[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 99 (Friday, May 22, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 28251-28253]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-13125]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 82

[FRL-6015-3]


Protection of Stratospheric Ozone

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of acceptability.

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SUMMARY: This document expands the list of acceptable substitutes for 
ozone-depleting substances (ODS) under the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency's (EPA) Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) 
program.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 22, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Information relevant to this document is contained in Air 
Docket A-91-42, U.S. Environmental Agency, Office of Air and Radiation 
Docket and Information Center, Room M-1500, 401 M Street, SW, 
Washington, DC 20460. Telephone: (202) 260-7548. The docket may be 
inspected between 8:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. weekdays. As provided in 40 
CFR Part 2, a reasonable fee may be charged for photocopying.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Monroe at (202) 564-9161 or 
fax (202) 565-2093, U.S. EPA, Stratospheric Protection Division, 401 M 
Street, S.W., Mail Code 6205J, Washington, D.C. 20460; EPA 
Stratospheric Ozone Protection Hotline at (800) 296-1996; EPA World 
Wide Web Site (http://www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/snap).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Section 612 Program
    A. Statutory Requirements
    B. Regulatory History
II. Listing of Acceptable Substitutes
    A. Aerosols
III. Additional Information
Appendix A--Summary of Acceptable Decisions

I. Section 612 Program

    A. Statutory Requirements
    Section 612 of the Clean Air Act authorizes EPA to develop a 
program for evaluating alternatives to ozone-depleting substances. EPA 
refers to this program as the Significant New Alternatives Policy 
(SNAP) program. The major provisions of section 612 are:
    <bullet> Rulemaking--Section 612(c) requires EPA to promulgate 
rules making it unlawful to replace any class I (chlorofluorocarbon, 
halon, carbon tetrachloride, methyl chloroform, methyl bromide, and 
hydrobromofluorocarbon) or class II (hydrochlorofluorocarbon) substance 
with any substitute that the Administrator determines may present 
adverse effects to human health or the environment where the 
Administrator has identified an alternative that (1) reduces the 
overall risk to human health and the environment, and (2) is currently 
or potentially available.
    <bullet> Listing of Unacceptable/Acceptable Substitutes--Section 
612(c) also requires EPA to publish a list of the substitutes 
unacceptable for specific uses. EPA must publish a corresponding

[[Page 28252]]

list of acceptable alternatives for specific uses.
    <bullet> Petition Process--Section 612(d) grants the right to any 
person to petition EPA to add a substance to or delete a substance from 
the lists published in accordance with section 612(c). The Agency has 
90 days to grant or deny a petition. Where the Agency grants the 
petition, EPA must publish the revised lists within an additional 6 
months.
    <bullet> 90-day Notification--Section 612(e) requires EPA to 
require any person who produces a chemical substitute for a class I 
substance to notify the Agency not less than 90 days before new or 
existing chemicals are introduced into interstate commerce for 
significant new uses as substitutes for a class I substance. The 
producer must also provide the Agency with the producer's unpublished 
health and safety studies on such substitutes.
    <bullet> Outreach--Section 612(b)(1) states that the Administrator 
shall seek to maximize the use of federal research facilities and 
resources to assist users of class I and II substances in identifying 
and developing alternatives to the use of such substances in key 
commercial applications.
    <bullet> Clearinghouse--Section 612(b)(4) requires the Agency to 
set up a public clearinghouse of alternative chemicals, product 
substitutes, and alternative manufacturing processes that are available 
for products and manufacturing processes which use class I and II 
substances.

B. Regulatory History

    On March 18, 1994, EPA published the Final Rulemaking (FRM) (59 FR 
13044) which described the process for administering the SNAP program 
and issued EPA's first acceptability lists for substitutes in the major 
industrial use sectors. These sectors include: refrigeration and air 
conditioning; foam blowing; solvent cleaning; fire suppression and 
explosion protection; sterilants; aerosols; adhesives, coatings and 
inks; and tobacco expansion. These sectors compose the principal 
industrial sectors that historically consumed the largest volumes of 
ozone-depleting compounds.
    As described in the final rule for the SNAP program (59 FR 13044), 
EPA does not believe that rulemaking procedures are required to list 
alternatives as acceptable with no limitations. Such listings do not 
impose any sanction, nor do they remove any prior license to use a 
substance. Consequently, by this notice EPA is adding substances to the 
list of acceptable alternatives without first requesting comment on new 
listings.
    EPA does, however, believe that Notice-and-Comment rulemaking is 
required to place any substance on the list of prohibited substitutes, 
to list a substance as acceptable only under certain conditions, to 
list substances as acceptable only for certain uses, or to remove a 
substance from either the list of prohibited or acceptable substitutes. 
Updates to these lists are published as separate notices of rulemaking 
in the Federal Register.
    The Agency defines a substitute as any chemical, product 
substitute, or alternative manufacturing process, whether existing or 
new, that could replace a class I or class II substance. Anyone who 
produces a substitute must provide the Agency with health and safety 
studies on the substitute at least 90 days before introducing it into 
interstate commerce for significant new use as an alternative. This 
requirement applies to substitute manufacturers, but may include 
importers, formulators or end-users, when they are responsible for 
introducing a substitute into commerce.
    EPA published documents listing acceptable alternatives on August 
26, 1994 (59 FR 44240), January 13, 1995 (60 FR 3318), July 28, 1995 
(60 FR 38729), February 8, 1996 (61 FR 4736), September 5, 1996 (61 FR 
47012), March 10, 1997 (62 FR 10700), June 3, 1997 (62 FR 30275), and 
February 24, 1998 (63 FR 9151), and published Final Rulemakings 
restricting the use of certain substitutes on June 13, 1995 (60 FR 
31092), May 22, 1996 (61 FR 25585), and October 16, 1996 (61 FR 54029).

II. