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 Environmental Protection Agency [EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0669; FRL-9116-05-OAR]
 AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
 ACTION: Notice.
 SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing notice of Agency actions previously taken to establish administrative consequences for specific entities. These previously finalized actions withheld, retired, or revoked the identified entities' calendar year 2024 allowances in accordance with the administrative consequence regulatory provisions.
 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Connor Henderson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Stratospheric Protection Division, telephone number: 202-564-2177; email address: 
                        *henderson.connor@epa.gov.*
                         You may also visit EPA's website at 
                        *https://www.epa.gov/​climate-hfcs-reduction*
                         for further information.


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hereby provides notice that it has taken final actions establishing administrative consequences for specific entities under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act (AIM Act). Each action, which EPA took through a letter issued to the relevant entity, is a separate final action informing the recipient entity of an administrative consequence. The requirements pertaining to administrative consequences are codified in 40 CFR 84.35. Under this provision, EPA can retire, revoke, or withhold the allocation of allowances, or ban an entity from receiving, transferring, or conferring allowances. A retired allowance is one that must go unused and expire at the end of the year; a revoked allowance is one that EPA takes back from an allowance holder and redistributes to all the other allowance holders; and a withheld allowance is one that is retained by the Agency until an allowance holder that has failed to meet a regulatory requirement comes back into compliance, at which point EPA allocates it to the allowance holder. A withheld allowance could become a revoked allowance if the allowance 
                    ( print page 81080)
                    holder fails to meet the applicable regulatory requirement within the timeframe specified by EPA.[1]
                    
                     More information on EPA's approach to administrative consequences can be found at 86 FR 55168 (Allocation Framework Rule). EPA finalized administrative consequences for three entities that imported regulated HFCs without expending the requisite number of consumption allowances at the time of import. The Agency has retired and revoked consumption allowances commensurate with the quantities of regulated substances imported without allowances from the following entities' remaining calendar year 2024 consumption allowances: ChemPenn, LLC (ChemPenn); Tulstar Products (Tulstar); and, USSC Acquisition Corp (USSC). EPA also finalized administrative consequences for one entity (Firetrace) who failed to submit complete HFC reports as required in 40 CFR 84.31. This entity failed to submit complete HFC reports as required, and therefore, EPA withheld 20 percent of Firetrace's calendar year 2024 consumption allowances from any granted requests for additional consumption allowances (RACAs) until the outstanding reports were submitted, and EPA verified them as complete. Table 1 provides a summary of each of the administrative consequences applied to the relevant entities. Table 1—Summary of Administrative Consequences Affecting Consumption Allowances, Pursuant to
40 CFR 84.35
Entity
                             (effective date)
Number of affected
                             allowances 
                             (MTEVe)
Applicable year
Administrative consequence action
ReasoningChemPenn (06/06/24)
32.5
                             
                                16.3 a
2024
                             2024
Retire
                             Revoke
Imported regulated HFCs without expending requisite number of allowances.Tulstar Products (03/31/24)
31,006.5
                             
                                15,503.3 a
2024
                             2024
Retire
                             Revoke
Imported regulated HFCs without expending requisite number of allowances.USSC Acquisition Corp (03/31/24)
2.3
                             
                                1.2 a
2024
                             2024
Retire
                             Revoke
Imported regulated HFCs without expending requisite number of allowances.Firetrace (02/26/24)
20 percent of granted RACAs
2024
Withhold b
Failure to submit complete HFC reports as required in 40 CFR 84.31.a
                         As stated in the Allocation Framework Rule, EPA explained it would take a 50% premium in first instances of administrative consequences. These values correspond to 50% of the full amount of consumption without requisite allowances at the time of production and/or import.b
                         Subsequent to finalization of the administrative consequence, Firetrace submitted its outstanding reports. Subsequently, EPA is no longer withholding 20% of granted RACAs.
 Adjustments to Consumption Allowances EPA notes that entities in Table 1 who imported without expending the requisite number of consumption allowances at the time of import are not eligible to receive allowances that are redistributed (to entities that were directly issued calendar year 2024 consumption allowances by EPA) as a result of allowances revoked if the administrative consequence action took effect on the same day, with the exception of entities who had their allowance withheld (regardless of effective date).[2]
                    
