[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 194 (Monday, October 7, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81079-81082]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23138]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0669; FRL-9116-05-OAR]


Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Notice of Final Administrative 
Consequences Under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act 
Affecting 2024 Allowances

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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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: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#bad2dfd4dedfc8c9d5d494d9d5d4d4d5c8fadfcadb94ddd5cc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="39515c575d5c4b4a5657175a565757564b795c4958175e564f">[email protected]</span></a>. 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

[[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).
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    \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.
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    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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 Number of affected    Applicable      Administrative
    Entity (effective date)      allowances (MTEVe)       year       consequence action         Reasoning
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ChemPenn (06/06/24)............  32.5..............            2024  Retire............  Imported regulated HFCs
                                 16.3 \a\..........            2024  Revoke............   without expending
                                                                                          requisite number of
                                                                                          allowances.
Tulstar Products (03/31/24)....  31,006.5..........            2024  Retire............  Imported regulated HFCs
                                 15,503.3 \a\......            2024  Revoke............   without expending
                                                                                          requisite number of
                                                                                          allowances.
USSC Acquisition Corp (03/31/    2.3...............            2024  Retire............  Imported regulated HFCs
 24).                            1.2 \a\...........            2024  Revoke............   without expending
                                                                                          requisite number of
                                                                                          allowances.
Firetrace (02/26/24)...........  20 percent of                 2024  Withhold \b\......  Failure to submit
                                  granted RACAs.                                          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.
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    \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).

Table 2--Number of Consumption Allowances Available to Eligible Entities
 Due to Finalized Administrative Consequences With an Effective Date of
                             March 31, 2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Additional
                                                            allowances
                                                               being
                         Entity                            allocated to
                                                            each entity
                                                              (MTEVe)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A.C.S. Reclamation & Recovery (Absolute Chiller                     11.4
 Services)..............................................
Ability Refrigerants....................................            11.4
ACT Commodities.........................................             0.0
Advance Auto Parts......................................            40.8
Advanced Specialty Gases................................            16.3
AFK & Co................................................            11.1
AFS Cooling.............................................            11.4
A-Gas...................................................           194.8
Air Liquide USA.........................................            28.5
American Air Components \a\.............................            11.4
Arkema..................................................         1,775.3
Artsen..................................................            58.7
Automart Distributors DBA Refrigerant Plus..............            11.4
AutoZone Parts..........................................           115.5
AW Product Sales & Marketing............................             6.9
Bluon \a\...............................................             1.9
CC Packaging............................................            11.1
Chemours................................................         1,957.9
Chemp Technology........................................            11.4
ChemPenn................................................             1.3
ComStar International...................................            20.6

[[Page 81081]]

