Defense Sprays
7,467.0Hitachi High-Tech America
Semiconductors
537.9IBM Corporation
Semiconductors
369.4Intel Corporation
Semiconductors
597,502.0Invagen Pharmaceuticals
Propellants in MDIs
156,427.2Jireh Semiconductor
Semiconductors
1,600.2Keysight Technologies
Semiconductors
537.7Kindeva Drug Delivery
Propellants in MDIs
335,693.4LA Semiconductor
Semiconductors
2,584.5Lam Research Corp
Semiconductors
182,210.4Lupin
Propellants in MDIs
21,415.7Medtronic Tempe Campus
Semiconductors
457.1Microchip Technology
Semiconductors
43,757.2Micron Technology
Semiconductors
40,557.8Newport Fab DBA TowerJazz
Semiconductors
6,414.4Northrop Grumman Corporation
Semiconductors
2,116.0NXP Semiconductor
Semiconductors
72,169.2Odin Pharmaceuticals
Propellants in MDIs
1,075.7Polar Semiconductor
Semiconductors
11,718.5Proteng Distribution
Onboard Aerospace Fire Suppression
6,723.4Qorvo Texas
Semiconductors
1,065.3Raytheon Technologies
Onboard Aerospace Fire Suppression
1,535.4Renesas Electronics America
Semiconductors
1,065.3Samsung Austin Semiconductor
Semiconductors
334,439.8Security Equipment Corporation
Defense Sprays
53,652.3Semiconductor Components Industries DBA ON Semiconductor
Semiconductors
19,001.0SkyWater Technology
Semiconductors
18,718.8Skyworks Solutions
Semiconductors
536.8Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Arizona Corporation (TSMC Arizona Corporation)
Semiconductors
34,250.1Texas Instruments
Semiconductors
193,836.7The Research Foundation for The State University of New York OBO SUNY Polytechnic Institute
Semiconductors
1,034.4Tokyo Electron America
Semiconductors
558.8Tower Semiconductor San Antonio
Semiconductors
8,502.2UDAP Industries
Defense Sprays
37,629.1Wabash National Corporation
Structural Composite Preformed Polyurethane Foam
66,340.0WaferTech
Semiconductors
18,103.3Wolfspeed
Semiconductors
48,648.1X-FAB Texas
Semiconductors
2,432.6Department of Defense
Mission-critical Military End Uses
2,511,081.5Total Issued
All
5,836,924.3
 EPA has denied requests for application-specific allowances from Apple Inc. and Zarc International, Inc. because they are ineligible under 40 CFR 84.13. The requests were ineligible for at least one of the following reasons: (1) Did not report purchases of regulated substances in the past three years; or (2) Failed to submit a request by the deadline. General Pool Allowances for Production Applying the methodology codified in 40 CFR 84.9, EPA allocated the number of production allowances shown in Table 2.
                    ( print page 72062) Table 2—Number of Calendar Year 2024 Production Allowances Allocated per Entity
Entity
Production 
                             allowances  
                             allocated (MTEVe)Application-specific allowances
a
                             5,836,924.3Arkema
26,990,669.0Chemours
50,038,369.2Honeywell International
113,275,864.9Iofina Chemical
1,160.9Mexichem Fluor DBA Koura
33,378,274.7Total Issued
229,521,263.0a
                         See Table 1; this value corresponds to the total number of application-specific allowances allocated.
 General Pool Allowances for Consumption Applying the methodology codified in 40 CFR 84.11, EPA allocated the number of consumption allowances shown in Table 3. Table 3—Number of Calendar Year 2024 Consumption Allowances Allocated per Entity
Entity
Consumption allowances 
                             allocated (MTEVe)Application-specific allowances
a
                             5,836,924.3A.C.S. Reclamation & Recovery (Absolute Chiller Services)
128,987.8Ability Refrigerants
128,987.8ACT Commodities
50.4Advance Auto Parts
461,215.3Advanced Specialty Gases
184,102.8AFK & Co
124,689.8AFS Cooling
128,987.8A-Gas
2,199,784.7Air Liquide USA
321,682.9AllCool Refrigerant Reclaim
128,987.8American Air Components
128,987.8Arkema
20,051,844.9Artsen
663,053.3Automart Distributors DBA Refrigerant Plus
128,987.8AutoZone Parts
1,304,000.7AW Product Sales & Marketing
77,991.8Bluon
21,590.6CC Packaging
125,118.2Chemours
22,115,332.4Chemp Technology
128,987.8ChemPenn
14,336.2ComStar International
232,510.8Creative Solution
128,987.8Cross World Group
128,987.8Daikin America
2,013,820.3EDX Industry
370,884.7Electronic Fluorocarbons
67,293.9Fireside Holdings DBA American Refrigerants
128,973.9First Continental International
496,747.8FluoroFusion Specialty Chemicals
1,647,053.3Freskoa USA
128,987.8GlaxoSmithKline
347,339.2Golden Refrigerant
128,987.8Harp USA
493,996.4Honeywell International
53,136,510.9Hudson Technologies
1,928,081.5Hungry Bear
128,987.8ICool USA
2,198,406.6IGas Holdings
16,846,810.7Iofina Chemical
817.1Kidde-Fenwal
128,987.8Lenz Sales & Distribution
716,447.4Lina Trade
128,987.8Linde
343,607.9Matheson Tri-Gas
22,015.7( print page 72063)MEK Chemical Corporation
53,572.5Meraki Group
128,987.8Metalcraft
103,835.2Mexichem Fluor DBA Koura
16,441,211.7Mondy Global
205,649.7National Refrigerants
12,780,590.6Nature Gas Import and Export
528,873.0North American Refrigerants
128,987.8O23 Energy Plus
128,987.8Perfect Score Too DBA Perfect Cycle
24,427.9Reclamation Technologies
256,685.4Resonac America (formerly Showa Chemicals of America)
42,851.2RGAS (formerly listed as Combs Gas)
2,951,990.2RMS of Georgia
1,063,455.0Sciarra Laboratories
5,604.6SDS Refrigerant Services
128,987.8Solvay Fluorides
711,375.5Summit Refrigerants
128,987.8SynAgile Corporation
725.8Technical Chemical
2,203,622.1TradeQuim
128,987.8Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling
11.0Tulstar Products
473,694.4Tyco Fire Products
128,987.8USA United Suppliers of America DBA USA Refrigerants
273,401.8USSC Acquisition Corp
84,777.8Walmart
1,471,574.6Waysmos USA
361,839.8Wego Chemical Group
36,492.6Weitron
4,089,895.7Wesco HMB
128,987.8Wilhelmsen Ships Service
26,063.9Total Issued
181,522,990.0a
                         See Table 1; this value corresponds to the total number of application-specific allowances allocated.
 Administrative Consequences Separate from the allocation of calendar year 2024 allowances, EPA also took administrative consequences against certain entities. Each administrative consequence is an independent stand-alone action, but for administrative efficiency EPA is providing notice of these independent actions through this notice as well. The requirements surrounding administrative consequences are codified in 40 CFR 84.35. Using this authority, EPA can retire, revoke, or withhold the allocation of allowances, or ban an entity from receiving, transferring, or conferring allowances. A retired allowance is one that must go unused and expire at the end of the year; a revoked allowance is one that EPA takes back from an allowance holder and redistributes to all the other allowance holders; and a withheld allowance is one that is retained by the Agency until an allowance holder that has failed to meet a regulatory requirement comes back into compliance, at which point EPA allocates it to the allowance holder. A withheld allowance could become a revoked allowance if the allowance holder fails to meet the regulatory requirement at issue within the timeframe specified by EPA.[1]
                    
                     More information on EPA's approach to administrative consequences can be found at 86 FR 55168. EPA finalized administrative consequences for certain entities that were allocated consumption allowances, listed in Table 3 for calendar year 2024, effective concurrently with the issuance of calendar year 2024 allowances. Specifically, the following entities failed to submit complete HFC reports as required in 40 CFR 84.31 and therefore EPA has withheld a portion of their consumption allowances until the missing reports are filed and verified by EPA: Air Liquide USA; Creative Solution; and Matheson Tri-gas, Inc. The following entities imported regulated HFCs without expending the requisite number of consumption allowances at the time of import and therefore EPA has retired and/or revoked consumption allowances commensurate with the quantities of regulated substances imported without allowances: American Air Components; AFK & Co.; Artsen; Bluon, Inc.; Electronic Fluorocarbons; Fluorofusion Specialty Chemicals; and Resonac America, Inc. Lastly, Honeywell International produced and imported regulated substances without expending the requisite number of consumption allowances at the time of production or import. In some of these cases, EPA finalized administrative consequences that totaled more than was allocated to an entity. For example, American Air Components, Bluon, Inc., and Resonac America, Inc. imported regulated HFCs without the necessary allowances at the time of import in such quantities that exceed their initial allocation of calendar year 2024 allowances. With 
                    ( print page 72064)
                    respect to one entity, the Agency decided to apply the administrative consequence across multiple years. EPA made this determination given the size of the administrative consequence and as a result of considerations related to the step reduction in 2024 and implications for the market as a whole regarding access to chemicals that are anticipated to be impacted by EPA HFC regulations. A summary of these administrative consequences is included in Table 4. Table 4—Summary of Administrative Consequences Effective on September 29, 2023, Pursuant to 40 CFR 84.35
Entity
Number of
                             affected 
                             allowances 
                             (MTEVe)
Applicable year(s)
Administrative
                             consequence 
                             action
ReasoningAmerican Air Components
208,516.5
                             a
                                 104,258.3
2024 and future years as needed 
                             2025 and future years as needed
Retire
                             Revoke.
Imported regulated HFCs without expending requisite number of allowances; Will retire and revoke allowances until the full administrative consequence is covered.AFK & Co
5,701.9
                             a
                                 2,851.0
2024
                             2024
Retire
                             Revoke.
Imported regulated HFCs without expending requisite number of allowances.Artsen
346.7
                             a
                                 173.4
2024
                             2024
Retire
                             Revoke.
Imported regulated HFCs without expending requisite number of allowances.Bluon
575,800.7
                             a
                                 288,855.8
2024 and future years as needed
                             As early as 2025 and future years as needed
Retire
                             Revoke.
Imported regulated HFCs without expending requisite number of allowances; Will retire and revoke allowances until the full administrative consequence is covered.Electronic Fluorocarbons
64,931.9
                             a
                                 32,466.0
2023
                             2024
Retire
                             Revoke.
Imported regulated HFCs without expending requisite number of allowances.Fluorofusion Specialty Chemicals
a
                             5,505.2
2024
Revoke
Imported regulated HFCs without expending requisite number of allowances.Resonac America
200,070.5
                             a
                                 100,035.3
2024 and future years as needed
                             As early as 2025 and future years as needed
Retire
                             Revoke.
Imported regulated HFCs without expending requisite number of allowances; Will retire and revoke allowances until the full administrative consequence is covered.Honeywell International
a
                             231,334.0
                             a
                                 462,668.1
                             
                             a
                                 925,336.2
                             
                             a
                                 1,388,004.3
                             
                             a
                                 1,619,338.4
2024
                             2025 
                             2026 
                             2027 
                             2028
Revoke
                             Revoke. 
                             Revoke. 
                             Revoke. 
                             Revoke.
Produced and imported HFCs without expending requisite number of allowances; b
                             Will spread the administrative consequence over five years.Air Liquide USA
64,336.6
2024
Withhold
Failure to submit complete HFC reports as required in 40 CFR 84.31.Creative Solution
25,797.6
2024
Withhold
Failure to submit complete HFC reports as required in 40 CFR 84.31.Matheson Tri-Gas
4,403.1
2024
Withhold
Failure to submit complete HFC reports as required in 40 CFR 84.31.a
                         As stated in the HFC Allocation Framework Rule (86 FR 55116), EPA explained it would take a 50% premium in first instances of administrative consequences. These values correspond to 50% of the full amount of consumption without requisite allowances at the time of production and/or import.b
                         EPA only finalized administrative consequences for Honeywell International that affect the company's consumption allowances, since the company did not produce regulated substances in a quantity that exceeded the quantity of available production allowances that it had in its possession.
 The allowance adjustments by way of withholding, retiring, and/or revoking a portion of entities' calendar year 2024 allowances effective September 29, 2023, are reflected below in Table 5. Table 5—Calendar Year 2024 Allowances Adjusted Through Administrative Consequences Effective September 29, 2023
Entity
Number of withheld
                             consumption 
                             allowances 
                             (MTEVe)
Number of retired
                             consumption 
                             allowances 
                             (MTEVe)
Number of revoked
                             consumption 
                             allowances 
                             (MTEVe)Air Liquide USA
64,336.6Creative Solution
25,797.6Matheson Tri-Gas
4,403.1Electronic Fluorocarbons


