5514 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 23 / Friday, February 3, 2012 / Notices 

Dated: January 27, 2012. 

John R. Bashista, 

Director, Office of Acquisition Management. 

[FR Doc. 2012–2446 Filed 2–2–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2009–0927; FRL–9626–8] 

Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse 

Gases: Notice of Preliminary 

Determinations Regarding Requests 

To Use Provisional Global Warming 

Potentials Under the Fluorinated Gas 

Production Category of the 

Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of data availability and 

request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The EPA is announcing and 

explaining to the public its preliminary 

determinations regarding requests to use 

provisional global warming potentials 

for eight fluorinated greenhouse gases 

submitted by DuPont de Nemours, Inc. 

and Honeywell International for 

purposes of certain calculations in the 

Fluorinated Gas Production portion of 

the Mandatory Greenhouse Gas 

Reporting Rule. EPA’s preliminary 

determination is that the requests for 

seven of the eight fluorinated GHGs 

meet the requirements of the rule. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before February 21, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OAR–2009–0927, by one of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov: Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Email: GHGReportingRule@epa.gov. 

• Fax: (202) 566–1741. 

• Mail: EPA Docket Center, Attention 

Docket OAR–2009–0927, Mail code: 

2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20460. 

• Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, 

Public Reading Room, Room 3334, EPA 

West Building, Attention Docket EPA– 

HQ–OAR–2009–0927, 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–2009– 

0927. 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. 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 

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 EPA’s 

Docket Center, Public Reading Room, 

EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301 

Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC 20004. This Docket Facility is open 

from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, excluding legal 

holidays. The Docket 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: 

Deborah Ottinger, Climate Change 

Division, Office of Atmospheric 

Programs (MC–6207J), Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; 

telephone number: (202) 343–9149; fax 

number: (202) 343–2342; email address: 

ottinger.deborah@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

A. Does this notice apply to me? 

This notice applies to five facilities 

considered to be fluorinated gas 

production facilities under subpart L 

(Fluorinated Gas Production) of the 

Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting 

rule (40 CFR part 98). These facilities 

are Honeywell International’s Buffalo 

Research Laboratory and DuPont’s 

Fayetteville, North Carolina; Deepwater, 

New Jersey; Washington Works, West 

Virginia; and Eldorado, Arkansas 

facilities. This notice may also be of 

interest to members of the public with 

knowledge of or interest in the 

estimation of global warming potentials. 

B. What is this notice about? 

This notice announces and explains 

to the public EPA’s preliminary 

determinations regarding the 

provisional global warming potentials 

(GWPs) for eight fluorinated greenhouse 

gases (GHGs) submitted by E. DuPont de 

Nemours, Inc. (DuPont) and Honeywell 

International (Honeywell) for the 

purposes of the calculations in 40 CFR 

98.123(c)(1) (a provision of subpart L of 

the Mandatory Greenhouse Gas 

Reporting rule). EPA’s preliminary 

determination is that the requests for 

seven of the eight fluorinated GHGs 

meet the requirements of the rule. As 

discussed further below, the 

calculations in 40 CFR 98.123(c)(1) are 

used to determine whether a facility 

must use stack testing to establish an 

emission factor for a continuous process 

vent. For continuous process vents that 

are calculated to emit less than 10,000 

metric tons carbon-dioxide equivalent 

(mtCO2e) annually, facilities have the 

option to use engineering calculations 

rather than stack testing to establish an 

emission factor. 

C. What information is EPA making 

available for review and comment? 

EPA is making available for review 

and comment provisional GWPs for 

fluorinated GHGs submitted by Dupont 

and Honeywell for the purposes of the 

calculations in 40 CFR 98.123(c)(1). EPA 

is also making available to the public 

the underlying materials in the 

submitted requests that were used to 

estimate the provisional GWPs, and 

EPA’s analysis of those materials. 

D. Where can I get more information? 

All of the information can be obtained 

through the Docket and at http://www.

regulations.gov (see ADDRESSES section 

above for docket contact information). 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 23 / Friday, February 3, 2012 / Notices 5515 

E. Submitting Confidential Business 

Information (CBI). 

Do not submit information you are 

claiming as CBI to EPA through http:// 

www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly 

mark the part of the information that 

you claim to be CBI. Information so 

marked will not be disclosed except in 

accordance with procedures set forth in 

40 CFR part 2. 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. 

II. Background 

Under 40 CFR 98.123(c)(1), 

fluorinated gas producers that wish to 

use 40 CFR 98.123(c) (the Emission 

Factor Method or Emission Calculation 

Factor Method) to estimate emissions 

from a continuous process must make a 

preliminary estimate of the annual 

carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) 

emissions of fluorinated GHGs from 

each process vent. They are required to 

do so using the engineering calculations 

or assessments specified in the rule. If 

the preliminary estimate indicates that a 

vent emits 10,000 mtCO2e or more 

annually, facilities must use stack 

testing to establish an emission factor 

for that vent. If the preliminary estimate 

indicates that a vent emits less than 

10,000 mtCO2e annually, facilities may 

use engineering calculations or 

assessments to establish an emission 

calculation factor. 

Under 40 CFR 98.123(c)(1)(v), to 

convert the fluorinated GHG emissions 

to CO2e, fluorinated gas producers must 

use Equation A–1 of 40 CFR 98.2. For 

fluorinated GHGs whose GWPs are not 

listed in Table A–1 to subpart A of part 

98, producers must use a default GWP 

of 2,000 unless they submit a request to 

use other GWPs for those fluorinated 

GHGs in that process under 40 CFR 

98.123(c)(1)(vi), and EPA approves that 

request. 

Under 40 CFR 98.123(c)(1)(vi), 

fluorinated gas producers may submit a 

request to use a GWP other than 2,000 

for fluorinated GHGs whose GWPs are 

not listed in Table A–1 to subpart A if 

their process vent emits one or more 

fluorinated GHGs (1) whose GWPs are 

not listed in Table A–1 to subpart A, (2) 

that are emitted in quantities that, with 

a default GWP of 2,000, result in total 

calculated annual emissions equal to or 

greater than 10,000 metric tons CO2e for 

the vent, and (3) that they believe have 

GWPs that would result in total 

calculated annual emissions less than 

10,000 metric tons CO2e. 

Under 40 CFR 98.123(c)(1)(vi)(B), EPA 

reviews each request to determine 

whether it is complete, substantiates 

each of the provisional GWPs, and 

demonstrates that the process vents are 

calculated to emit less than 10,000 

metric tons CO2e of fluorinated GHGs 

only when the proposed provisional 

GWPs, not the default GWP of 2,000, are 

used for the fluorinated GHGs for which 

the provisional GWPs are requested. If 

EPA makes a preliminary determination 

that each of these criteria is met, EPA 

publishes a notice for public comment 

including the determination and the 

data and analysis submitted by the 

producers under 40 CFR 

98.123(c)(1)(vi)(A)(1) through (3). 

Under 40 CFR 98.123(c)(1)(vi)(A)(1) 

through (3), fluorinated gas producers 

must include the following information 

in the request for each fluorinated GHG 

that does not have a GWP listed in Table 

A–1 to subpart A of part 98 and that 

constitutes more than one percent by 

mass of the stream emitted from the 

vent: 

(1) The identity of the fluorinated 

GHG, including its chemical formula 

and, if available, CAS number. 

(2) The estimated GWP of the 

fluorinated GHG. 

(3) The data and analysis that 

supports the estimate of the GWP of the 

fluorinated GHG, including: 

(i) Data and analysis related to the 

low-pressure gas phase infrared 

absorption spectrum of the fluorinated 

GHG. 

(ii) Data and analysis related to the 

estimated atmospheric lifetime of the 

fluorinated GHG (reaction mechanisms 

and rates, including for example, 

photolysis and reaction with 

atmospheric components such as 

hydroxyl radicals (OH), ozone (O3), 

carbon monoxide (CO), and water). 

(iii) The radiative transfer analysis 

that integrates the lifetime and infrared 

absorption spectrum data to calculate 

the GWP. 

(iv) Any published or unpublished 

studies of the GWP of the gas. 

A. Requests to Use Provisional GWPs 

On February 25, 2011, Honeywell 

requested to use provisional GWPs for 

two fluorinated GHGs for the purposes 

of the calculations in paragraph (c)(1) of 

40 CFR 98.123. Honeywell requested to 

use provisional (i.e., lower) GWPs for 

two commercial chemicals produced at 

their Buffalo Research Laboratory: HFC– 

1234ze and HFC–1234yf. Honeywell 

included published scientific papers 

and other information to fulfill the 

requirements under paragraphs 

(c)(1)(vi)(A)(1) through (3) of 40 CFR 

98.123. 

On February 28, 2011, DuPont 

requested to use provisional GWPs for 

six fluorinated GHGs for the purposes of 

calculations in 40 CFR 98.123(c)(1). 

DuPont requested to use provisional 

(i.e., lower) GWPs for six chemicals at 

DuPont plant sites subject to subpart L: 

hexafluoropropylene (HFP), 

perfluoromethyl vinyl ether (PMVE), 

tetrafluoroethylene (TFE), 3,3,3- 

trifluoropropene (TFP), vinyl fluoride 

(VF), and vinylidine fluoride (VF2). For 

each chemical, DuPont included peerreviewed scientific data and other 

information to fulfill the requirements 

under paragraphs (c)(1)(vi)(A)(1) 

through (3). 

B. Preliminary Determinations and 

Their Rationale 

In accordance with 40 CFR 

98.123(c)(1)(vi)(B), EPA reviewed the 

requests from both Honeywell and 

DuPont to determine whether each was 

complete, substantiated each of the 

provisional GWPs, and demonstrated 

that the process vents were calculated to 

emit less than 10,000 metric tons CO2e 

of fluorinated GHGs only when the 

proposed provisional GWPs, not the 

default GWP of 2,000, were used for the 

fluorinated GHGs for which the 

provisional GWPs were requested. 

EPA made a preliminary 

determination that each of these criteria 

was met for the requests submitted by 

both Honeywell and DuPont, with one 

exception. The exception was for HFC– 

1234yf, which was emitted in quantities 

that, with a default GWP of 2,000, 

resulted in total calculated annual 

emissions of less than 10,000 mtCO2e. 

Because the calculated emissions did 

not meet the threshold criterion, EPA is 

not evaluating the provisional GWP for 

HFC–1234yf in this action. EPA notes, 

however, that the provisional GWP 

submitted by Honeywell is the same as 

the GWP recognized in other EPA final 

actions (e.g., March 29, 2011; 76 FR 

17488). EPA will consider this 

information in future updates to Table 

A–1 of 40 CFR part 98. 

The remainder of this section 

includes a summary of the 

determination and the data and analysis 

submitted by the producers under 40 

CFR 98.123(c)(1)(vi)(A)(1) through (3). 

EPA’s preliminary determination 

included review of the submitted 

information by a leading subject matter 

expert on GWP estimation who was also 

a co-developer of the GWP concept. EPA 

concluded that the methods overall 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
5516 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 23 / Friday, February 3, 2012 / Notices 

were likely to overestimate GWPs 

(maybe by an order of magnitude or 

more) rather than underestimate them. 

Because 40 CFR 98.123(c)(1) allows the 

use of engineering calculations only 

when estimated emissions fall below 

10,000 metric tons CO2e, an 

overestimated GWP is considered 

acceptable by EPA in the context of 40 

CFR 98.123(c)(1). Therefore, the 

conclusion of EPA’s review was that the 

background information was adequate 

and that it justified the use of the 

alternative GWPs in the context of 40 

CFR 98.123(c)(1)(vi). 

The overestimation of the GWPs 

submitted by both Honeywell and 

DuPont results from the fact that the 

commonly-used estimation techniques 

employed in the analyses cited by both 

companies use simplifying assumptions 

that are not fully applicable to 

compounds that are short-lived in the 

atmosphere—defined here as any 

compound with an atmospheric lifetime 

less than 1 year. (All of the compounds 

for which provisional GWPs were 

requested are short-lived based on this 

definition.) Essentially, the estimation 

techniques assume that the compounds 

are well-mixed in the atmosphere, but 

short-lived compounds do not last long 

enough to become well mixed (i.e., 

spread evenly over all longitudes, 

latitudes, and altitudes). Instead, their 

concentrations decrease rapidly with 

distance from their emission point, 

particularly with changing latitude and 

altitude. 