                     There are two separate batches of effective dates for redistribution of revoked consumption allowances: allowances that were revoked effective March 31, 2024 (15,504.5 MTEVe, 
                    *i.e.,*
                     the sum of 15,503.3 MTEVe and 1.2 MTEVe); and, allowances that were revoked effective June 6, 2024 (16.3 MTEVe). In the former, neither Tulstar nor USSC are eligible for redistribution of the affected allowances but ChemPenn is eligible, as are all other entities to whom EPA issued consumption allowances for calendar year 2024; in the latter, ChemPenn is not eligible for redistribution of the affected allowances but Tulstar and USSC are eligible, as are all other entities to whom EPA issued consumption allowances for calendar year 2024. As EPA did not issue consumption allowances to Firetrace for calendar year 2024, this entity is not eligible to receive any of the redistributed allowances described herein. A summary of the number of revoked and redistributed allowances available to each eligible entity from each batch of effective dates is included in table 2 and table 3. Table 2—Number of Consumption Allowances Available to Eligible Entities Due to Finalized Administrative Consequences With an Effective Date of March 31, 2024
Entity
Additional
                             allowances 
                             being 
                             allocated to 
                             each entity 
                             (MTEVe)A.C.S. Reclamation & Recovery (Absolute Chiller Services)
11.4Ability Refrigerants
11.4ACT Commodities
0.0Advance Auto Parts
40.8Advanced Specialty Gases
16.3AFK & Co
11.1AFS Cooling
11.4A-Gas
194.8Air Liquide USA
28.5American Air Components a
11.4Arkema
1,775.3Artsen
58.7Automart Distributors DBA Refrigerant Plus
11.4AutoZone Parts
115.5AW Product Sales & Marketing
6.9Bluon a
1.9CC Packaging
11.1Chemours
1,957.9Chemp Technology
11.4ChemPenn
1.3ComStar International
20.6( print page 81081)Creative Solution
11.4Cross World Group
11.4Daikin America
178.3EDX Industry
32.8Electronic Fluorocarbons
6.0Fireside Holdings DBA American Refrigerants
11.4First Continental International
44.0FluoroFusion Specialty Chemicals
145.8Freskoa USA
11.4GlaxoSmithKline
30.8Golden Refrigerant
11.4Harp USA
43.7Honeywell International
4,704.3Hudson Technologies
194.9Hungry Bear
11.4ICool USA
194.6IGas Holdings
1,491.5Iofina Chemical
0.1Kidde-Fenwal
11.4Lenz Sales & Distribution
63.4Lina Trade
11.4Linde
30.4Matheson Tri-Gas
2.0MEK Chemical Corporation
4.8Meraki Group
11.4Metalcraft
9.2Mexichem Fluor DBA Koura
1,455.6Mondy Global
18.2National Refrigerants
1,131.5Nature Gas Import and Export
46.8North American Refrigerants
11.4O23 Energy Plus
11.4Perfect Score Too DBA Perfect Cycle
2.2Reclamation Technologies
34.1Resonac America (formerly Showa Chemicals of America) a
3.8RGAS (formerly listed as Combs Gas)
261.4RMS of Georgia
94.2Sciarra Labratories
0.5SDS Refrigerant Services
11.4Solvay Fluorides
63.0Summit Refrigerants
11.4SynAgile Corporation
0.1Technical Chemical
195.1TradeQuim
11.4Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling
0.0Tulstar Products
ineligibleTyco Fire Products
11.4USSC Acquisition Corp
ineligibleWalmart
130.3Waysmos USA
32.0Wego Chemical Group
3.2Weitron
362.1Wesco HMB
11.4Wilhelmsen Ships Service
2.3Total
15,504.5a
                         As described in “Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Notice of 2024 Allowance Allocations for Production and Consumption of Regulated Substances Under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020, and Notice of Final Administrative Consequences” (88 FR 72060), EPA will retire (and revoke) allowances from these entities until their full administrative consequences are covered. As a result, the allowances allocated to this entity were subsequently retired.
 Table 3—Number of Consumption Allowances Available to Eligible Entities Due to Finalized Administrative Consequences With an Effective Date of June 6, 2024
Entity
Additional
                             allowances 
                             being 
                             allocated to 
                             each entity 
                             (MTEVe)A.C.S. Reclamation & Recovery (Absolute Chiller Services)
0.0Ability Refrigerants
0.0ACT Commodities
0.0Advance Auto Parts
0.1Advanced Specialty Gases
0.0AFK & Co
0.0AFS Cooling
0.0A-Gas
0.2Air Liquide USA
0.0American Air Components a
0.0Arkema
1.9Artsen
0.1Automart Distributors DBA Refrigerant Plus
0.0AutoZone Parts
0.1AW Product Sales & Marketing
0.0Bluon a
0.0CC Packaging
0.0Chemours
2.1Chemp Technology
0.0ChemPenn
0.0ComStar International
0.0Creative Solution
0.0Cross World Group
0.0Daikin America
0.2EDX Industry
0.0Electronic Fluorocarbons
0.0Fireside Holdings DBA American Refrigerants
0.0First Continental International
0.1FluoroFusion Specialty Chemicals
0.2Freskoa USA
0.0GlaxoSmithKline
0.0Golden Refrigerant
0.0Harp USA
0.1Honeywell International
4.9Hudson Technologies
0.2Hungry Bear
0.0ICool USA
0.2IGas Holdings
1.6Iofina Chemical
0.0Kidde-Fenwal
0.0Lenz Sales & Distribution
0.1Lina Trade
0.0Linde
0.0Matheson Tri-Gas
0.0MEK Chemical Corporation
0.0Meraki Group
0.0Metalcraft
0.0Mexichem Fluor DBA Koura
1.5Mondy Global
0.0National Refrigerants
1.2Nature Gas Import and Export
0.1North American Refrigerants
0.0O23 Energy Plus
0.0Perfect Score Too DBA Perfect Cycle
0.0Reclamation Technologies
0.0Resonac America (formerly Showa Chemicals of America) a
0.0RGAS (formerly listed as Combs Gas)
0.3RMS of Georgia
0.1Sciarra Labratories
0.0SDS Refrigerant Services
0.0Solvay Fluorides
0.1Summit Refrigerants
0.0SynAgile Corporation
0.0Technical Chemical
0.2TradeQuim
0.0Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling
0.0Tulstar Products
0.1Tyco Fire Products
0.0USSC Acquisition Corp
0.0Walmart
0.2Waysmos USA
0.0Wego Chemical Group
0.0Weitron
0.4Wesco HMB
0.0Wilhelmsen Ships Service
0.0( print page 81082)Total
16.3a
                         As described in “Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Notice of 2024 Allowance Allocations for Production and Consumption of Regulated Substances Under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020, and Notice of Final Administrative Consequences” (88 FR 72060), EPA will retire (and revoke) allowances from these entities until their full administrative consequences are covered.
 Judicial Review The AIM Act provides that certain sections of the Clean Air Act (CAA) “shall apply to” the AIM Act and actions “promulgated by the Administrator of [EPA] pursuant to [the AIM Act] as though [the AIM Act] were expressly included in title VI of [the CAA].” 42 U.S.C. 7675(k)(1)(C). Among the applicable sections of the CAA is section 307, which includes provisions governing judicial review. 42 U.S.C. 7607(b)(1). Each adjudicatory action establishing an administrative consequence as described in this notice is a final action previously taken by EPA. Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, any petition for review of such a final action shall be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by December 6, 2024. Filing a petition for reconsideration by the Administrator does not affect the finality of any such action for purposes of judicial review nor does it extend the time within which a petition for judicial review may be filed and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such action. The final actions described herein may not be challenged later in proceedings to enforce their requirements. 42 U.S.C. 7607(b)(2). Cynthia A. Newberg, Director, Stratospheric Protection Division.


# Footnotes

1.
    
                         Administrative consequences that the Agency has finalized can be found here: 
                        *https://www.epa.gov/​climate-hfcs-reduction/​administrative-consequences-under-hfc-allocation-rule.* Back to Citation
 2.
    
                         An identical approach was taken in “Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Notice of 2024 Allowance Allocations for Production and Consumption of Regulated Substances Under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020, and Notice of Final Administrative Consequences” (88 FR 72060). Back to Citation


[FR Doc. 2024-23138 Filed 10-4-24; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560-50-P