32,466.0Honeywell International


231,334.0AFK & Co

5,701.9
2,851.0American Air Components

128,987.8Artsen

346.7
173.4Bluon

21,590.6Fluorofusion Specialty Chemicals


5,505.2Resonac America

42,851.2
 
 
 Adjustments to Consumption Allowances EPA notes that entities in Table 4 who either imported or produced (or both) without expending the requisite number of consumption allowances at the time of production or import were not eligible to receive allowances that were redistributed as a result of allowances revoked for calendar year 2024. Further, an entity is not eligible to receive redistributed allowances if they were subject to administrative consequences that resulted in the revocation of allowances that contributed to the overall total of allowances being redistributed at the time. For example, if EPA revoked 50 MTEVe allowances from company A and 50 MTEVe allowances from company B, effective on the same day, EPA's redistribution of that single pool of 100 MTEVe allowances would go to all general pool allowances holders except company A and company B. This applies regardless of whether the revocation happens in one year or over multiple years. However, entities who only had allowances withheld by the Agency as a result of failure to comply with certain HFC reporting requirements as contained in 40 CFR 84.31 were eligible to receive allowances that were redistributed as a result of allowances revoked for calendar year 2024. For 2024, the total number of revoked and redistributed allowances is 272,329.6 MTEVe, which are being apportioned to eligible consumption allowance holders based on their relative market share, and the total number of retired allowances in 2024 is 199,478.2 MTEVe. Table 6 reflects consumption allowance totals available to each entity as of September 29, 2023, after taking into account the administrative consequences shown in Table 5. Table 6—Total Number of Calendar Year 2024 Consumption Allowances Available to Each Entity as of September 29, 2023, Adjusted for Administrative Consequences
Entity
Available consumption allowances, adjusted for administrative consequences (MTEVe)Application-specific allowances
a
                             5,836,924.3A.C.S. Reclamation & Recovery (Absolute Chiller Services)
129,280.9Ability Refrigerants
129,280.9ACT Commodities
50.5Advance Auto Parts
462,263.3Advanced Specialty Gases
184,521.1AFK & Co.
116,136.9AFS Cooling
129,280.9A-Gas
2,204,783.0Air Liquide USA
258,077.2AllCool Refrigerant Reclaim
129,280.9American Air Components
0.0Arkema
20,097,406.2Artsen
662,533.2Automart Distributors DBA Refrigerant Plus
129,280.9AutoZone Parts
1,306,963.6AW Product Sales & Marketing
78,169.0Bluon
0.0CC Packaging
125,402.5Chemours
22,165,582.4Chemp Technology
129,280.9ChemPenn
14,368.8ComStar International
233,039.1Creative Solution
103,483.3Cross World Group
129,280.9Daikin America
2,018,396.1EDX Industry
371,727.4Electronic Fluorocarbons
34,827.9Fireside Holdings DBA American Refrigerants
129,266.9First Continental International
497,876.5FluoroFusion Specialty Chemicals
1,641,548.1Freskoa USA
129,280.9GlaxoSmithKline
348,128.4Golden Refrigerant
129,280.9Harp USA
495,118.8Honeywell International
52,905,176.9Hudson Technologies
1,932,462.4Hungry Bear
129,280.9ICool USA
2,203,401.8IGas Holdings
16,885,089.6Iofina Chemical
819.0Kidde-Fenwal
129,280.9Lenz Sales & Distribution
718,075.3Lina Trade
129,280.9Linde
344,388.6Matheson Tri-Gas
17,662.6MEK Chemical Corporation
53,694.2Meraki Group
129,280.9( print page 72066)Metalcraft
104,071.1Mexichem Fluor DBA Koura
16,478,569.0Mondy Global
206,117.0National Refrigerants
12,809,630.4Nature Gas Import and Export
530,074.7North American Refrigerants
129,280.9O23 Energy Plus
129,280.9Perfect Score Too DBA Perfect Cycle
24,483.4Reclamation Technologies
257,268.6Resonac America (formerly Showa Chemicals of America)
0.0RGAS (formerly listed as Combs Gas)
2,958,697.6RMS of Georgia
1,065,871.4Sciarra Laboratories
5,617.3SDS Refrigerant Services
129,280.9Solvay Fluorides
712,991.9Summit Refrigerants
129,280.9SynAgile Corporation
727.4Technical Chemical
2,208,629.1TradeQuim
129,280.9Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling
11.0Tulstar Products
474,770.7Tyco Fire Products
129,280.9USA United Suppliers of America DBA USA Refrigerants
274,023.0USSC Acquisition Corp
84,970.4Walmart
1,474,918.3Waysmos USA
362,662.0Wego Chemical Group
36,575.5Weitron
4,099,188.7Wesco HMB
129,280.9Wilhelmsen Ships Service
26,123.1Total Available
181,228,974.5
 Judicial Review The AIM Act provides that certain sections of the Clean Air Act (CAA) “shall apply to” the AIM Act and actions “promulgated by the Administrator of [EPA] pursuant to [the AIM Act] as though [the AIM Act] were expressly included in title VI of [the CAA].” 42 U.S.C. 7675(k)(1)(C). Among the applicable sections of the CAA is section 307, which includes provisions on judicial review. Section 307(b)(1) provides, in part, that petitions for review must only be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit: (i) When the agency action consists of “nationally applicable regulations promulgated, or final actions taken, by the Administrator,” or (ii) when such action is locally or regionally applicable, but “such action is based on a determination of nationwide scope or effect and if in taking such action the Administrator finds and publishes that such action is based on such a determination.” For locally or regionally applicable final actions, the CAA reserves to the EPA complete discretion whether to invoke the exception in (ii). The issuance of calendar year 2024 allowances for the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons herein noticed is “nationally applicable” within the meaning of CAA section 307(b)(1). The AIM Act imposes a national cap on the total number of allowances available for each year for all entities nationwide. 42 U.S.C. 7675(e)(2)(B)-(D). For 2024, there was a national pool of 229,521,263 production allowances and 181,522,990 consumption allowances available to distribute. The allocation action noticed herein distributed that finite set of allowances consistent with the methodology EPA established in the nationally applicable framework rule. As such, the allowance allocation is the division and assignment of a single, nationwide pool of HFC allowances to entities across the country according to the uniform, national methodology established in EPA's regulations. Each entity's allowance allocation is a relative share of that pool; thus, any additional allowances awarded to one entity directly affects the allocations to others. In the alternative, to the extent a court finds the final action to be locally or regionally applicable, the Administrator is exercising the complete discretion afforded to him under the CAA to make and publish a finding that the allocation action is based on a determination of “nationwide scope or effect” within the meaning of CAA section 307(b)(1).[2]
                    