The assumption that the compounds 

are well mixed affects the estimates of 

both of the primary components of 

GWPs: Atmospheric lifetime and 

radiative forcing. In the analyses cited 

by the companies, atmospheric lifetimes 

are estimated either by assuming that 

the short-lived compound is exposed to 

the global average concentration of 

hydroxyl radicals (OH) or by deriving 

the lifetime of the short-lived (i.e., not 

well mixed) compound from the known 

lifetime of a long-lived (i.e., well mixed) 

reference compound based on the 

compounds’ respective reaction rates 

with OH. Both approaches are likely to 

overestimate the lifetime (and therefore 

the GWP) of the short-lived compound 

because they essentially assume that the 

concentration of the short-lived 

compound remains constant with 

altitude. This overestimates the share of 

the short-lived compound that resides 

higher in the atmosphere, where lower 

OH concentrations, temperatures, and 

pressures slow reaction rates and 

lengthen lifetimes. Radiative forcing is 

also estimated based on the assumption 

that the concentration of the short-lived 

compound remains constant with 

altitude. This assumption is likely to 

overestimate the radiative forcing (and 

therefore the GWP) of short-lived 

compounds because, again, it 

overestimates the share of the shortlived compound that resides higher in 

the atmosphere. GHGs higher in the 

atmosphere (i.e., near the tropopause) 

are responsible for more radiative 

forcing than the same GHGs lower in the 

atmosphere. (As discussed in the 

Supporting Analysis, this is related to 

the fact that temperatures near the 

tropopause are lower than those at the 

surface.) Together, these assumptions 

may result in overestimates of the GWP 

by a factor of ten or more. The rationale 

for EPA’s preliminary determination is 

discussed in more detail in the 

Supporting Analysis, which is available 

in the docket. 

The provisional GWPs are shown in 

Table 1. 

TABLE 1—PROVISIONAL GLOBAL WARMING POTENTIALS FOR FLUORINATED GREENHOUSE GASES FOR WHICH EPA HAS

MADE PRELIMINARY DETERMINATIONS THAT ALL APPROVAL CRITERIA HAVE BEEN MET FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE

CALCULATIONS IN 98.123(C)(1) OF SUBPART L 

Fluorinated GHG CAS No. Provisional GWP 

HFC–1234ze .............................................................................................................................................. 29118–24–9 6 

Hexafluoropropylene (HFP) ....................................................................................................................... 116–15–4 0 .25 

Perfluoromethyl vinyl ether (PMVE) .......................................................................................................... 1187–93–5 3 

Tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) .......................................................................................................................... 116–14–3 0 .02 

Trifluoro propene (TFP) ............................................................................................................................. 677–21–4 3 

Vinyl fluoride (VF) ...................................................................................................................................... 75–02–5 0 .7 

Vinylidine fluoride (VF2) ............................................................................................................................. 75–38–7 0 .9 

EPA will review public comment on 

this notice prior to taking final action on 

its preliminary determinations. The 

final determinations will be placed in 

the docket for this action. 

Dated: January 27, 2012. 

Sarah Dunham, 

Director, Office of Atmospheric Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2012–2442 Filed 2–2–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9627–3] 

Notice of a Project Waiver of the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009 (ARRA) to the Cuyahoga 

County Board of Health for the Bear 

Creek Restoration Project in 

Warrensville Heights, OH, and the 

Laurel Creek Restoration Project in 

Twinsburg, OH 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The EPA is hereby granting a 

project waiver of the Buy American 

requirements of ARRA Section 1605 

under the authority of Section 

1605(b)(2) [manufactured goods are not 

produced in the United States in 

sufficient and reasonably available 

quantities and of a satisfactory quality] 

to the Cuyahoga County Board of Health 

(County) for the Bear Creek Restoration 

Project in Warrensville Heights, Ohio, 

and the Laurel Creek Restoration Project 

in Twinsburg, Ohio, for coconut fiber 

(coir) woven mats to be installed as part 

of their stream bank stabilization/ 

restoration projects. This is a projectspecific waiver and only applies to the 

use of the specified product for the 

ARRA funded projects being proposed. 

Any other ARRA project that may wish 

to use the same product must apply for 

a separate waiver based on project 

specific circumstances. The coir woven 

mats under consideration are 

manufactured in India and Sri Lanka 

and meet the projects’ technical 

specifications and requirements. The 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES