1434 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 6 / Tuesday, January 10, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

the human environment. A preliminary 

environmental analysis checklist 

supporting this determination will be 

available in the docket where indicated 

under ADDRESSES. We seek any 

comments or information that may lead 

to the discovery of a significant 

environmental impact from this 

proposed rule. 

List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 165 

Harbors, Marine safety, Navigation 

(water), Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Security measures, 

Waterways. 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Coast Guard proposes to 

amend 33 CFR part 165 as follows: 

PART 165—REGULATED NAVIGATION 

AREAS AND LIMITED ACCESS AREAS 

1. The authority citation for part 165 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1226, 1231; 46 U.S.C. 

Chapter 701, 3306, 3703; 50 U.S.C. 191, 195; 

33 CFR 1.05–1, 6.04–1, 6.04–6, 160.5; Pub. L. 

107–295, 116 Stat. 2064; Department of 

Homeland Security Delegation No. 0170.1. 

2. Add § 165.T05–1166 to read as 

follows: 

§ 165.T05–1166 Safety Zone; Atlantic 

Intracoastal Waterway, Vicinity of Marine 

Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, NC. 

(a) Regulated Area. The following area 

is a safety zone: specified waters of the 

Captain of the Port Sector North 

Carolina zone, as defined in 33 CFR 

3.25–20, in the vicinity of the Atlantic 

Intracoastal Waterway between position 

34°32′51′′ N/077°19′36′′ W and 

34°34′15′′ N/077°16′16′′ W (NAD 1983). 

(b) Definition: For the purposes of this 

part, Captain of the Port Representative 

means any U.S. Coast Guard 

commissioned, warrant or petty officer 

who has been authorized by the Captain 

of the Port, Sector North Carolina, North 

Carolina to act on his behalf. 

(c) Regulations: 

(1) In accordance with the general 

regulations in § 165.23 of this part, entry 

into this zone is prohibited unless 

authorized by the Captain of the Port, 

Sector North Carolina or his designated 

representatives. 

(2) The operator of any vessel in the 

immediate vicinity of this safety zone 

shall: 

(i) Stop the vessel immediately upon 

being directed to do so by any 

commissioned, warrant or petty officer 

on shore or on board a vessel that is 

displaying a U.S. Coast Guard Ensign. 

(ii) Proceed as directed by any 

commissioned, warrant or petty officer 

on shore or on board a vessel that is 

displaying a U.S. Coast Guard Ensign. 

(3) The Captain of the Port, Sector 

North Carolina can be reached through 

the Sector Duty Officer at Sector North 

Carolina in Wilmington, North Carolina 

at telephone Number (910) 343–3880. 

(4) The Coast Guard Representatives 

enforcing the safety zone can be 

contacted on VHF–FM marine band 

radio channel 13 (165.65 Mhz) and 

channel 16 (156.8 Mhz). 

(d) Enforcement Period: This 

regulation will be enforced from 7 a.m. 

until 11 a.m., and from noon until 

4 p.m. on February 6, 2012, from 7 a.m. 

until 11 a.m., and from noon until 

4 p.m. on February 7, 2012. 

Dated: December 27, 2011. 

Timothy M. Cummins, 

Commander, U.S. Coast Guard, Acting 

Captain of the Port Sector North Carolina. 

[FR Doc. 2012–237 Filed 1–6–12; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–04–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 98 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2011–0028; FRL–9614–9] 

RIN 2060–AQ70 

Proposed Confidentiality 

Determinations for Data Elements 

Under the Mandatory Reporting of 

Greenhouse Gases Rule 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This action re-proposes 

confidentiality determinations for the 

data elements under the Mandatory 

Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule. On July 

7, 2010, EPA proposed confidentiality 

determinations for data elements and is 

issuing this re-proposal today due to 

significant changes to certain data 

elements. In addition, EPA is proposing 

confidentiality determinations for seven 

new data elements that are not inputs to 

equations. EPA is also proposing to 

categorize three data elements as inputs 

to emission equations and to defer their 

reporting deadline to March 31, 2013. 

DATES: Comments. Comments must be 

received on or before March 12, 2012. 

Public Hearing. EPA does not plan to 

conduct a public hearing unless 

requested. To request a hearing, please 

contact the person listed in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 

by January 17, 2012. Upon such request, 

EPA will hold the hearing on January 

25, 2012 in the Washington, DC area 

starting at 9 a.m., local time. EPA will 

publish further information about the 

hearing in the Federal Register if a 

hearing is requested. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OAR–2011–0028, by one of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Email: GHGReportingCBI@epa.gov. 

• Fax: (202) 566–1741. 

• Mail: Environmental Protection 

Agency, EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), 

Mailcode 6102T, Attention Docket ID 

No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2011–0028, 1200 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC 20460. 

• Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, 

Public Reading Room, EPA West 

Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20004. 

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–2011– 

0028. 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 or email. Send or 

deliver information identified as CBI to 

only the mail or hand/courier delivery 

address listed above, attention: Docket 

ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2011–0028. 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 email comment directly 

to EPA without going through http:// 

www.regulations.gov your email 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 


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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 6 / Tuesday, January 10, 2012 / Proposed Rules 1435 

special characters, any form of 

encryption, and be free of any defects or 

viruses. 

Docket: All documents in the docket 

are listed in the http:// 

www.regulations.gov index. Although 

listed in the index, some information is 

not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Certain other 

material, such as copyrighted material, 

will be publicly available only in hard 

copy. Publicly available docket 

materials are available either 

electronically in http:// 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

the Air Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, 

Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave. 

NW., Washington, DC. This Docket 

Facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 

p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 

legal holidays. The telephone number 

for the Public Reading Room is (202) 

566–1744, and the telephone number for 

the Air Docket is (202) 566–1742. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carole Cook, Climate Change Division, 

Office of Atmospheric Programs (MC– 

6207J), Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 

Washington, DC 20460; telephone 

number: (202) 343–9263; fax number: 

(202) 343–2342; email address: 

GHGreporting@epa.gov. For technical 

information, contact the Greenhouse 

Gas Reporting Rule Hotline at: http:// 

www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ 

ghgrule_contactus.htm. Alternatively, 

contact Carole Cook at (202) 343–9263. 

Worldwide Web (WWW). In addition 

to being available in the docket, an 

electronic copy of this proposal, 

memoranda to the docket, and all other 

related information will also be 

available through the WWW on EPA’s 

greenhouse gas reporting rule Web site 

at http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ 

emissions/ghgrulemaking.html. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Acronyms and Abbreviations. The 

following acronyms and abbreviations 

are used in this document. 

BAMM Best Available Monitoring Methods 

CAA Clean Air Act 

CEMS continuous emission monitoring 

system 

CO2 carbon dioxide 

CBI confidential business information 

CEMS Continuous Emission Monitoring 

System 

CFR Code of Federal Regulations 

EIA Energy Information Administration 

EOR enhanced oil recovery 

EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

F–GHG fluorinated greenhouse gas 

GHG greenhouse gas 

ICR Information Collection Request 

LDC local natural gas distribution company 

LNG liquefied natural gas 

MMBtu million Btu 

MMscfd million standard cubic feet per day 

MRV monitoring, reporting, and 

verification 

NESHAP national emission standards for 

hazardous air pollutants 

N2O nitrous oxide 

NTTAA National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act of 1995 

OMB Office of Management & Budget 

PFC perfluorocarbon 

R&D research and development 

RFA Regulatory Flexibility Act 

SF6 sulfur hexafluoride 

UIC Underground Injection Control 

UMRA Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 

1995 

U.S. United States 

WWW Worldwide Web 

Organization of This Document. The 

following outline is provided to aid in 

locating information in this preamble. 

I. General Information 

A. What is the purpose of this action? 

B. Does this action apply to me? 

C. What should I consider as I prepare my 

comments to EPA? 

II. Background and General Rationale 

A. Background 

B. Background on Data Elements in the 

‘‘Inputs to Emission Equations’’ Data 

Category 

C. What is the rationale for re-proposing 

the CBI determinations for six subparts? 

D. How does the Technical Revisions final 

rule affect this action? 

III. Re-Proposal of CBI Determinations for Six 

Subparts 

A. Overview 

B. Direct Emitter Data Categories 

C. GHG Supplier Data Categories 

D. Commenting on the Proposed 

Confidentiality Determinations and Data 

Category Assignments 

IV. Proposal of CBI Determinations for New 

Data Elements in Subparts II and TT 

V. Deferral of Inputs to Emission Equations 

for Subparts FF and TT and Amendment 

to Table A–6 

VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory 

Planning and Review and Executive 

Order 13563: Improving Regulation and 

Regulatory Review 

B. Paperwork Reduction Act 

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

(UMRA) 

E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism 

F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation 

and Coordination With Indian Tribal 

Governments 

G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of 

Children From Environmental Health 

Risks and Safety Risks 

H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use 

I. National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act 

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions 

To Address Environmental Justice in 

Minority Populations and Low-Income 

Populations 

I. General Information 

A. What is the purpose of this action? 

This action has three purposes. First, 

EPA is re-proposing confidentiality 

determinations for the data elements in 

six subparts (L, DD, QQ, RR, SS, and 

UU) of 40 CFR part 98 of the Mandatory 

Greenhouse Gases Reporting rule 

(hereafter referred to as ‘‘part 98’’). EPA 

proposed confidentiality determinations 

for data elements contained in the 

proposed subparts L, DD, QQ, RR, and 

SS in the July 7, 2010 proposed CBI 

determination notice (75 FR 39094; 

hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘July 7, 

2010 CBI proposal’’). These subparts 

were finalized in December of 2010 as 

part of two separate amendments to part 

98. As explained in more detail in 

Section II.C of this preamble, many data 

elements were added or significantly 

changed since proposal, and portions of 

proposed subpart RR were split off to 

create a new subpart UU. Additionally, 

on November 29, 2011, EPA finalized 

amendments to subpart RR. See ‘‘2011 

Technical Corrections, Clarifying and 

Other Amendments to Certain 

Provisions of The Mandatory Reporting 

of Greenhouse Gases Rule’’ (76 FR 

73886; hereinafter referred to as the 

‘‘Technical Corrections final rule’’). In 

light of the above, we are re-proposing 

for public comment the confidentiality 

determinations for the data elements in 

these six subparts to reflect the data 

elements in the final six subparts and 

the new and revised data elements in 

subpart RR in the Technical Corrections 

final rule. 

On May 26, 2011, EPA published the 

final CBI determinations for 35 part 98 

subparts in ‘‘Confidentiality 

Determinations for Data Required Under 

the Mandatory Greenhouse Gas 

Reporting Rule and Amendments to 

Special Rules Governing Certain 

Information Obtained Under the Clean 

Air Act’’ (76 FR 30782; hereinafter 

referred to as the ‘‘Final CBI Rule’’). In 

that rule, we created 22 data categories 

(11 for direct emitters of greenhouse 

gases (GHGs) and 11 for suppliers of 

GHGs and products containing GHGs) 

and assigned data elements in the 35 

subparts to appropriate data categories. 

In today’s action, we similarly propose 

to assign the data elements in the six 

subparts into the appropriate data 

categories created in the Final CBI Rule. 

For a list of the data categories, see 

Section III.A of this preamble. This 

notice covers all of the data elements 

from the six subparts except for those 

that are in the ‘‘Inputs to Emission 

Equations’’ data category. The covered 

data elements and their proposed 

category assignments are listed by data 


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category in the Memorandum entitled 

‘‘Docket EPA–HQ–OAR–2011–0028 

Memo A.’’ This memorandum reflects 

the proposed revisions in the Technical 

Corrections final rule. 

As in the Final CBI Rule, this 

proposal does not address data elements 

from the six subparts in the ‘‘Inputs to 

Emission Equations’’ data category. 

Those data elements were identified in 

‘‘Change to the Reporting Date for 

Certain Data Elements Required Under 

the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse 

Gases Rule,’’ published on August 25, 

2011 (76 FR 53057; hereinafter referred 

to as the ‘‘Final Deferral’’). In that 

action, EPA deferred the deadline for 

direct emitter reporters to report ‘‘Inputs 

to Emission Equations’’ data elements. 

EPA deferred the deadline for reporting 

some of these data elements to March 

31, 2013, and the deadline for reporting 

others to March 31, 2015. For easy 

reference, we have placed a list of the 

data elements in these six subparts that 

are assigned to the ‘‘Inputs to Emission 

Equations’’ data category in the docket 

for today’s action (‘‘Docket EPA–HQ– 

OAR–2011–0028 Memo B’’). 

The second purpose of this action is 

to propose confidentiality 

determinations for new data elements 

(that are not inputs to equations) added 

to subparts II and TT in the Technical 

Corrections final rule (76 FR 73886). 

Subparts II and TT were originally 

finalized in July of 2010. Confidentiality 

determinations for the finalized data 

elements in these two subparts were 

included in the Final CBI Rule; 

however, in the Technical Corrections 

final rule that was issued after the Final 

CBI Rule, certain existing data elements 

were revised and certain new data 

elements were added. As discussed in 

Section I.D of this preamble, the 

revisions do not change the information 

to be reported and therefore do not 

affect the final confidentiality 

determinations for those data elements. 

However, the Final CBI Rule does not 

address the new data elements for these 

two subparts. Therefore, we are 

proposing confidentiality 

determinations in this action for the 

new subpart II and TT data elements 

added in the Technical Corrections final 

rule. The new subpart II and TT data 

elements and their proposed category 

assignments are listed by data category 

in Section IV of this preamble. 

The third purpose of this action is to 

propose amendments to Table A–6 to 

subpart A of Part 98 to reflect 

amendments in the Technical 

Corrections final rule (76 FR 73886). In 

the Technical Corrections final rule, 

three new equation inputs are added to 

subparts FF and TT. In this action, EPA 

is proposing to defer the reporting 

deadline for these three equation inputs 

to March 31, 2013. As with other 

equation inputs, EPA is in the process 

of evaluating the sensitivity of these 

three equation inputs, and we believe 

that we can complete our evaluation 

before March 31, 2013, the current 

reporting deadline for the equation 

inputs listed in Table A–6 of Subpart A. 