                     In deciding to invoke this exception, the Administrator has taken into account a number of policy considerations, including his judgment regarding the benefit of obtaining the D.C. Circuit's authoritative centralized review, rather than allowing development of the issue in other contexts, in order to ensure consistency in the Agency's approach to 
                    ( print page 72067)
                    allocation of allowances in accordance with EPA's national regulations in 40 CFR part 84. The final action treats all affected entities consistently in how the 40 CFR part 84 regulations are applied. The allowance allocation is the division and assignment of a single, nationwide pool of HFC allowances to entities across the country according to the uniform, national methodology established in EPA's regulations, and each entity's allowance allocation is a relative share of that pool; thus, any additional allowances awarded to one entity directly affect the allocations to others. The Administrator finds that this is a matter on which national uniformity is desirable to take advantage of the D.C. Circuit's administrative law expertise and facilitate the orderly development of the basic law under the AIM Act and EPA's implementing regulations. The Administrator also finds that consolidated review of the action in the D.C. Circuit will avoid piecemeal litigation in the regional circuits, further judicial economy, and eliminate the risk of inconsistent results for different regulated entities. The Administrator also finds that a nationally consistent approach to the allocation of allowances constitutes the best use of agency resources. The Administrator is publishing his finding that the allocation action is based on a determination of nationwide scope or effect in the 
                    **Federal Register**
                     as part of this notice in addition to inclusion on the website announcing allocations. For these reasons, the final action of the Agency allocating hydrofluorocarbon allowances to entities located throughout the country is nationally applicable or, alternatively, the Administrator is exercising the complete discretion afforded to him by the CAA and finds that the final action is based on a determination of nationwide scope or effect for purposes of CAA section 307(b)(1) and is hereby publishing that finding in the 
                    **Federal Register**
                    . Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review of this allocation action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by December 18, 2023. Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review of the administrative consequence actions noticed herein must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by December 18, 2023. Filing a petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect the finality of this action for purposes of judicial review nor does it extend the time within which a petition for judicial review may be filed and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such rule or action. This action may not be challenged later in proceedings to enforce its requirements. See CAA section 307(b)(2). Paul Gunning, Director, Office of Atmospheric Protection.


# Footnotes

1.
    
                         Administrative consequences that the Agency has finalized can be found here: 
                        *https://www.epa.gov/​climate-hfcs-reduction/​administrative-consequences-under-hfc-allocation-rule.* Back to Citation
 2.
    
                         In the report on the 1977 Amendments that revised section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, Congress noted that the Administrator's determination that the “nationwide scope or effect” exception applies would be appropriate for any action that has a scope or effect beyond a single judicial circuit. See H.R. Rep. No. 95-294 at 323, 324, reprinted in 1977 U.S.C.C.A.N. 1402-03. Back to Citation


[FR Doc. 2023-22163 Filed 10-18-23; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560-50-P