 
Creative Solution.......................................            11.4
Cross World Group.......................................            11.4
Daikin America..........................................           178.3
EDX Industry............................................            32.8
Electronic Fluorocarbons................................             6.0
Fireside Holdings DBA American Refrigerants.............            11.4
First Continental International.........................            44.0
FluoroFusion Specialty Chemicals........................           145.8
Freskoa USA.............................................            11.4
GlaxoSmithKline.........................................            30.8
Golden Refrigerant......................................            11.4
Harp USA................................................            43.7
Honeywell International.................................         4,704.3
Hudson Technologies.....................................           194.9
Hungry Bear.............................................            11.4
ICool USA...............................................           194.6
IGas Holdings...........................................         1,491.5
Iofina Chemical.........................................             0.1
Kidde-Fenwal............................................            11.4
Lenz Sales & Distribution...............................            63.4
Lina Trade..............................................            11.4
Linde...................................................            30.4
Matheson Tri-Gas........................................             2.0
MEK Chemical Corporation................................             4.8
Meraki Group............................................            11.4
Metalcraft..............................................             9.2
Mexichem Fluor DBA Koura................................         1,455.6
Mondy Global............................................            18.2
National Refrigerants...................................         1,131.5
Nature Gas Import and Export............................            46.8
North American Refrigerants.............................            11.4
O23 Energy Plus.........................................            11.4
Perfect Score Too DBA Perfect Cycle.....................             2.2
Reclamation Technologies................................            34.1
Resonac America (formerly Showa Chemicals of America)                3.8
 \a\....................................................
RGAS (formerly listed as Combs Gas).....................           261.4
RMS of Georgia..........................................            94.2
Sciarra Labratories.....................................             0.5
SDS Refrigerant Services................................            11.4
Solvay Fluorides........................................            63.0
Summit Refrigerants.....................................            11.4
SynAgile Corporation....................................             0.1
Technical Chemical......................................           195.1
TradeQuim...............................................            11.4
Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling..................             0.0
Tulstar Products........................................      ineligible
Tyco Fire Products......................................            11.4
USSC Acquisition Corp...................................      ineligible
Walmart.................................................           130.3
Waysmos USA.............................................            32.0
Wego Chemical Group.....................................             3.2
Weitron.................................................           362.1
Wesco HMB...............................................            11.4
Wilhelmsen Ships Service................................             2.3
                                                         ---------------
    Total...............................................        15,504.5
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ 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
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Additional
                                                            allowances
                                                               being
                         Entity                            allocated to
                                                            each entity
                                                              (MTEVe)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A.C.S. Reclamation & Recovery (Absolute Chiller                      0.0
 Services)..............................................
Ability Refrigerants....................................             0.0
ACT Commodities.........................................             0.0
Advance Auto Parts......................................             0.1
Advanced Specialty Gases................................             0.0
AFK & Co................................................             0.0
AFS Cooling.............................................             0.0
A-Gas...................................................             0.2
Air Liquide USA.........................................             0.0
American Air Components \a\.............................             0.0
Arkema..................................................             1.9
Artsen..................................................             0.1
Automart Distributors DBA Refrigerant Plus..............             0.0
AutoZone Parts..........................................             0.1
AW Product Sales & Marketing............................             0.0
Bluon \a\...............................................             0.0
CC Packaging............................................             0.0
Chemours................................................             2.1
Chemp Technology........................................             0.0
ChemPenn................................................             0.0
ComStar International...................................             0.0
Creative Solution.......................................             0.0
Cross World Group.......................................             0.0
Daikin America..........................................             0.2
EDX Industry............................................             0.0
Electronic Fluorocarbons................................             0.0
Fireside Holdings DBA American Refrigerants.............             0.0
First Continental International.........................             0.1
FluoroFusion Specialty Chemicals........................             0.2
Freskoa USA.............................................             0.0
GlaxoSmithKline.........................................             0.0
Golden Refrigerant......................................             0.0
Harp USA................................................             0.1
Honeywell International.................................             4.9
Hudson Technologies.....................................             0.2
Hungry Bear.............................................             0.0
ICool USA...............................................             0.2
IGas Holdings...........................................             1.6
Iofina Chemical.........................................             0.0
Kidde-Fenwal............................................             0.0
Lenz Sales & Distribution...............................             0.1
Lina Trade..............................................             0.0
Linde...................................................             0.0
Matheson Tri-Gas........................................             0.0
MEK Chemical Corporation................................             0.0
Meraki Group............................................             0.0
Metalcraft..............................................             0.0
Mexichem Fluor DBA Koura................................             1.5
Mondy Global............................................             0.0
National Refrigerants...................................             1.2
Nature Gas Import and Export............................             0.1
North American Refrigerants.............................             0.0
O23 Energy Plus.........................................             0.0
Perfect Score Too DBA Perfect Cycle.....................             0.0
Reclamation Technologies................................             0.0
Resonac America (formerly Showa Chemicals of America)                0.0
 \a\....................................................
RGAS (formerly listed as Combs Gas).....................             0.3
RMS of Georgia..........................................             0.1
Sciarra Labratories.....................................             0.0
SDS Refrigerant Services................................             0.0
Solvay Fluorides........................................             0.1
Summit Refrigerants.....................................             0.0
SynAgile Corporation....................................             0.0
Technical Chemical......................................             0.2
TradeQuim...............................................             0.0
Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling..................             0.0
Tulstar Products........................................             0.1
Tyco Fire Products......................................             0.0
USSC Acquisition Corp...................................             0.0
Walmart.................................................             0.2
Waysmos USA.............................................             0.0
Wego Chemical Group.....................................             0.0
Weitron.................................................             0.4
Wesco HMB...............................................             0.0
Wilhelmsen Ships Service................................             0.0
                                                         ---------------

[[Page 81082]]

 
    Total...............................................            16.3
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ 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.
[FR Doc. 2024-23138 Filed 10-4-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


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