EPA is therefore proposing to add these 

inputs to Table A–6 to require their 

reporting by March 31, 2013. 

Additionally, in the Technical 

Corrections final rule, certain existing 

equation inputs were revised, including 

three subpart TT equation inputs for 

which the section references were renumbered. As discussed further in 

Section I.D of this preamble, the 

revisions to the equation inputs are 

technical or editorial in nature and do 

not affect the information to be 

collected. However, Table A–6 does not 

currently account for the renumerations. Therefore, we are 

proposing to revise section references to 

the three subpart TT inputs to equations 

in Table A–6 as finalized in the 

Technical Corrections final rule. 

B. Does this action apply to me? 

This proposal affects entities required 

to submit annual GHG reports under 

certain subparts of Part 98. The 

Administrator determined that this 

action is subject to the provisions of 

Clean Air Act (CAA) section 307(d). See 

CAA section 307(d)(1)(V) (the 

provisions of CAA section 307(d) apply 

to ‘‘such other actions as the 

Administrator may determine’’). Part 98 

and this action affect owners and 

operators of fluorinated gas production 

facilities, electric power systems, 

electrical equipment manufacturing 

facilities, carbon dioxide (CO2) 

enhanced oil and gas recovery projects, 

acid gas injection projects, geologic 

sequestration projects, importers and 

exporters of pre-charged equipment and 

closed-cell foams, industrial wastewater 

treatment facilities, underground coal 

mines, and industrial waste landfills. 

Affected categories and entities include 

those listed in Table 1 of this preamble. 

TABLE 1—EXAMPLES OF AFFECTED ENTITIES BY CATEGORY

Category NAICS Examples of affected facilities 

Fluorinated Gas Production .......................................................... 325120 Industrial gases manufacturing facilities. 

Electrical Equipment Use .............................................................. 221121 Electric bulk power transmission and control facilities. 

Electrical Equipment Manufacture or Refurbishment ................... 33531 Power transmission and distribution switchgear and specialty 

transformers manufacturing facilities. 

Importers and Exporters of Pre-charged Equipment and ClosedCell Foams.423730 Air-conditioning equipment (except room units) merchant 

wholesalers. 

333415 Air-conditioning equipment (except motor vehicle) manufacturing. 

336391 Motor vehicle air-conditioning manufacturing. 

423620 Air-conditioners, room, merchant wholesalers. 

443111 Household appliance stores. 

423730 Automotive air-conditioners merchant wholesalers. 

326150 Polyurethane foam products manufacturing. 

335313 Circuit breakers, power, manufacturing. 

423610 Circuit breakers merchant wholesalers. 

CO2 Enhanced Oil and Gas Recovery Projects ........................... 211 Oil and gas extraction projects using CO2 enhanced recovery. 

Acid Gas Injection Projects ........................................................... 211111 or 

211112 

Projects that inject acid gas containing CO2 underground. 

Geologic Sequestration Projects ................................................... N/A CO2 geologic sequestration projects. 

Underground Coal Mines .............................................................. 212113 Underground anthracite coal mining operations. 

212112 Underground bituminous coal mining operations. 

Industrial Wastewater Treatment .................................................. 322110 Pulp mills. 

322121 Paper mills. 

322122 Newsprint mills. 


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TABLE 1—EXAMPLES OF AFFECTED ENTITIES BY CATEGORY—Continued 

Category NAICS Examples of affected facilities 

322130 Paperboard mills. 

311611 Meat processing facilities. 

311411 Frozen fruit, juice, and vegetable manufacturing facilities. 

311421 Fruit and vegetable canning facilities. 

325193 Ethanol manufacturing facilities. 

324110 Petroleum refineries. 

Industrial Waste Landfills .............................................................. 562212 Solid waste landfills. 

322110 Pulp mills. 

322121 Paper mills. 

322122 Newsprint mills. 

322130 Paperboard mills. 

311611 Meat processing facilities. 

311411 Frozen fruit, juice, and vegetable manufacturing facilities. 

311421 Fruit and vegetable canning facilities. 

221320 Sewage treatment facilities. 

Table 1 of this preamble lists the 

types of entities that potentially could 

be affected by the reporting 

requirements under the nine subparts 

covered by this proposal. However, this 

list is not intended to be exhaustive, but 

rather provides a guide for readers 

regarding facilities and suppliers likely 

to be affected by this action. Other types 

of facilities and suppliers not listed in 

the table could also be subject to 

reporting requirements. To determine 

whether you are affected by this action, 

you should carefully examine the 

applicability criteria found in 40 CFR 

part 98, subpart A as well as 40 CFR 

part 98 subparts L, DD, FF, II, QQ, RR, 

SS, TT, and UU. If you have questions 

regarding the applicability of this action 

to a particular facility, consult the 

person listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

preamble. 

C. What should I consider as I prepare 

my comments to EPA? 

1. Submitting CBI 

Clearly mark the part or all of the 

information that you claim to be CBI. 

For CBI information in a disk or CD– 

ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the 

outside of the disk or CD–ROM as CBI 

and then identify electronically within 

the disk or CD–ROM the specific 

information that is claimed as CBI. In 

addition to one complete version of the 

comment that includes information 

claimed as CBI, a copy of the comment 

that does not contain the information 

claimed as CBI must be submitted for 

inclusion in the public docket. 

Information marked as CBI will not be 

disclosed except in accordance with 

procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2. 

Do not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through http:// 

www.regulations.gov or email. Send or 

deliver information identified as CBI to 

only the mail or hand/courier delivery 

address listed above, attention: Docket 

ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2011–0028. 

If you have any questions about CBI 

or the procedures for claiming CBI, 

please consult the person identified in 

the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section. 

2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments 

When submitting comments, 

remember to: 

Identify the rulemaking by docket 

number and other identifying 

information (e.g., subject heading, 

Federal Register date and page number). 

Follow directions. EPA may ask you 

to respond to specific questions or 

organize comments by referencing a 

CFR part or section number. 

Explain why you agree or disagree, 

and suggest alternatives and substitute 

language for your requested changes. 

Describe any assumptions and 

provide any technical information and/ 

or data that you used. 

If you estimate potential costs or 

burdens, explain how you arrived at 

your estimate in sufficient detail to 

allow us to reproduce your estimate. 

Provide specific examples to illustrate 

your concerns and suggest alternatives. 

Explain your views as clearly as 

possible, avoiding the use of profanity 

or personal threats. 

Make sure to submit your information 

and comments by the comment period 

deadline identified in the preceding 

section titled DATES. To ensure proper 

receipt by EPA, be sure to identify the 

docket ID number assigned to this 

action in the subject line on the first 

page of your response. You may also 

provide the name, date, and Federal 

Register citation. 

To expedite review of your comments 

by Agency staff, you are encouraged to 

send a separate copy of your comments, 

in addition to the copy you submit to 

the official docket, to Carole Cook, U.S. 

EPA, Office of Atmospheric Programs, 

Climate Change Division, Mail Code 

6207–J, Washington, DC 20460, 

telephone 202–343–9263, email 

GHGReportingCBI@epa.gov. You are 

also encouraged to send a separate copy 

of your CBI information to Carole Cook 

at the provided mailing address in the 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section. Please do not send CBI to the 

electronic docket or by email. 

II. Background and General Rationale 

A. Background 

On October 30, 2009, EPA published 

the Mandatory GHG Reporting Rule for 

collecting information regarding GHGs 

from a broad range of industry sectors 

(74 FR 56260). Under Part 98 and its 

subsequent amendments, certain 

facilities and suppliers above specified 

thresholds are required to report GHG 

information to EPA annually. For 

facilities, this includes those that 

directly emit GHGs (‘‘direct emitters’’) 

and those that geologically sequester or 

otherwise inject CO2 underground. For 

suppliers, this includes those that 

supply certain products that would 

result in GHG emissions if released, 

combusted, or oxidized (‘‘suppliers’’). 

The data to be reported consist of GHG 

emission and supply information as 

well as other data, including 

information necessary to characterize, 

quantify, and verify the reported 

emissions and supplied quantities. In 

the preamble to Part 98, we stated, 

‘‘Through a notice and comment 

process, we will establish those data 

elements that are ‘emissions data’ and 

therefore [under CAA section 114(c)] 

will not be afforded the protections of 

CBI. As part of that exercise, in response 

to requests provided in comments, we 

may identify classes of information that 


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1438 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 6 / Tuesday, January 10, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

1EPA initially proposed subparts RR and UU as 

a single subpart (subpart RR); however, as a result 

of public comments on subpart RR, EPA moved all 

definitions, requirements, and procedures for 

facilities conducting only CO2 injection (without 

geologic sequestration) into a new subpart (subpart 

UU). Subpart RR retained all definitions, 

requirements, and procedures related to facilities 

conducting geologic sequestration. 

are not emissions data, and are CBI’’ (74 

FR 56287, October 30, 2009). 

On July 7, 2010, (75 FR 39094) EPA 

proposed confidentiality determinations 

for Part 98 data elements and proposed 

amending EPA’s regulation for handling 

CBI to add specific procedures for the 

treatment of Part 98 data. The July 7, 

2010 CBI proposal proposed 

confidentiality status determinations for 

the data elements for 31 subparts 

included in the 2009 final Part 98 rule 

(see 74 FR 56260, October 30, 2009), 

four subparts finalized in July 2010 (see 

75 FR 39736, July 12, 2010), and seven 

new subparts that had been proposed 

but not yet finalized as of July 2010 (see 

75 FR 18576, 75 FR 18608, and 75 FR 

18652, April 12, 2010). The July 7, 2010 

CBI proposal also covered proposed 

changes to the reporting requirements 

for some of the Part 98 subparts 

finalized in October 2009. These 

changes were proposed in two separate 

rulemakings (see 75 FR 18455, April 12, 

2010; and 75 FR 33950, June 15, 2010). 

On August 11, 2010, EPA published 

another proposed amendment to Part 98 

to change the description of some 

reported data elements and require 

reporting of some new data elements for 

some of the Part 98 subparts finalized in 

October 2009 (75 FR 48744; hereinafter 

referred to as the ‘‘August 11, 2010 

revisions proposal’’). EPA issued a 

supplemental CBI proposal that 

proposed confidentiality determinations 

for the new and revised data elements 

included in the August 11, 2010 

revisions notice (75 FR 43889, July 27, 

2010; hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘July 

27, 2010 supplemental CBI proposal’’). 

On May 26, 2011, EPA published the 

Final CBI Rule for the data elements in 

35 Part 98 subparts that were covered in 

the July 2010 proposals, except for those 

data elements in the ‘‘Inputs to 

Emission Equations’’ data category. In 

that final rule, EPA created 22 data 

categories (11 for direct emitters and 11 

for suppliers) and assigned data 

elements in the 35 subparts to 

appropriate data categories. For 16 data 

categories (eight direct emitter data 

categories and eight supplier data 

categories), EPA issued a category-based 

final CBI determination for all data 

elements within the category. For 

another five data categories (two direct 

emitter data categories and three 

supplier data categories), EPA 

determined that they are not ‘‘emission 

data’’ under CAA section 114(c) and 40 

CFR 2.301(a)(2)(i) for purposes of 

determining the GHG emissions to be 

reported under Part 98. However, for the 

reasons explained in the preamble to 

that rule, EPA did not make categorical 

CBI determination for these five data 

categories but instead evaluated and 

determined for individual data elements 

in these data categories whether they 

qualify as CBI. As a result, each of these 

five categories contains both data 

elements determined to be CBI and 

those determined not to be CBI. As 

explained in more detail in Section II.B 

of this preamble, we did not take final 

action with respect to the data elements 

in the remaining one of the 22 data 

categories addressed in that rule: the 

‘‘Inputs to Emission Equations’’ data 

category. 

In the May 26, 2011 Final CBI Rule, 

EPA did not finalize confidentiality 

determinations for the data elements in 

five subparts that had been proposed or 

re-proposed at the time of the July 7, 

2010 CBI proposal (subparts L, DD, QQ, 

RR, and SS). EPA finalized those five 

subparts and subpart UU 1 in two 

separate actions. On December 1, 2010, 

we finalized subparts L, DD, QQ, and SS 

(75 FR 74774), and subparts RR and UU 

(75 FR 75060). As explained in Section 

II.D of this preamble, on November 29, 

2011, we published the Technical 

Corrections final rule that included, 

among other things, revisions to some 

subpart RR data elements (76 FR 73886). 

The six affected subparts are as 

follows: 

• Subpart L, Fluorinated Gas 

Production. 

• Subpart DD, Electrical 

Transmission and Distribution 

Equipment Use. 

• Subpart QQ, Importers and 

Exporters of Fluorinated Greenhouse 

Gases Contained in Pre-charged 

Equipment or Closed-cell Foams. 

• Subpart RR, Geologic Sequestration 

of Carbon Dioxide. 

• Subpart SS, Electrical Equipment 

Manufacture or Refurbishment. 

• Subpart UU, Injection of Carbon 

Dioxide. 

As explained in more detail in 

Section II.C of this preamble, EPA is reproposing confidentiality 

determinations for the data elements in 

these six subparts. 

The Technical Corrections final rule 

also contains technical corrections, 

clarifying and other amendments for 

four additional subparts that were 

covered by the Final CBI Rule and the 

Final Deferral. As explained in more 

detail in Section II.D of this preamble, 

the revisions to the existing data 

elements in these subparts that are not 

inputs to emission equations do not 

change the information to be collected 

and therefore do not affect the 

confidentiality determinations made in 

the Final CBI Rule. However, the 

Technical Corrections final rule also 

added new data elements that are not 

inputs to emission equations for 

subparts II and TT. EPA is proposing 

confidentiality determinations in this 

action for these new data elements. 

As further explained in Section II.D of 

this preamble, the revisions to the 

existing data elements in these subparts 

that are inputs to emission equations do 

not change the information to be 

collected and therefore generally do not 

affect Tables A–6 and A–7 to subpart A 

of Part 98, which were finalized in the 

Final Deferral to defer the reporting 

deadline for inputs to emission 

equations to March 31, 2013, and March 

31, 2015, respectively. The one 

exception is that certain revisions in the 

Technical Corrections final rule do renumerate some subpart TT inputs, so 

EPA is proposing to amend Table A–6 

in this action to reflect this renumeration. The Technical Corrections 

final rule also added new data elements 

that are inputs to emission equations for 

subparts FF and TT. EPA is proposing 

to defer the reporting deadline for these 

subpart FF and TT inputs to March 31, 

2013. To accomplish this, EPA is 

proposing to amend Table A–6. 

The three affected subparts are as 

follows: 

• Subpart FF, Underground Coal 

Mines. 

• Subpart II, Industrial Wastewater 

Treatment. 

• Subpart TT, Industrial Waste 

Landfills. 

B. Background on Data Elements in the 

‘‘Inputs to Emission Equations’’ Data 

Category 

EPA received numerous public 

comments on the July 7, 2010 CBI 

proposal and the July 27, 2010 

supplemental CBI proposal. In 

particular, EPA received comments that 

raised serious concerns regarding the 

public availability of data in the ‘‘Inputs 

to Emission Equations’’ category. In 

light of some of the comments on inputs 

to emission equations, EPA took three 

concurrent actions, which are as 

follows: 

• Call for Information: Information on 

Inputs to Emission Equations under the 

Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse 

Gases Rule, 75 FR 81366 (December 27, 

2010). 

• Change to the Reporting Date for 

Certain Data Elements Required Under 


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2The reporting deadline for year 2010 data 

required under the Mandatory Reporting of 

Greenhouse Gases Rule has since been extended to 

September 30, 2011. See 76 FR 14812 (March 18, 

2011). 

the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse 

Gases Rule; Proposed Rule, 75 FR 81350 

(December 27, 2010) (‘‘proposed 

deferral’’). 

• Interim Final Regulation Deferring 

the Reporting Date for Certain Data 

Elements Required Under the 

Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse 

Gases Rule, 75 FR 81338 (December 27, 

2010) (‘‘interim final rule’’). 

As explained in the proposed deferral 

notice, EPA has determined that some of 

the comments on inputs to emission 

equations ‘‘warrant in-depth evaluation 

of the potential impact from the release 

of inputs to emission equations, as well 

as collection and review of additional 

information, that cannot be completed 

before the March 31, 2011 reporting 

deadline’’ (75 FR 81350, 81353). We 

therefore issued the proposed deferral to 

defer the reporting deadline for data 

elements that are inputs to emission 

equations. Because EPA needed time to 

complete the deferral rulemaking, EPA 

concurrently issued the interim final 

rule to defer reporting of inputs to 

emission equations to August 31, 2011.2

EPA also concurrently issued the call 

for information to collect additional 

information that will assist EPA with 

the evaluation described above. Please 

see the December 27, 2010 notices for 

these three actions for further details on 

these actions. 

On August 25, 2011, EPA published 

the Final Deferral (‘‘Change to the 

Reporting Date for Certain Data 

Elements Required Under the 

Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse 

Gases Rule’’; 76 FR 53057). In that 

action, EPA deferred the deadline for 

direct emitter reporters to report ‘‘Inputs 

to Emission Equations’’ data elements. 

EPA deferred the deadline for reporting 

some of these data elements to March 

31, 2013, and others to March 31, 2015. 

Data elements with the March 31, 2013, 

reporting deadline are identified in 

Table A–6 to subpart A and those with 

the March 31, 2015, reporting deadline 

are identified in Table A–7 to subpart A. 

As explained further in Section II.D of 

this preamble, the tables in the Final 

Deferral do not reflect the changes or 

additions to inputs to equations in the 

Technical Corrections final rule. EPA is 

therefore proposing to amend Table A– 

6 to require reporting of the new inputs 

by March 31, 2013, and to re-numerate 

certain section references as finalized in 

the Technical Corrections final rule. 

C. What is the rationale for re-proposing 

the CBI determinations for six subparts? 

EPA included the data elements in the 

proposed subparts L, DD, QQ, RR, and 

SS in the July 7, 2010 CBI proposal 

because EPA did not anticipate any 

significant change to these data 

elements when finalizing these 

subparts. However, EPA received 

comments on these proposed subparts 

recommending significant changes to 

some of the data elements in these 

subparts. In addition, EPA received 

numerous comments on the July 7, 2010 

CBI proposal requesting another 

opportunity to comment on the final set 

of data elements in these six subparts 

after their promulgation. After the 

subparts were promulgated, EPA 

evaluated the changes made between 

proposal and promulgation. It was clear 

that there were significant changes to 

the data elements in these subparts 

since proposal. There were changes in 

the types of data to be submitted, and 

new data elements were added. The 

changes also included definition 

changes and clarifications as well as 

technical changes that affected many of 

the data reporting categories and data 

elements. Further, we split off portions 

of the proposed subpart RR and created 

a new subpart UU. Given these 

significant changes, EPA agreed that an 

opportunity to comment on the 

confidentiality of data elements in these 

final six subparts is warranted. EPA is 

therefore re-proposing the 

confidentiality determinations for the 

data elements in the final six subparts. 

Because this is a re-proposal, EPA is 

not responding to previous comments 

submitted on the July 7, 2010 CBI 

proposal relative to the data elements in 

these subparts. Although EPA 

considered those comments when 

developing this re-proposal, we 

encourage you to resubmit such 

comments to ensure their consideration 

and response by EPA in this 

rulemaking. In resubmitting previous 

comments, please make any necessary 

changes to clarify that you are 

addressing the re-proposal and add 

details as requested above. 

D. How does the Technical Revisions 

final rule affect this action? 

On, November 29, 2011, EPA 

finalized technical corrections, 

clarifying and other amendments to 

subparts W, FF, II, OO, RR, and TT of 

Part 98 in the Technical Corrections 

final rule (76 FR 73886). The final rule 

includes minor wording clarifications 

and editorial corrections to 44 data 

elements in subpart RR, which do not 

change the information to be reported to 

EPA. For example, several subpart RR 

data elements were revised to correct a 

rule citation, such as from paragraph 

(a)(5) to (a)(4). In this action, our 

confidentiality determination reproposal includes the 44 data elements 

in subpart RR as revised in the 

Technical Corrections final rule. 

Because the revisions do not change the 

information to be collected under this 

subpart, we believe that it is appropriate 

to propose confidentiality 

determinations for these 44 data 

elements as finalized in the Technical 

Corrections final rule. 

The Technical Corrections final rule 

similarly includes revisions to 

seventeen data elements in subparts FF, 

II, OO, and TT that are minor wording 

clarifications and editorial corrections. 

As mentioned in Section II.B of this 

preamble, on May 28, 2011, EPA issued 

final confidentiality determinations for 

all non-input data elements in 35 

subparts in part 98, including these 17 

data elements in subparts FF, II, OO, 

and TT. The revisions to the 17 data 

elements in these four subparts do not 

change the information to be reported to 

EPA under these requirements and 

therefore do not affect the May 26, 2011, 

final confidentiality determinations for 

these 17 data elements. We are not 

addressing these revisions in this action. 

In addition to the technical 

corrections described above, the 

Technical Corrections final rule 

includes adding seven new non-input 

data elements to subparts II and TT. 

Because these new data elements were 

finalized after EPA’s issuance of the 

final confidentiality determinations for 

data elements in subparts II and TT and 

therefore not covered by that action, we 

are proposing confidentiality 

determinations for these seven data 

elements in this action. We followed the 

same approach to category selection and 

confidentiality determinations as was 

finalized in the Final CBI Rule and as 

is followed for the six subparts in this 

action. 

The Technical Corrections final rule 

also revises 21 existing inputs to 

equations in subparts FF, II, and TT. 

The revisions do not change the 

information to be reported to EPA under 

these requirements. For 18 of the 21 

inputs, the revisions do not affect the 

August 25, 2011, final deferral. For the 

other three inputs, however, the 

revisions do re-numerate section 

references to three subpart TT equation 

inputs. These equation inputs were 

added in the August 25, 2011, final 

deferral to Table A–6 to subpart A of 

part 98, which lists by section the 

inputs to equations to be reported by 

March 31, 2013. We are therefore 


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3As previously mentioned, this proposal does not 

address data elements in the ‘‘Inputs to Emission 

Equations’’ data category. For data elements in 

these seven subparts that are assigned to the 

‘‘Inputs to Emission Equations’’ category, please see 

the Memorandum entitled ‘‘[Docket EPA–HQ– 

OAR–2011–0028 Memo B].’’ 

proposing in this action to amend Table 

A–6 to re-numerate three subpart TT 

equation inputs as finalized in the 

Technical Corrections final rule. 

Lastly, in the Technical Corrections 

final rule, two new equation inputs 

were added to subpart FF and one new 

equation input was added to subpart 

TT. In this action, EPA is proposing to 

defer the reporting deadline for these 

three equation inputs to March 31, 2013. 

As with other equation inputs, EPA is 

in the process of evaluating the 

sensitivity of these three equation 

inputs, and we believe that we can 

complete our evaluation before March 

31, 2013, the current reporting deadline 

for the equation inputs listed in Table 

A–6 of Subpart A. EPA is therefore 

proposing to add these inputs to Table 

A–6 to require their reporting by March 

31, 2013. In the Technical Corrections 

final rule, we added the two new 

subpart FF inputs to equations to the 

reporting requirements at 40 CFR 

98.326(o). This regulatory paragraph is 

already included in Table A–6 to 

subpart A for reporting by March 31, 

2013, so we are not proposing in this 

action to amend Table A–6 to account 

for the new subpart FF inputs to 

equations. However, the new subpart TT 

equation input is not yet included in 

Table A–6. We are therefore proposing 

in this action to amend Table A–6 to 

add it and require its reporting by 

March 31, 2013. 

III. Re-Proposal of CBI Determinations 

for Six Subparts 

A. Overview 

We propose to apply categorical 

confidentiality determinations made in 

the Final CBI Rule to the data elements 

in these six subparts that are assigned to 

those categories. In this section, we are 

requesting comment on two aspects of 

this proposal. First, we seek comment 

on the proposed data category 

assignment for each of these data 

elements. Second, for those data 

elements assigned to the five data 

categories without categorical CBI 

determinations, we seek comment on 

the individual confidentiality 

determinations we are proposing for 

these data elements. 

In the Final CBI Rule, EPA created 22 

data categories and assigned data 

elements in 35 subparts to appropriate 

data categories. In this re-proposal, EPA 

similarly proposes to assign each data 

element in the final subparts L, DD, QQ, 

RR, SS, and UU to one of 21 data 

categories 3 based on the type and 

characteristics of the data element. For 

example, data elements that refer to the 

amount and composition of raw 

material (excluding fuel) consumed as 

inputs to the production process have 

been assigned to the ‘‘Raw Materials 

Consumed That Are Not Inputs to 

Emission Equations’’ data category. For 

a list of the proposed category 

assignments (excluding inputs to 

emission equations) for the data 

elements in these subparts, please see 

the Memorandum entitled ‘‘Docket 

EPA–HQ–OAR–2011–0028 Memo A.’’ 

Because the data categories created in 

the Final CBI Rule are sufficient in 

scope to cover the data elements in 

these six subparts, no new data 

categories are being proposed. For a 

description of each data category and 

the type and characteristics of data 

elements assigned to them, please see 

Sections II.C and II.D of the July 7, 2010 

CBI proposal. 

As mentioned earlier in this preamble 

and shown in Tables 2 and 3 of this 

preamble, in the Final CBI Rule, EPA 

made categorical confidentiality 

determinations (i.e., one determination 

that applies to all data elements in that 

category) for 16 data categories (eight 

direct emitter data categories and eight 

supplier data categories). For the 

remaining five data categories (two 

direct emitter data categories and three 

supplier data categories), EPA 

determined that they are not ‘‘emission 

data’’ for purposes of determining GHG 

emission to be reported under Part 98 

data elements but did not make 

categorical determinations regarding 

their CBI status. The final categorical 

determinations described above would 

apply to the data elements in the six 

subparts that EPA assigns to these 

categories through this rulemaking. We 

are soliciting comments on the proposed 

category assignments for the data 

elements in these six subparts. If you 

believe that EPA has improperly 

assigned certain data elements in these 

six subparts to the data categories, 

please provide specific comments 

identifying which data elements may be 

mis-assigned along with a detailed 

rationale for why they are not correctly 

assigned and in which data category 

they belong. In addition, if you believe 

that a data element should be assigned 

to one of the five categories that do not 

have a categorical confidentiality 

determination, please also provide 

specific comment along with detailed 

rationale and supporting information on 

whether such data element does or does 

not qualify as CBI. 

As mentioned above, for five data 

categories (two direct emitter data 

categories and three supplier data 

categories), we determined in the Final 

CBI Rule that the data elements assigned 

to these data categories are not emission 

data for purposes of determining the 

GHG emissions to be reported under 

Part 98. However, for the reasons stated 

in the preambles to the proposed and 

the Final CBI Rule, we made final CBI 

determinations for individual data 

elements assigned to those categories. In 

making these individual CBI 

determinations, we considered the 

confidentiality determination criteria at 

40 CFR 2.208, in particular whether 

release of the data is likely to cause 

substantial harm to the business’s 

competitive position. See 40 CFR 

2.208(e)(1). Consistent with that 

approach, we now propose to determine 

for individual data elements in these 

five data categories whether they qualify 

as CBI. For EPA’s proposed CBI 

determinations for these data elements, 

please see Section III.B of this preamble 

for data elements in the two direct 

emitter data categories and Section III.C 

of this preamble for data elements in the 

three supplier data categories. EPA 

seeks comment on the proposed CBI 

determinations for the data elements in 

these five categories. When submitting a 

comment disagreeing with a proposed 

determination, please provide detailed 

supporting information on why the 

individual data element does or does 

not qualify as CBI. 

Tables 2 and 3 of this preamble 

summarize the actions taken in the 

Final CBI Rule for 21 of the 22 data 

categories created in that notice 

(excluding the ‘‘Inputs to Emission 

Equations’’ data category). 


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4Subpart RR is neither a direct emitter nor a 

supplier source category. For the purposes of this 

action, EPA placed each subpart RR data element 

into one of the two categories based on its type and 

characteristics. 

5As mentioned above, EPA determined that data 

elements in these two categories are not ‘‘emission 

data’’ under CAA section 114(c) and 40 CFR 

2.301(a)(2)(i) for purposes of determining the GHG 

emissions to be reported under Part 98. That 

determination would apply to data elements in 

these six subparts assigned to those categories 

through this rulemaking. 

TABLE 2—SUMMARY OF FINAL CONFIDENTIALITY DETERMINATIONS FOR DIRECT EMITTER DATA CATEGORIES

Data category 

Confidentiality determination for data elements in each 

category 

Emission data a

Data that are not 

emission data and 

not CBI 

Data that are not 

emission data but 

are CBI b

Facility and Unit Identifier Information ....................................................................... X .............................. ..............................

Emissions ................................................................................................................... X .............................. ..............................

Calculation Methodology and Methodological Tier ................................................... X .............................. ..............................

Data Elements Reported for Periods of Missing Data that are Not Inputs to Emission Equations ........................................................................................................ X .............................. ..............................

Unit/Process ‘‘Static’’ Characteristics that are Not Inputs to Emission Equations .... .............................. Xc Xc

Unit/Process Operating Characteristics that are Not Inputs to Emission Equations .............................. Xc Xc

Test and Calibration Methods ................................................................................... .............................. X ..............................

Production/Throughput Data that are Not Inputs to Emission Equations ................. .............................. .............................. X 

Raw Materials Consumed that are Not Inputs to Emission Equations ..................... .............................. .............................. X 

Process-Specific and Vendor Data Submitted in BAMM Extension Requests ......... .............................. .............................. X 

a Under CAA section 114(c), ‘‘emission data’’ are not entitled to confidential treatment. The term ‘‘emission data’’ is defined at 40 CFR 

2.301(a)(2)(i). bSection 114(c) of the CAA affords confidential treatment to data (except emission data) that are considered CBI. 

c In the Final CBI Rule, this data category contains both data elements determined to be CBI and those determined not to be CBI. 

TABLE 3—SUMMARY OF FINAL CONFIDENTIALITY DETERMINATIONS FOR SUPPLIER DATA CATEGORIES

Data category 

Confidentiality determination for data elements in each 

category 

Emission data a

Data that are not 

emission data and 

not CBI 

Data that are not 

emission data but 

are CBI b

GHGs Reported ......................................................................................................... .............................. Xc Xc

Production/Throughput Quantities and Composition ................................................. .............................. Xc Xc

Identification Information ............................................................................................ .............................. X ..............................

Unit/Process Operating Characteristics ..................................................................... .............................. Xc Xc

Calculation, Test, and Calibration Methods .............................................................. .............................. X ..............................

Data Elements Reported for Periods of Missing Data that are Not Related to Production/Throughput or Materials Received ............................................................ .............................. X ..............................

Emission Factors ....................................................................................................... .............................. .............................. X 

Amount and Composition of materials received ....................................................... .............................. .............................. X 

Data Elements Reported for Periods of Missing Data That are Related to Production/Throughput or Materials Received .................................................................. .............................. .............................. X 

Supplier Customer and Vendor Information .............................................................. .............................. .............................. X 

Process-Specific and Vendor Data Submitted in BAMM Extension Requests ......... .............................. .............................. X 

a Under CAA section 114(c), ‘‘emission data’’ are not entitled to confidential treatment. The term ‘‘emission data’’ is defined at 40 CFR 

2.301(a)(2)(i). bSection 114(c) of the CAA affords confidential treatment to data (except emission data) that are considered CBI. 

c In the Final CBI Rule, this data category contains both data elements determined to be CBI and those determined not to be CBI. 

B. Direct Emitter Data Categories 

For direct emitter subparts L, DD, 

RR,4 and SS, EPA proposes to assign 

each data element to one of 10 direct 

emitter data categories. Please see the 

Memorandum entitled ‘‘Docket EPA– 

HQ–OAR–2011–0028 Memo A’’ for a 

list of the data elements in these 

subparts and their proposed category 

assignment. In the Final CBI Rule, EPA 

made categorical confidentiality 

determinations for eight direct emitter 

data categories. EPA proposes to apply 

those final determinations to the data 

elements assigned to those categories in 

this rulemaking. For the data elements 

in the two direct emitter data categories 

that do not have categorical 

confidentiality determinations, we are 

proposing on an individual data 

element basis whether or not they 

qualify as CBI.5

The following two direct emitter data 

categories do not have category-based 

CBI determinations: ‘‘Unit/Process 

‘Static’ Characteristics That are Not 

Inputs to Emission Equations’’ and 

‘‘Unit/Process Operating Characteristics 

That are Not Inputs to Emission 

Equations.’’ For these two categories, 

EPA evaluated the individual data 

elements assigned to these categories to 

determine whether individual data 

elements qualify as CBI. In the sections 

below, EPA explains the data elements 

in these two categories by subpart and 

states the reasons for proposing to 

determine that each does or does not 

qualify as CBI under CAA section 

114(c). EPA is specifically soliciting 

comments on the CBI proposals for data 

elements in these two data categories. In 

each subpart section below, the data 

elements that are part of the annual 

GHG report submission are identified in 

bulleted lists. Any data elements that 

are part of subpart-specific BAMM use 

extension requests are discussed but not 


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individually listed because they are 

repetitive (for example, there are several 

data elements that slightly differ by only 

a date or equipment type), lengthy, and 

numerous. These data elements are 

listed individually by data category and 

proposed confidentiality determination 

in the Memorandum entitled ‘‘Docket 

EPA–HQ–OAR–2011–0028 Memo A.’’ 

In the subpart RR section below, EPA 

also identifies in a bulleted list four data 

elements for which we considered 

multiple approaches to making a CBI 

determination and one data element for 

which we considered multiple 

approaches to making a data category 

assignment. We specifically request 

comment on the proposed approaches 

for these five subpart RR data elements. 

1. Subpart L—Fluorinated Gas 

Production 

The ‘‘Unit/Process ‘Static’ 

Characteristics That are Not Inputs to 

Emission Equations’’ data category. 

EPA is proposing to assign one 

subpart L data element to the ‘‘Unit/ 

Process ‘Static’ Characteristics That are 

Not Inputs to Emission Equations’’ data 

category because it is a basic facilityspecific characteristic that does not vary 

with time or with the operations of the 

process (and is not an input to an 

emission equation). The data element is: 

• Location and function of the 

stream(s) (including process streams, 

emissions streams, and destroyed 

streams) that were analyzed under the 

initial scoping speciation of fluorinated 

GHG at 40 CFR 98.124(a), by process. 

(proposed as CBI) 

EPA proposes to determine that 

disclosure of this data element would 

likely result in substantial competitive 

harm if released and therefore will be 

protected as confidential business 

information. EPA finds that this data 

element could provide insight into the 

manufacturing process and the 

configuration of the facility, such as 

which process equipment is sending 

streams to which process equipment. 

This could reveal information about 

configuration efficiencies that the 

reporter has developed, generally at 

great expense and time investment, to 

minimize manufacturing cost and to 

maximize the manufacturing rate. If a 

competitor could review such 

information on configuration, the 

competitor would be able to adopt the 

reporter’s efficiency practices with less 

development time and expense and 

would gain competitive advantage at the 

expense of the reporter’s competitive 

advantage. Therefore, EPA finds that 

releasing the data element describing 

the location and function of the process 

streams would likely result in 

substantial competitive harm, and EPA 

proposes to determine that this data 

element qualifies for protection as 

confidential business information. 

The ‘‘Unit/process Operating 

Characteristics That Are Not Inputs to 

Emission Equations’’ data category. 

EPA is proposing to assign 23 subpart 

L data elements to the ‘‘Unit/process 

Operating Characteristics That are Not 

Inputs to Emission Equations’’ data 

category because they are characteristics 

of units, equipment, abatement devices, 

and other facility-specific characteristics 

that vary over time with changes in 

operations and processes (and are not 

inputs to emission equations). Twentytwo of these data elements are part of 

extension requests for the use of BAMM 

and relate to the reasons for a request 

and expected dates of compliance with 

reporting requirements. One is part of 

the annual GHG report and is listed 

here: 

• Name of all applicable Federal or 

State regulations that may apply to the 

destruction process. 

As discussed in more detail below, 

EPA is proposing that seven data 

elements in the ‘‘Unit/process Operating 

Characteristics That Are Not Inputs to 

Emission Equations’’ data category are 

CBI. (All seven are part of data elements 

included in BAMM use extension 

requests.) EPA is proposing to 

determine that the other data elements 

in the ‘‘Unit/process Operating 

Characteristics That Are Not Inputs to 

Emission Equations’’ data category are 

not CBI. 

EPA proposes to determine that the 

annual GHG report data element in this 

category is not CBI. The Federal and 

State regulations that may apply to a 

fluorinated GHG destruction process or 

device are already part of the public 

record as part of the facility’s Title V 

operating permit or minor source air 

emissions permit. Furthermore, Federal 

regulations are published in the CFR 

(e.g., Miscellaneous Organic NESHAP is 

published at 40 CFR part 63, subpart 

FFFF) and State regulations are 

similarly published (e.g., the Louisiana 

Administrative Code 33: III.501.C.6 is 

published in the Louisiana Register). 

Because this information is publicly 

available it does not qualify for 

protection as confidential business 

information and will be considered to 

be non-CBI. 

EPA proposes to determine that seven 

of the 22 data elements included in 

BAMM use extension requests qualify as 

CBI because their disclosure would 

likely cause substantial harm to the 

reporter’s competitive positions (each 

data element and its proposed category 

assignment are listed by data category in 

the Memorandum entitled ‘‘Docket 

EPA–HQ–OAR–2011–0028, Memo A.’’) 

Three of these data elements reveal the 

reason for requesting a BAMM 

extension and the reason why 

equipment was not (or could not be) 

installed. EPA has reviewed a number of 

BAMM use extension requests and 

determined that these three data 

elements contain detailed information, 

such as process diagrams and 

operational information. Process 

diagrams and operational information 

could provide insight into configuration 

efficiencies that the reporter has 

developed, generally at great expense 

and time investment, to minimize 

manufacturing cost and to maximize the 

manufacturing rate. If a competitor 

could review such information on the 

reporter’s configuration, the competitor 

would be able to adopt the reporter’s 

efficiency practices with less 

development time or expense and 

would gain competitive advantage at the 

expense of the reporter’s competitive 

advantage. Therefore, EPA finds that 

releasing the reasons for requesting a 

BAMM use extension would likely 

result in substantial competitive harm, 

and EPA proposes to determine that this 

information will be treated as 

confidential business information. 

We also propose to find that four 

other data elements that divulge when 

an owner or operator will be able to 

attain data, equipment, or 

measurements to comply with reporting 

requirements are eligible for 

confidential treatment. These data 

elements would reveal information 

about the installation date of equipment 

and the date of anticipated startup. This 

could provide sensitive information 

regarding future process shutdowns, 

and likely would cause substantial 

competitive harm if disclosed because 

competitors could use this information 

to anticipate and potentially benefit 

from future decreases in product 

supply. For example, a competitor able 

to anticipate the shutdown of a 

reporter’s facility and resulting decrease 

in product supply, could use this 

information to attract customers away 

from a reporter by increasing its own 

production or could adjust the price of 

its own products. 

EPA proposes to determine that the 

remaining 15 data elements included in 

BAMM use extension requests do not 

qualify as CBI. These are narrow data 

elements that focus on specific reasons 

for the BAMM extension, such as proof 

of service or equipment backorder, 

technical infeasibilities, and conflicting 

safety regulations or laws. Additionally, 

three of these data elements are 

descriptions of how the facility will 


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6http://www.platts.com/Products/ 

electricpowerproducerdirectory. 

prepare to meet requirements by the end 

of the BAMM period. These data 

elements do not contain detailed 

information, such as process diagrams 

and operational information. Rather, 

they are information on administrative 

activities and regulatory requirements to 

which the facility is subject that are not 

protected as proprietary by the reporting 

facilities. Therefore, EPA proposes to 

determine that these are not data 

elements the disclosure of which would 

likely cause substantial competitive 

harm and will not be protected as CBI. 

They will be considered non-CBI. 

Finally, three of these data elements 

are illustrative documentation such as 

photographs and engineering diagrams 

that demonstrate how access to process 

streams, emissions streams, or destroyed 

streams could not be gained without 

process shutdown. Based on the type of 

documentation that EPA has received, 

EPA finds that these illustrative 

diagrams and photographs sent by 

reporters generally do not provide 

insight into the reporter’s production 

processes or operational efficiencies 

because they only show information 

that is relevant to the access point in 

question and processes immediately 

upstream and downstream of that access 

point. Therefore, EPA proposes to 

determine that disclosure of these data 

elements is not likely to cause 

substantial competitive harm; therefore, 

they do not qualify for protection as CBI 

and will be considered to be non-CBI. 

EPA is soliciting comments on EPA’s 

proposed determinations described 

above. When submitting a comment 

disagreeing with a proposed 

determination, please identify the 

specific data element(s) and provide 

detailed supporting information on why 

EPA’s proposed determination is not 

appropriate and why such data 

element(s) do or do not qualify as CBI. 

2. Subpart DD—Electrical Transmission 

and Distribution Equipment Use 

Subpart DD covers facilities that move 

electricity rather than produce or 

process a product. EPA is proposing to 

assign three subpart DD data elements to 

the ‘‘Unit/Process ‘Static’ Characteristics 

That are Not Inputs to Emission 

Equations’’ data category because they 

are basic characteristics of equipment 

and facility-specific lines that do not 

vary with time or with the operations of 

the process (and are not inputs to 

emission equations). These three data 

elements are: 

• Nameplate capacity of equipment 

containing sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) or 

perfluorocarbon (PFC) existing as of the 

beginning of the year (excluding 

hermetically sealed-pressure 

switchgear). 

• Transmission miles (length of lines 

carrying voltage at or above 34.5 

kilovolt). 

• Distribution miles (length of lines 

carrying voltages at or below 35 

kilovolt). 

EPA is proposing that all data 

elements in this data category are nonCBI. Nameplate capacity is the 

engineered volume of SF6 or PFC 

contained in transmission and 

distribution equipment. Total nameplate 

capacity can vary significantly from 

facility to facility depending on the total 

number of pieces of equipment used, 

the age and manufacture of equipment, 

the location of the equipment (e.g., 

urban vs. rural), climatic conditions, 

number of transmission or distribution 

miles within the facility, etc. 

Information about nameplate capacity 

does not provide insight into the 

performance (ability to transmit or 

distribute electricity) or the operational 

efficiency for this type of facility that 

would likely cause substantial 

competitive harm if disclosed. 

Therefore, the disclosure of the 

nameplate capacity data element is not 

likely to cause substantial competitive 

harm, and EPA is proposing it as nonCBI. 

Moreover, data on transmission and 

distribution miles is also publicly 

available in the Platts UDI Directory of 

Electric Power Producers and 

Distributers, 6 which can be purchased 

by any interested party. Disclosure of 

these data by EPA does not provide any 

additional insight into facility-specific 

operating conditions or process design 

or to any other proprietary or sensitive 

information that would give insight for 

competitors to gain an advantage over 

the reporter. Because this information is 

publicly available, EPA proposes to 

determine that these data elements are 

not confidential; they will be considered 

non-CBI. 

EPA is soliciting comments on EPA’s 

proposed determinations described 

above. When submitting a comment 

disagreeing with a proposed 

determination, please identify the 

specific data element(s) and provide 

detailed supporting information on why 

EPA’s proposed determination is not 

appropriate and why such data 

element(s) do or do not qualify as CBI. 

3. Subpart RR—Geologic Sequestration 

of Carbon Dioxide 

Subpart RR is neither an exclusively 

direct emitter nor a supplier source 

category, so for the purposes of this 

action EPA assigned each subpart RR 

data element to one of the two groups 

based on its type and characteristics. 

EPA assigned subpart RR data elements 

that pertain to surface leakage to one of 

the direct emitter data categories and 

the remaining subpart RR data elements 

to one of the supplier data categories. 

For the following five subpart RR data 

elements in the direct emitter ‘‘Test & 

Calibration Methods’’ data category, 

EPA considered multiple approaches to 

making a CBI determination: 

• ‘‘MRV plans (monitoring, reporting, 

and verification) and revised MRV 

plans,’’ which must contain, among 

other components, the delineation of the 

maximum monitoring area and the 

active monitoring areas; identification of 

potential surface leakage pathways for 

CO2 in the maximum monitoring area 

and the likelihood, magnitude, and 

timing, of surface leakage of CO2

through these pathways; a strategy for 

detecting and quantifying any surface 

leakage of CO2; a strategy for 

establishing the expected baselines for 

monitoring CO2 surface leakage; and a 

summary of the considerations you 

intend to use to calculate site-specific 

variables for the mass balance equation. 

• Annual monitoring report: 

Narrative history of the monitoring 

efforts conducted over the previous 

calendar year (in annual monitoring 

reports). 

• Annual monitoring report: 

Description of any changes to the 

monitoring program that were not 

material changes warranting submission 

of a revised MRV plan (in annual 

monitoring reports). 

• Annual monitoring report: 

Narrative history of any monitoring 

anomalies that were detected in the 

previous calendar year and how they 

were investigated and resolved (in 

annual monitoring reports). 

• A request for discontinuation of 

reporting must contain either 40 CFR 

98.441(b)(2)(i) or (b)(2)(ii): (ii) For all 

other wells, and as an alternative for 

wells permitted as Class VI under the 

Underground Injection Control program, 

a demonstration that current monitoring 

and model(s) show that the injected CO2

stream is not expected to migrate in the 

future in a manner likely to result in 

surface leakage. 

EPA is proposing to assign these five 

data elements to the ‘‘Test & Calibration 

Methods’’ data category because they 

are information about methods that are 

or were used to demonstrate that the 

injected CO2 stream is not expected to 

migrate in the future in a manner likely 

to result in surface leakage. For these 

five data elements, EPA considered 


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7For example, see papers from the International 

Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control 

Technologies. 

8Subparts RR and UU are neither exclusively 

direct emitter nor supplier source categories. For 

the purposes of this action, EPA placed each 

subpart RR data element into one of the two 

categories based on its type and characteristics. EPA 

placed all subpart UU data elements into the 

supplier source category based on their type and 

characteristics. 

9Where a data element is included in more than 

one data category, we are proposing the same CBI 

deviating from the determination that 

all data elements in the ‘‘Test & 

Calibration Methods’’ category are not 

entitled to CBI treatment. We evaluated 

whether the level of detail and 

information in these documents will 

vary so much from reporter to reporter 

based on site-specific conditions that a 

confidentiality determination cannot be 

made until the material is submitted 

and closely evaluated by EPA on a caseby-case basis. For the ‘‘MRV plans and 

revised MRV plans’’ data element, EPA 

further evaluated whether some specific 

elements, methods, or supportive 

material are entitled to CBI treatment or 

require case-by-case evaluation so that 

they should be broken out as their own 

data elements. Having considered these 

approaches, we nonetheless find that 

disclosure by EPA of the details in these 

five data elements would not provide 

insight to competitors about proprietary 

information. These data elements reveal 

information about monitoring 

techniques for which information is 

publicly available in the scientific 

community about their effectiveness, 

such as in conference papers and peer 

reviewed journal articles.7 The ‘‘MRV 

plans and revised MRV plans’’ data 

element does not contain the monitoring 

results that are obtained after 

implementation of the MRV plan, or 

project information the disclosure of 

which is likely to cause substantial 

competitive harm. For the 

discontinuation of reporting data 

element, the reporter will not submit 

this information to EPA until after the 

injection has ceased and the well or 

group of wells have been plugged or 

abandoned, and thus the public 

availability upon EPA’s release of this 

information is not likely to cause 

substantial harm to the reporter’s 

competitive position. Therefore, we are 

proposing that the five data elements 

listed above merit the same 

confidentiality determination as the 

other data elements in the ‘‘Test & 

Calibration Methods’’ data category (not 

CBI). 

We seek comment on this 

determination and any rationale for or 

against this approach. EPA notes that 

until this action is finalized, EPA will 

make case-by-case confidentiality 

determinations for materials submitted 

to EPA under subpart RR, including 

‘‘MRV plans and revised MRV plans.’’ 

For the following subpart RR data 

element in the ‘‘Calculation 

Methodology and Methodological Tier’’ 

data category, EPA considered multiple 

approaches to making a data category 

assignment: 

• Annual monitoring report: A 

description of any surface leakages of 

CO2, including a discussion of all 

methodologies and technologies 

involved in detecting and quantifying 

the surface leakages and any 

assumptions and uncertainties involved 

in calculating the amount of CO2

emitted. 

EPA considered assigning this data 

element to the ‘‘Calculation 

Methodology and Methodological Tier’’ 

data category, and EPA considered 

assigning it to the ‘‘Test & Calibration 

Methods’’ category, as was done with 

the other annual monitoring report data 

elements, and either following the 

category-wide non-CBI determination or 

making a CBI determination on a caseby-case basis once the material is 

submitted and closely evaluated by 

EPA. Having considered these options, 

we ultimately determined that this data 

element provides the methodologies, 

technologies, and assumptions used by 

reporters to calculate the mass of CO2

emitted from surface leakage. Therefore, 

we are proposing to assign the data 

element to the ‘‘Calculation 

Methodology and Methodological Tier’’ 

data category, which is limited to data 

elements that EPA has determined to be 

‘‘emission data’’ under CAA section 

114(c) and 40 CFR 2.301(a)(2)(i) for 

purposes of determining the GHG 

emissions to be reported under Part 98 

and therefore not entitled to 

confidential treatment. We seek 

comment on this determination and any 

rationale for or against this approach. 

4. Subpart SS—Electrical Equipment 

Manufacture or Refurbishment 

EPA is not proposing to assign any 

subpart SS data elements to the ‘‘Unit/ 

process Static Characteristics That are 

Not Inputs to Emission Equations’’ or 

the ‘‘Unit/process Operating 

Characteristics That are Not Inputs to 

Emission Equations’’ data category. 

The subpart SS data elements are 

listed individually by data category and 

proposed confidentiality determination 

in the Memorandum entitled ‘‘Docket 

EPA–HQ–OAR–2011–0028 Memo A.’’ 

C. GHG Supplier Data Categories 

For supplier subparts QQ, RR, and 

UU,8 EPA is assigning each data 

element to one of eleven supplier data 

categories. For the data elements in 

three data categories, we are proposing 

whether or not each separate data 

element is entitled to confidential 

treatment. 

As mentioned above in Section III.B 

of this preamble, for the eight data 

categories with category-based final 

determinations, EPA will apply these 

determinations to all the data elements 

assigned to those categories from the six 

subparts. EPA’s rationale for the final 

CBI determination can be found in the 

preamble to the Final CBI Rule (76 FR 

30782). For a list of the proposed 

category assignments (excluding inputs 

to emission equations) for the data 

elements in these subparts, please see 

the Memorandum entitled ‘‘Docket 

EPA–HQ–OAR–2011–0028 Memo A.’’ 

With respect to the three supplier data 

categories that have been determined 

not to be emission data but do not have 

category based confidentiality 

determinations (‘‘GHGs Reported,’’ 

‘‘Production/Throughput Quantities and 

Composition,’’ and ‘‘Unit/Process 

Operating Characteristics’’), EPA 

evaluated the individual data elements 

in the six subparts assigned to these 

categories to determine whether they 

qualify as CBI. In the sections below, 

EPA lists the data elements in the three 

categories by subpart and states the 

reasons for proposing to determine that 

these data elements do or do not qualify 

for protection as CBI under Freedom of 

Information Act (FOIA) exemption 4, 

CAA section 114(c), and EPA 

regulations at 40 CFR 2.208 and 2.301. 

EPA is emphasizing that we request 

comment on these proposals. 

1. Subpart QQ—Importers and Exporters 

of Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases 

Contained in Pre-Charged Equipment or 

Closed-Cell Foams 

EPA is proposing to assign 10 data 

elements to the ‘‘GHGs Reported’’ data 

category because they are the actual 

GHGs reported as imported or exported. 

Five of the data elements are for 

importers and five are for exporters. The 

importer and exporter data elements are 

identical except for whether they are 

specific to importers or exporters, so we 

have combined the analogous data 

elements in the five bullets in the list 

below to reduce repetition. Note that all 

10 data elements represented in this 

specific case are also in the 

‘‘Production/Throughput Quantities and 

Composition’’ data category because the 

GHG reported is also the product being 

imported or exported.9


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determination for that data element in both 

categories. 

• Total mass of each fluorinated 

greenhouse gas (F–GHG) imported/ 

exported in pre-charged equipment or 

closed-cell foams. 

• Identity of imported/exported F– 

GHG used as a refrigerant or electrical 

insulator. 

• Identity of the imported/exported 

F–GHG contained in the closed-cell 

foam in each appliance. 

• Identity of the imported/exported 

F–GHG in the foam. 

• If the importer/exporter does not 

know the identity and mass of the 

fluorinated GHGs within the closed-cell 

foam: Total mass in metric tons of CO2e 

of the fluorinated GHGs imported/ 

exported in closed-cell foams. 

EPA is proposing to assign 30 data 

elements to the ‘‘Production/ 

Throughput Quantities and 

Composition’’ data category because 

they refer to the composition and 

quantities of the products imported and 

exported. Ten of the data elements are 

in the ‘‘GHGs Reported’’ data category 

list above because the product imported 

or exported is also the GHG reported; 

they are not repeated in the list below. 

For the other 20 data elements in this 

data category, the 10 importer data 

elements and 10 exporter data elements 

are identical except for whether they are 

specific to importers or exporters. 

Therefore, we have combined the 

analogous data elements in the 10 

bullets in the list below to reduce 

repetition. 

• Charge size (holding charge, if 

applicable) for each type of pre-charged 

equipment imported/exported. 

• Number of pre-charged equipment 

imported/exported. 

• Mass of the imported/exported F– 

GHG contained in the foam in each 

appliance. 

• Number of appliances imported/ 

exported. 

• Density of the imported/exported 

F–GHG in the foam. 

• Volume of foam imported/exported. 

• If the importer/exporter does not 

know the identity and mass of the 

fluorinated GHGs within the closed-cell 

foam: For closed-cell foams that are 

imported/exported inside of appliances, 

the mass of the fluorinated GHGs in 

CO2e contained in the foam in each 

appliance. 

• If the importer/exporter does not 

know the identity and mass of the 

fluorinated GHGs within the closed-cell 

foam: For closed-cell foams that are 

imported/exported inside of appliances, 

the number of appliances imported/ 

exported for each type of appliance. 

• If the importer/exporter does not 

know the identity and mass of the 

fluorinated GHGs within the closed-cell 

foam: For closed-cell foams that are not 

imported/exported inside of appliances, 

the mass in CO2e of the fluorinated 

GHGs in the foam. 

• If the importer/exporter does not 

know the identity and mass of the 

fluorinated GHGs within the closed-cell 

foam: For closed-cell foams that are not 

imported/exported inside of appliances, 

the volume of foam imported/exported 

for each type of closed-cell foam. 

For subpart QQ, EPA is proposing that 

all data elements in the ‘‘GHGs 

Reported’’ and ‘‘Production/Throughput 

Quantities and Composition’’ data 

categories be considered CBI. These data 

categories contain importer- and 

exporter-level production information 

(mass, volume, density, quantity, or 

identity of the equipment or foam or 

fluorinated gas within the equipment or 

foam), reported separately for precharged equipment, closed-cell foam, 

and for appliances that contain closedcell foam. EPA proposes to determine 

that these importer- and exporter-level 

product-specific GHG data are to be 

considered CBI because the disclosure 

of these data elements would likely 

cause substantial harm to the 

competitive positions of businesses 

reporting these data. Releasing these 

data could be detrimental to the 

operational and marketing strategies of 

the reporting parties, as explained in the 

following example. 

The disclosure of the volume of foam 

or the count of appliances or equipment 

exported provides insight into a firm’s 

market share and financial performance. 

For example, product import or export 

data could reveal whether a U.S. firm is 

experiencing rapid growth or decline in 

market share. Competitors could use 

such data to gain a competitive 

advantage over another firm by better 

approximating a firm’s market share. 

Competitors may be able to drive 

struggling reporters out of business by 

implementing short-term price-cutting 

tactics. In many cases, an accurate 

estimate of the market share of a firm is 

difficult to procure, and the disclosure 

of such information through the GHG 

Reporting Rule could harm the 

competitive position of reporting 

parties. As previously noted, EPA is 

proposing that all data elements in these 

two data categories (‘‘GHGs Reported’’ 

and ‘‘Production/Throughput Quantities 

and Composition’’) are to be considered 

CBI. EPA is soliciting comments on 

EPA’s proposed determinations 

described above. When submitting a 

comment disagreeing with a proposed 

determination, please identify the 

specific data element(s) and provide 

detailed supporting information on why 

EPA’s proposed determination is not 

appropriate and why such data 

element(s) do or do not qualify as CBI. 

EPA is proposing to assign eight data 

elements to the ‘‘Unit/Process Operating 

Characteristics’’ data category because 

they refer to the operating 

characteristics of the supplier, such as 

dates of shipment. Four data elements 

are for importers and four are for 

exporters. The importer and exporter 

data elements are identical except for 

whether they relate to imports or 

exports, so only four bullets appear in 

the list below to reduce repetition. 

• Dates on which pre-charged 

equipment were imported/exported. 

• Dates on which closed-cell foams 

were imported/exported. 

• If the importer/exporter does not 

know the identity and mass of the 

fluorinated GHGs within the closed-cell 

foam: Dates on which the closed-cell 

foams were imported/exported. 

• If the importer/exporter does not 

know the identity and mass of the 

fluorinated GHGs within the closed-cell 

foam: Certification that the importer/ 

exporter was unable to obtain 

information on the identity and mass of 

the fluorinated GHGs within the closedcell foam from the closed-cell foam 

manufacturer or manufacturers. 

EPA is proposing that all data 

elements in this data category are nonCBI. As explained below, EPA finds that 

the release of these data will not likely 

cause substantial competitive harm. 

Releasing a certification about the 

ability to obtain information would not 

likely cause substantial competitive 

harm because certification statements 

are general in nature, do not provide 

any insight into the design or operation 

efficiencies of the plant, and do not 

reveal other competitive information 

(e.g., market share, ability to increase 

production to meet new increases in 

demand, or price structures). Moreover, 

certification statements will consist of 

only the language that EPA publicly 

provides in the data reporting tool and 

will not include any facility- or processspecific information that could be 

considered proprietary. Therefore, EPA 

proposes that certification statements 

are not CBI. 

The other subpart QQ data elements 

in this data category are dates of import 

or export. Dates do not reveal 

information related to the type or 

quantity of product imported or 

exported, or to the operational strengths 

or weaknesses, operational capacity, or 

customer base of the reporter. Dates of 

import or export would not likely cause 

substantial competitive harm if released 


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10Where a data element is included in more than 

one data category, we are proposing the same CBI 

determination for that data element in both 

categories. 

because dates do not provide any 

insight into at what percent of capacity 

a firm is operating or into financial 

performance, the release of which might 

allow competitors to implement shortterm price cutting tactics to capture the 

reporter’s market share. Therefore, EPA 

proposes that these data elements, the 

date of the import or export, are not 

eligible for confidential treatment and 

will be considered non-CBI. 

EPA is soliciting comments on EPA’s 

proposed determinations described 

above. When submitting a comment 

disagreeing with a proposed 

determination, please identify the 

specific data element(s) and provide 

detailed supporting information on why 

EPA’s proposed determination is not 

appropriate and why such data 

element(s) do or do not qualify as CBI. 

2. Subpart RR—Geologic Sequestration 

of Carbon Dioxide 

Subpart RR is neither a direct emitter 

nor a supplier source category, so for the 

purposes of this action EPA assigned 

each subpart RR data element to one of 

the two groups based on its type and 

characteristics. EPA assigned subpart 

RR data elements that pertain to surface 

leakage to one of the direct emitter data 

categories and the remaining subpart RR 

data elements to one of the supplier data 

categories. 

EPA is proposing to assign nine data 

elements to the ‘‘GHGs Reported’’ data 

category because they are the actual 

GHGs reported. Note that all nine of the 

data elements in this specific case are 

also in the ‘‘Production/Throughput 

Quantities and Composition’’ data 

category because the GHG reported is 

also the product being used as a 

throughput.10

• If you receive CO2 by pipeline, 

report the following for each receiving 

flow meter: Total net mass of CO2

received (metric tons) annually. 

• If you receive CO2 in containers, 

report: The net mass of CO2 received (in 

metric tons) annually. 

• If you use more than one receiving 

flow meter, report the total net mass of 

CO2 received (metric tons) through all 

flow meters annually. 

• For each injection flow meter (mass 

or volumetric), report: The mass of CO2

injected annually. 

• Total CO2 injected during the 

reporting year as calculated in Equation 

RR–6. 

• For each separator flow meter (mass 

or volumetric), report: CO2 mass 

produced (metric tons) annually. 

• Annual CO2 produced in the 

reporting year, as calculated in Equation 

RR–9. 

• Annual CO2 sequestered in the 

subsurface geologic formations in the 

reporting year, as calculated by 

Equation RR–11 or RR–12. 

• Cumulative mass of CO2 reported as 

sequestered in the subsurface geologic 

formations in all years since the well or 

group of wells became subject to 

reporting requirements under subpart 

RR. 

EPA is proposing to assign 26 data 

elements to the ‘‘Production/ 

Throughput Quantities and 

Composition’’ data category because 

they refer to the quantities and 

composition of CO2 produced and used 

as throughput at the site. Note that nine 

of the data elements in this specific case 

are in the ‘‘GHGs Reported’’ data 

category list above because the GHG 

reported is also the product being used 

as a throughput. They are not repeated 

in the list below. Furthermore, five data 

elements about mass flow meters and 

five data elements about volumetric 

flow meters are identical except for 

whether they are specific to mass or 

volumetric meters. Therefore, we have 

combined the 10 analogous data 

elements into five bullets in the list 

below to reduce repetition. The 

remaining seven data elements that EPA 

proposes to assign to this data category 

each appear in the list below under an 

individual bullet. 

• For submissions in support of an 

R&D project exemption from reporting 

under subpart RR: Planned annual CO2

injection volumes during this time 

period. 

• If a volumetric/mass flow meter is 

used to receive CO2, report the 

following unless you reported yes to 40 

CFR 98.446(a)(4): Volumetric/mass flow 

through a receiving flow meter at 

standard conditions in each quarter. 

• If a volumetric/mass flow meter is 

used to receive CO2, report the 

following unless you reported yes to 40 

CFR 98.446(a)(4) of this section: The 

volumetric/mass flow through a 

receiving flow meter that is redelivered 

to another facility without being 

injected into your well in each quarter. 

• If a volumetric/mass flow meter is 

used to receive CO2, report the 

following unless you reported yes to 40 

CFR 98.446(a)(4) of this section: CO2

concentration in the flow in each 

quarter. 

• If you receive CO2 in containers, 

report: The mass (in metric tons) or 

volume at standard conditions (in 

standard cubic meters) of contents in 

containers in each quarter. 

• If you receive CO2 in containers, 

report: The concentration of CO2 of 

contents in containers (volume or 

weight percent CO2 expressed as a 

decimal fraction) in each quarter. 

• If you receive CO2 in containers, 

report: The mass (in metric tons) or 

volume (in standard cubic meters) of 

contents in containers that is 

redelivered to another facility without 

being injected into your well in each 

quarter. 

• For each injection flow meter (mass 

or volumetric), report: CO2

concentration in flow (volume or weight 

percent CO2 expressed as a decimal 

fraction) in each quarter. 

• For each injection flow meter, 

report: If a volumetric/mass flow meter 

is used, the volumetric/mass flow rate at 

standard conditions in each quarter. 

• For each separator flow meter (mass 

or volumetric), report: CO2

concentration in flow (volume or weight 

percent CO2 expressed as a decimal 

fraction) in each quarter. 

• If a volumetric/mass separator flow 

meter is used, volumetric/mass flow rate 

at standard conditions in each quarter. 

• The entrained CO2 in produced oil 

or other fluid divided by the CO2

separated through all separators in the 

reporting year (weight percent CO2

expressed as a decimal fraction) used as 

the value for X in Equation RR–9 and as 

determined according to your EPAapproved MRV plan. 

EPA proposes that all data elements 

in these two data categories (‘‘GHGs 

Reported’’ and ‘‘Production/Throughput 

Quantities’’) are not CBI. As explained 

below, EPA finds that the release of 

these data will not likely cause 

substantial competitive harm. 

Six of the data elements are facilitylevel and flow meter-level information 

on the quantity of CO2 injected. The six 

data elements are available from 

Underground Injection Control (UIC) 

permits, which are issued for each 

injection well by EPA or by States that 

have assumed primary enforcement 

authority for permitting injection wells. 

Information related to the permits is 

reported to EPA or States at least 

annually and made available to the 

public either through State Web sites or 

upon request from the public. Because 

this information is routinely publicly 

available, EPA finds that further 

disclosure of data elements on CO2

injection is not likely to cause 

substantial competitive harm to the 

reporter, and EPA proposes to 

determine that this information will not 

be treated as confidential; rather it will 

be considered non-CBI. 

Six of the data elements are facilitylevel and flow meter-level information 


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11Worldwide Enhanced Oil Recovery Survey. 

2010. Oil and Gas Journal, Volume 108, Issue 14. 

12http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/carbon_

seq/partnerships/RCSP_ProjectDescriptions.html. 

on the quantity of CO2 produced. The 

reporters that are required to include 

this information in their annual reports 

inject CO2 underground into oil or 

natural gas reservoirs through injection 

wells for the purpose of increasing 

crude oil production or enhancing 

recovery of natural gas, and the CO2 is 

then produced with oil and gas. State oil 

and gas conservation agencies in all 

States where enhanced oil and gas 

recovery is occurring collect 

information on quantities of oil and gas 

produced by well to calculate royalties. 

This information is reported to EPA or 

States at least annually and made 

available to the public either through 

State Web sites or upon request from the 

public. Moreover, incremental oil 

production from CO2 injection is 

published in the biannual Oil & Gas 

Journal Enhanced Oil Recovery 

survey.11 Given the present level of 

reporting of production in the EOR 

industry just described (i.e., information 

is made publicly available by States and 

in the biannual industry reports), EPA 

finds that CO2 production information 

does not provide additional insight into 

any aspect of operations the release of 

which might undercut any competitive 

advantage that the reporter may enjoy. 

Because this information is publicly 

available, EPA proposes to determine 

that this information will not be treated 

as confidential; rather, it will be 

considered to be non-CBI. 

Subpart RR facilities must report 

annual mass of CO2 sequestered in the 

subsurface geologic formations in the 

reporting year, as calculated by 

Equation RR–11 or RR–12. These values 

are calculated from CO2 injection, 

production, and emission data using a 

mass balance approach. As discussed 

above in this section, CO2 injection and 

CO2 production data are already 

publicly available. In addition, CO2

emission data are emission data and 

must be made publicly available. As a 

result, the quantity of CO2 sequestered 

can be calculated from data that are 

already publicly available. Because this 

information may be readily derived 

from information already publicly 

available, EPA has determined that its 

release of the reported mass of CO2

sequestered would not likely cause 

substantial competitive harm. For these 

reasons, EPA proposes to determine that 

this information is not eligible for 

confidential treatment and will be 

considered to be non-CBI. 

Twelve of the data elements are 

facility-level and flow meter-level 

information on the quantity of CO2

received. None of the data elements on 

CO2 received includes information on 

CO2 prices or contract terms, such as 

information on the concentration of 

other incidental substances in the CO2

stream, the disclosure of which could 

allow competitors to ascertain the 

relative strength of their market position 

and to identify sources of competitive 

advantage (or disadvantage) among 

competitors. The data elements also do 

not include information that would 

allow a competitor to deduce the 

reporter’s operating costs. 

Moreover, as an example, for a facility 

where the CO2 received is wholly 

injected and is not mixed with any other 

supply of CO2, such as a geologic 

sequestration project at a deep saline 

formation, the reporter may report the 

quantity of CO2 injected as the quantity 

of CO2 received. This amount can be 

determined from information that is 

reported at least annually as part of a 

facility’s UIC permit and made available 

to the public either through State Web 

sites or upon request from the public. 

For the reasons described in this 

paragraph, EPA finds that releasing the 

12 data elements on CO2 received would 

not likely result in substantial 

competitive harm, and EPA proposes to 

determine that this information does not 

qualify for confidential treatment and 

will be considered to be non-CBI. 

EPA is proposing to assign nine data 

elements to the ‘‘Unit/Process Operating 

Characteristics’’ data category because 

they refer to the operating 

characteristics of the site, such as 

project duration and CO2 source. 

• For submissions in support of a 

research and development (R&D) project 

exemption from reporting under subpart 

RR: The planned duration of CO2

injection for the project. 

• For submissions in support of an 

R&D project exemption from reporting 

under subpart RR: The research 

purposes of the project. 

• For submissions in support of an 

R&D project exemption from reporting 

under subpart RR: The source and type 

of funding for the project. 

• For submissions in support of an 

R&D project exemption from reporting 

under subpart RR: The class of the 

underground injection control permit. 

• For submissions in support of an 

R&D project exemption from reporting 

under subpart RR: The duration of the 

underground injection control permit. 

• For submissions in support of an 

R&D project exemption from reporting 

under subpart RR: For an offshore 

facility not subject to Safe Drinking 

Water Act, a description of the legal 

instrument authorizing geologic 

sequestration. 

• Source of the CO2 received 

according to the following categories: 

CO2 production wells, electric 

generating unit, ethanol plant, pulp and 

paper mill, natural gas processing, 

gasification operations, other 

anthropogenic source, CO2 received 

from a discontinued enhanced oil and 

gas recovery project, and unknown. 

• For each injection flow meter, 

report the location of the flow meter. 

• If a well is permitted by an 

Underground Injection Control program, 

report: Underground Injection Control 

permit class. 

EPA is proposing that all data 

elements in this data category are nonCBI. As explained below, EPA finds that 

the release of these data will not likely 

cause substantial competitive harm. 

Five of these data elements include 

basic information on the legal 

instrument authorizing geologic 

sequestration. For a facility permitted by 

the UIC program under authority of the 

Safe Drinking Water Act, information on 

the class and duration of the permit is 

routinely publicly available in the UIC 

permit. For an offshore facility that is 

not subject to the Safe Drinking Water 

Act and therefore does not need a UIC 

permit, the facility would be subject to 

other statutory authority authorizing the 

facility to conduct geologic 

sequestration. Since these five data 

elements contain public information, 

EPA finds that their release by EPA is 

not likely to cause substantial 

competitive harm; they do not qualify 

for confidential treatment and will be 

considered to be non-CBI. 

Three of these data elements are 

information on an R&D project’s 

planned duration, purpose, source of 

funding, and type of funding. These 

data elements do not include the 

amount of funding received. They do 

not provide insight into the costs of 

sequestering CO2 at the facility, the 

disclosure of which could allow 

competitors to ascertain the relative 

strength of their market position and to 

identify sources of competitive 

advantage (or disadvantage) among 

competitors. For many existing R&D 

projects, information in these three data 

elements is already publicly available. 

For example, the Department of Energy 

National Energy Technology Laboratory 

publishes information on its Web site 

about the Regional Carbon Sequestration 

Partnership projects that it funds.12

These projects also participate in public 

conferences at which they present 

papers about their projects and findings. 

Since this information is of the same 


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13Where a data element is included in more than 

one data category, we are proposing the same CBI 

determination for that data element in both 

categories. 

nature for all projects, EPA finds that 

publication of such information by some 

projects demonstrates that disclosure of 

equivalent information for all projects is 

not likely to cause substantial harm. 

Therefore, EPA proposes to determine 

that this information is not eligible for 

confidential treatment; it will be 

considered to be non-CBI. 

The data element related to the source 

of CO2 received identifies the type of 

source that supplied the facility with 

CO2 in the reporting year, such as an 

ethanol plant. This data element does 

not include information that would 

identify a specific facility or company 

that supplies the CO2 to the reporter, or 

the amount of CO2 provided by each 

supplier. This data element does not 

include information on CO2 prices or 

contract terms, the disclosure of which 

could allow competitors to ascertain the 

relative strength of their market position 

and to identify sources of competitive 

advantage (or disadvantage) among 

competitors. Since revealing this data 

element does not provide competitors 

with an advantage, EPA proposes to 

determine that it is not eligible for 

confidential treatment and will be 

considered to be non-CBI. 

EPA is soliciting comments on EPA’s 

proposed determinations described 

above. When submitting a comment 

disagreeing with a proposed 

determination, please identify the 

specific data element(s) and provide 

detailed supporting information on why 

EPA’s proposed determination is not 

appropriate and why such data 

element(s) do or do not qualify as CBI. 

3. Subpart UU—Injection of Carbon 

Dioxide 

EPA first proposed in a single subpart 

RR the reporting requirements that are 

now divided between final subparts RR 

and UU. EPA moved all definitions, 

requirements, and procedures for 

facilities conducting only CO2 injection 

into a new subpart (subpart UU). 

Subpart RR retains all definitions, 

requirements, and procedures related to 

facilities conducting geologic 

sequestration. The explanation and a 

summary of major changes since 

proposal appear in the final subparts RR 

and UU promulgation notice (75 FR 

75060, December 1, 2010). Subpart UU 

is neither a direct emitter nor a supplier 

source category, so for the purposes of 

this action EPA assigned the subpart UU 

data elements to one of the supplier data 

categories because they are most similar 

in type and characteristics to supplier 

data. 

EPA is proposing to assign three data 

elements to the ‘‘GHGs Reported’’ data 

category because they are the actual 

GHGs reported. Note that all three of the 

data elements in this specific case are 

also in the ‘‘Production/Throughput 

Quantities and Composition’’ data 

category because the GHG reported is 

also the GHG being used as a 

throughput.13

• If you receive CO2 by pipeline, 

report the following for each receiving 

flow meter: Total net mass of CO2

received (metric tons) annually. 

• If you receive CO2 in containers, 

report: The net total mass of CO2

received (in metric tons) annually. 

• If you use more than one receiving 

flow meter, report the net total mass of 

CO2 received (metric tons) through all 

flow meters annually. 

EPA is proposing to assign 12 data 

elements to the ‘‘Production/ 

Throughput Quantities and 

Composition’’ data category because 

they refer to the quantities and 

composition of CO2 used as throughput 

at the site. Note that three of the data 

elements in this specific case are in the 

‘‘GHGs Reported’’ data category list 

above because the GHG reported is also 

the GHG being used as a throughput. 

They are not repeated in the list below. 

Furthermore, three data elements about 

mass flow meters and three data 

elements about volumetric flow meters 

are identical except for whether they are 

specific to mass or volumetric meters. 

Therefore, we have combined the six 

analogous data elements into three 

bullets in the list below to reduce 

repetition. The remaining three data 

elements that EPA proposes to assign to 

this data category also appear in the list 

below. 

• If you receive CO2 by pipeline, 

report the following for each receiving 

flow meter: If a volumetric/mass flow 

meter is used to receive CO2: 

Volumetric/mass flow through a 

receiving flow meter at standard 

conditions in each quarter. 

• If you receive CO2 by pipeline, 

report the following for each flow meter: 

If a volumetric/mass flow meter is used 

to receive CO2: The volumetric/mass 

flow through a receiving flow meter that 

is redelivered to another facility without 

being injected into your well in each 

quarter. 

• If you receive CO2 by pipeline, 

report the following for each receiving 

flow meter: If a volumetric/mass flow 

meter is used to receive CO2: CO2

concentration in the flow in each 

quarter. 

• If you receive CO2 in containers, 

report: The mass (in metric tons) or 

volume at standard conditions (in 

standard cubic meters) of contents in 

containers in each quarter. 

• If you receive CO2 in containers, 

report: The concentration of CO2 of 

contents in containers (volume or 

weight percent CO2 expressed as a 

decimal fraction) in each quarter. 

• If you receive CO2 in containers, 

report: The mass (in metric tons) or 

volume (in standard cubic meters) of 

contents in containers that is 

redelivered to another facility without 

being injected into your well in each 

quarter. 

EPA proposes that all data elements 

in these two data categories (‘‘GHGs 

Reported’’ and ‘‘Production/Throughput 

Quantities’’) are not CBI. These data 

elements are facility-level and flow 

meter-level data for CO2 received. 

None of the data elements on CO2

received includes information on CO2

prices or contract terms, such as 

information on the concentration of 

other incidental substances in the CO2

stream, the disclosure of which could 

allow competitors to ascertain the 

relative strength of their market position 

and to identify sources of competitive 

advantage (or disadvantage) among 

competitors. The data elements also do 

not include information that would 

allow a competitor to deduce the 

reporter’s operating costs. Moreover, for 

a facility where the CO2 received is 

wholly injected and is not mixed with 

any other supply of CO2, such as a 

geologic sequestration project at a deep 

saline formation, the reporter may 

report the quantity of CO2 injected as 

the quantity of CO2 received. This 

amount can be determined from 

information that is reported at least 

annually as part of a facility’s UIC 

permit and made available to the public 

either through State Web sites or upon 

request from the public. 

For these reasons, EPA finds that 

releasing the 12 data elements on CO2

received would not likely result in 

substantial competitive harm, and EPA 

proposes to determine that this 

information does not qualify for 

confidential treatment and will be 

considered to be non-CBI. 

EPA is proposing to assign one data 

element to the ‘‘Unit/Process Operating 

Characteristics’’ data category because it 

refers to an operating characteristic of 

the site. 

• Source of the CO2 received 

according to the following categories: 

CO2 production wells, electric 

generating unit, ethanol plant, pulp and 

paper mill, natural gas processing, 

gasification operations, other 

anthropogenic source, discontinued 


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enhanced oil and gas recovery project, 

and unknown. 

The data element related to the source 

of CO2 received identifies the type of 

source that supplied the facility with 

CO2 in the reporting year, such as an 

ethanol plant. This data element does 

not include information that would 

identify a specific facility or company 

that supplies the CO2 to the reporter, or 

the amount of CO2 provided by each 

supplier. This data element does not 

include information on CO2 prices or 

contract terms, the disclosure of which 

could allow competitors to ascertain the 

relative strength of their market position 

and to identify sources of competitive 

advantage (or disadvantage) among 

competitors. EPA finds that the release 

by EPA of the data element related to 

the source of CO2 received is not likely 

to cause substantial competitive harm, 

and EPA proposes to determine that it 

does not qualify for confidential 

treatment; it will be considered to be 

non-CBI. 

EPA is soliciting comments on EPA’s 

proposed determinations described 

above. When submitting a comment 

disagreeing with a proposed 

determination, please identify the 

specific data element(s) and provide 

detailed supporting information on why 

EPA’s proposed determination is not 

appropriate and why such data 

element(s) do or do not qualify as CBI. 

D. Commenting on the Proposed 

Confidentiality Determinations and 

Data Category Assignments 

By making confidentiality 

determinations prior to data reporting 

through this proposal and rulemaking 

process, potential reporters are able to 

submit comments identifying data they 

consider sensitive and provide the 

rationales and supporting 

documentation they would otherwise 

submit for case-by-case confidentiality 

determinations. We seek comment on 

the confidentiality status of data 

elements in two direct emitter data 

categories (‘‘Unit/Process ‘Static’ 

Characteristics That are Not Inputs to 

Emission Equations’’ and ‘‘Unit/Process 

Operating Characteristics That are Not 

Inputs to Emission Equations’’) and 

three supplier data categories (‘‘GHGs 

Reported,’’ ‘‘Production/Throughput 

Quantities and Composition,’’ and 

‘‘Unit/Process Operating 

Characteristics’’). We will evaluate 

claims of confidentiality before 

finalizing the proposed confidentiality 

determinations; however, this will be 

your only opportunity to substantiate 

your confidentiality claim. Where we 

make confidentiality determinations 

prior to data reporting through this 

proposal and rulemaking process, you 

will not be able to claim separately that 

certain data that has already been 

categorized as data to be released are 

CBI when you submit those data as part 

of a GHG emissions report under Part 

98. 

Please consider the following 

instructions in submitting comments on 

the data elements in these six subparts. 

Please identify each individual data 

element you do or do not consider to be 

CBI or emission data in your comments. 

Please explain specifically how the 

public release of that particular data 

element would or would not cause a 

competitive disadvantage to a facility. 

Discuss how this data element may be 

different from or similar to data that are 

already publicly available. Please 

submit information identifying any 

publicly available sources of 

information containing the specific data 

elements in question, since data that are 

already available through other sources 

would not be CBI. In your comments, 

please identify the manner and location 

in which each specific data element you 

identify is available, including a 

citation. If the data are physically 

published, such as in a book, industry 

trade publication, or federal agency 

publication, provide the title, volume 

number (if applicable), author(s), 

publisher, publication date, and ISBN or 

other identifier. For data published on 

a Web site, provide the address of the 

Web site and the date you last visited 

the Web site and identify the Web site 

publisher and content author. 

If your concern is that competitors 

could use a particular input to discern 

sensitive information, specifically 

describe the pathway by which this 

could occur and explain how the 

discerned information would negatively 

affect your competitive position. 

Describe any unique process or aspect of 

your facility that would be revealed if 

the particular data element you consider 

sensitive were made publicly available. 

If the data element you identify would 

cause harm only when used in 

combination with other publicly 

available data, then describe the other 

data, identify the public source(s) of 

these data, and explain how the 

combination of data could be used to 

cause competitive harm. Describe the 

measures currently taken to keep the 

data confidential. Avoid conclusory and 

unsubstantiated statements, or general 

assertions regarding potential harm. 

Please be as specific as possible in your 

comments and include all information 

necessary for EPA to evaluate your 

comments. 

IV. Proposal of CBI Determinations for 

New Data Elements in Subparts II and 

TT 

The Technical Corrections final rule 

includes amendments to 48 data 

elements in subparts FF, II, OO, and TT, 

including revising 17 data elements that 

are not inputs to equations and adding 

seven data elements that are not inputs 

to equations. As explained in Section 

II.D of this preamble, the revisions to 

the 17 non-input data elements do not 

change the information to be collected 

and therefore do not affect the final 

confidentiality determinations for these 

data elements in the Final CBI rule. This 

section sets forth EPA’s proposed 

confidentiality determinations for the 

seven new non-input data elements. 

These new data elements were added to 

subparts II and TT. 

We are proposing to categorize two of 

the seven new data elements in the 

‘‘Calculation Methodology & 

Methodological Tier’’ data category. 

Because there was a categorical 

determination in the Final CBI Rule that 

this data category is emissions data, we 

are proposing these two data elements 

as emissions data. 

• Statement that biogas pressure is 

incorporated into monitoring equipment 

internal calculations. (Subpart II: 

Calculation Methodology & 

Methodological Tier). 

• The calendar year for which the 

data elements in 40 CFR 98.466(b) 

apply. (Subpart TT: Calculation 

Methodology & Methodological Tier). 

We are proposing to categorize one of 

the seven new data elements in the 

‘‘Test & Calibration Methods’’ data 

category. Because there was a 

categorical determination in the Final 

CBI Rule that this data category is not 

CBI, we are proposing that this data 

element is not CBI. 

• If DOCx was determined by a 60- 

day anaerobic biodegradation test, 

specify the test method used. (Subpart 

TT: Test & Calibration Methods). 

EPA is proposing to categorize four of 

the seven new data elements in the two 

direct emitter data categories with no 

categorical confidentiality 

determination (‘‘Unit/Process ‘Static’ 

Characteristics That are Not Inputs to 

Emission Equations’’ and ‘‘Unit/Process 

Operating Characteristics That are Not 

Inputs to Emission Equations’’ data 

categories). For these two data 

categories, EPA evaluated the individual 

data elements assigned to these 

categories to determine whether 

individual data elements qualify as CBI. 

In this section, EPA explains the data 

elements in these two categories and 

states the reasons for proposing to 


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determine that each does or does not 

qualify as CBI under CAA section 

114(c). 

EPA proposes to determine that the 

four new data elements, which are all in 

subpart TT and listed below, are not 

CBI. 

• If a methane correction factor (MCF) 

value other than the default of 1 is used, 

provide a description of the aeration 

system, including aeration blower 

capacity. 

• If an MCF value other than the 

default of 1 is used, the fraction of the 

landfill containing waste affected by the 

aeration. 

• If an MCF value other than the 

default of 1 is used, provide the total 

number of hours during the year the 

aeration blower was operated. 

• If an MCF value other than the 

default of 1 is used, provide other 

factors used as a basis for the selected 

MCF value. 

These data elements describe the 

aeration system, the number of hours 

the aeration system was used, the 

capacity of the aeration blower, the 

fraction of landfill affected by aeration, 

and the factors used as the basis of the 

methane correction factor. These data 

elements do not provide insight into 

current production rates, raw material 

consumption, or other information that 

competitors could use to discern market 

share and other sensitive information. 

Therefore, EPA proposes that they will 

not be protected as confidential 

business information and will be 

considered to be non-CBI. 

We are soliciting comments on the 

proposed categorical assignments for the 

seven new data elements in these 

subparts. If you believe that EPA has 

improperly assigned certain data 

elements in these subparts to the data 

categories, please provide specific 

comments identifying which data 

elements may be assigned incorrectly 

along with a detailed rationale for why 

they may be assigned incorrectly and in 

which data category they belong. 

V. Deferral of Inputs to Emission 

Equations for Subparts FF and TT and 

Amendment to Table A–6 

Of the 48 subpart FF, II, OO, and TT 

data elements that are addressed in the 

Technical Corrections final rule, 24 are 

inputs to emission equations. Of these, 

21 are revisions to existing inputs to 

emission equations that are addressed in 

the Final Deferral and included in 

Tables A–6 and A–7 to subpart A of Part 

98. As explained in Section II.D of this 

preamble, for 18 of the 21 inputs, the 

revisions do not affect the Final 

Deferral. For the remaining three inputs, 

however, which are in subpart TT, the 

revisions do re-numerate section 

references. These three equation inputs 

were added in the Final Deferral to 

Table-6 to subpart A. We are therefore 

proposing in this action to amend Table 

A–6 to re-numerate three subpart TT 

equation inputs as finalized in the 

Technical Corrections final rule. 

Of the 24 inputs to emission 

equations addressed in the Technical 

Corrections final rule, three are new 

data elements that we are proposing for 

the first time to add to the ‘‘Inputs to 

Emission Equations’’ data category. In 

this action, we are proposing to defer 

the reporting deadline for the following 

three data elements to March 31, 2013. 

• Moisture content used in Equation 

FF–1 and FF–3. (Subpart FF: Inputs to 

Emission Equations). 

• The gaseous organic concentration 

correction factor used, if Equation FF– 

9 was required. (Subpart FF: Inputs to 

Emission Equations). 

• The methane correction factor 

(MCF) value used in the calculations. 

(Subpart TT: Inputs to Emission 

Equations). 

As explained in Section II.A of the 

Final Deferral, EPA is deferring the 

reporting deadline until March 31, 2013, 

rather than March 31, 2015, for certain 

data elements categorized as inputs to 

emission equations because our 

evaluations on the sensitivity of these 

data elements are less time-consuming 

or sufficiently far along in the inputs 

evaluation process, outlined in the 

memorandum to the Final Deferral 

docket, ‘‘Process for Evaluating and 

Potentially Amending Part 98 Inputs to 

Emission Equations,’’ to allow for data 

reporting in 2013. As with other 

equation inputs, EPA is in the process 

of evaluating the sensitivity of these 

three equation inputs, and we believe 

that we can complete our evaluation 

before March 31, 2013, the current 

reporting deadline for the equation 

inputs listed in Table A–6 of Subpart A. 

EPA is therefore proposing to add these 

inputs to Table A–6 to require their 

reporting by March 31, 2013. 

In the Technical Corrections final 

rule, we added the two new subpart FF 

inputs to equations to the reporting 

requirements at 40 CFR 98.326(o). This 

regulatory paragraph is already included 

in Table A–6 for reporting by March 31, 

2013, so we are not proposing in this 

action to amend Table A–6 to account 

for the new subpart FF inputs to 

equations. However, the new subpart TT 

equation input is not yet included in 

Table A–6. We are therefore proposing 

in this action to amend Table A–6 to 

add it and require its reporting by 

March 31, 2013. 

VI. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory 

Planning and Review and Executive 

Order 13563: Improving Regulation and 

Regulatory Review 

Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 

51735, October 4, 1993), this action is a 

‘‘significant regulatory action’’ because 

it raises novel legal or policy issues. 

Accordingly, EPA submitted this 

action to the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) for review under 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 (76 

FR 3821, January 21, 2011) and any 

changes made in response to OMB 

recommendations have been 

documented in the docket for this 

action. 

B. Paperwork Reduction Act 

This action does not impose any new 

information collection burden. This 

action is administrative and does not 

increase the reporting burden. However, 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) has previously approved the 

information collection requirements 

contained in these six subparts, under 

40 CFR part 98, under the provisions of 

the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 

3501 et seq. The Information Collection 

Request (ICR) documents prepared by 

EPA have been assigned the following 

OMB control numbers: 2060–0650, for 

subparts L, DD, and SS; 2060–0649, for 

subparts RR and UU; and 2060–0647 for 

subparts FF, II, and TT. The OMB 

control numbers for EPA’s regulations 

in 40 CFR are listed at 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 statute 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. 

For purposes of assessing the impacts 

of this re-proposal on small entities, 

‘‘small entity’’ is defined as: (1) A small 

business as defined by the Small 

Business Administration’s regulations at 

13 CFR 121.201; (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; or (3) a 

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

owned and operated and is not 

dominant in its field. 


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After considering the economic 

impacts of this action on small entities, 

I certify that this action will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

This action will not impose any new 

requirement on small entities that are 

not currently required by Part 98. 

EPA took several steps to reduce the 

impact of Part 98 on small entities. For 

example, EPA determined appropriate 

thresholds that reduced the number of 

small businesses reporting. In addition, 

EPA did not require facilities to install 

continuous emission monitoring 

systems (CEMS) if they did not already 

have them. Facilities without CEMS can 

calculate emissions using readily 

available data or data that are less 

expensive to collect such as process 

data or material consumption data. For 

some source categories, EPA developed 

tiered methods that are simpler and less 

burdensome. Also, EPA required annual 

instead of more frequent reporting. 

Finally, EPA continues to conduct 

significant outreach on the mandatory 

GHG reporting rule and maintains an 

‘‘open door’’ policy for stakeholders to 

help inform EPA’s understanding of key 

issues for the industries. 

We continue to be interested in the 

potential impacts of this action on small 

entities and welcome comments on 

issues related to such effects. 

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

(UMRA) 

Title II of the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), 2 U.S.C. 

1531–1538, requires Federal agencies, 

unless otherwise prohibited by law, to 

assess the effects of their regulatory 

actions on State, local, and tribal 

governments and the private sector. 

Federal agencies must also develop a 

plan to provide notice to small 

governments that might be significantly 

or uniquely affected by any regulatory 

requirements. The plan must enable 

officials of affected small governments 

to have meaningful and timely input in 

the development of EPA regulatory 

proposals with significant Federal 

intergovernmental mandates and must 

inform, educate, and advise small 

governments on compliance with the 

regulatory requirements. 

This action 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 re-proposal is administrative and 

does not increase the reporting burden. 

Thus, this action is not subject to the 

requirements of sections 202 or 205 of 

the UMRA. 

In developing Part 98, EPA consulted 

with small governments pursuant to a 

plan established under section 203 of 

the UMRA to address impacts of 

regulatory requirements in the rule that 

might significantly or uniquely affect 

small governments. For a summary of 

EPA’s consultations with State and/or 

local officials or other representatives of 

State and/or local governments in 

developing Part 98, see Section VIII.D of 

the preamble to the final rule (74 FR 

56370, October 30, 2009). 

E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism 

This action 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. However, for a 

more detailed discussion about how 

Part 98 relates to existing State 

programs, please see Section II of the 

preamble to the final rule (74 FR 56266, 

October 30, 2009). 

This action applies to facilities that 

directly emit greenhouses gases. It does 

not apply to governmental entities 

unless a government entity owns a 

facility that directly emits greenhouse 

gases above threshold levels, so 

relatively few government facilities 

would be affected. This action also does 

not limit the power of States or 

localities to collect GHG data and/or 

regulate GHG emissions. Thus, 

Executive Order 13132 does not apply 

to this action. 

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. For a summary of EPA’s 

consultation with State and local 

organizations and representatives in 

developing Part 98, see Section VIII.E of 

the preamble to the final rule (74 FR 

56371, October 30, 2009). 

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). This re-proposal is administrative 

and does not increase the reporting 

burden. Thus, Executive Order 13175 

does not apply to this action. For a 

summary of EPA’s consultations with 

tribal governments and representatives, 

see Section VIII.F of the preamble to the 

final rule (74 FR 56371, October 30, 

2009). 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 

EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 

(62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997) as 

applying only to those regulatory 

actions that concern health or safety 

risks, such that the analysis required 

under section 5–501 of the Executive 

Order has the potential to influence the 

regulation. This action is not subject to 

Executive Order 13045 because it does 

not establish an environmental standard 

intended to mitigate health or safety 

risks. 

H. Executive Order 13211: Actions 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 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) directs EPA to 

use voluntary consensus standards in its 

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. NTTAA directs EPA 

to provide Congress, through OMB, 

explanations when the Agency decides 

not to use available and applicable 

voluntary consensus standards. 

This action does not involve technical 

standards. Therefore, EPA is not 

considering the use of any voluntary 

consensus standards. 

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal 

Actions To Address Environmental 

Justice in Minority Populations and 

Low-Income Populations 

Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, 

February 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, 


wreier-aviles on DSK3TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
1452 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 6 / Tuesday, January 10, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

policies, and activities on minority 

populations and low-income 

populations in the United States. EPA 

has determined that this action 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 

action addresses only reporting and 

recordkeeping procedures. 

GHG Reporting Rule—Proposed 

Confidentiality Determinations for 10 

Subparts 

List of Subjects 40 CFR Part 98 

Environmental protection, 

Administrative practice and procedure, 

Greenhouse gases, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Dated: December 22, 2011. 

Lisa P. Jackson, 

Administrator. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, title 40, Chapter I, of the Code 

of Federal Regulations is proposed to be 

amended as follows: 

PART 98—[AMENDED] 

1. The authority citation for part 98 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401, et seq. 

Subpart A—[Amended] 

2. Table A–6 to subpart A of part 98 

is amended by revising the entries for 

subpart TT to read as follows: 

TABLE A–6 TO SUBPART A OF PART 98—DATA ELEMENTS THAT ARE INPUTS TO EMISSION EQUATIONS AND FOR WHICH

THE REPORTING DEADLINE IS MARCH 31, 2013 

Subpart Rule citation 

(40 CFR part 98) 

Specific data elements for which reporting date is March 31, 2013 

(‘‘All’’ means all data elements in the cited paragraph are not required to be reported until 

March 31, 2013) 

*******

TT ................... 98.466(a)(2) ............................. All. 

TT ................... 98.466(a)(3) ............................. Only last year the landfill accepted waste (for closed landfills using Equation TT–4). 

TT ................... 98.466(a)(4) ............................. Only capacity of the landfill in metric tons (for closed landfills using Equation TT–4). 

TT ................... 98.466(b)(3) ............................. Only fraction of CH4 in landfill gas. 

TT ................... 98.466(b)(4) ............................. Only the methane correction factor (MCF) value used in the calculations. 

TT ................... 98.466(c)(1) ............................. All. 

TT ................... 98.466(c)(4)(i) .......................... All. 

TT ................... 98.466(c)(4)(ii) ......................... All. 

TT ................... 98.466(c)(4)(iii) ........................ All. 

TT ................... 98.466(d)(2) ............................. All. 

TT ................... 98.466(d)(3) ............................. Only degradable organic carbon (DOCx) value used in calculations.

TT ................... 98.466(e)(2) ............................. Only surface area (in square meters) at the start of the reporting year for the landfill sections 

that contain waste and that are associated with the selected cover type (for facilities using 

a landfill gas collection system). 

TT ................... 98.466(f) .................................. All. 

[FR Doc. 2011–33591 Filed 1–9–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 


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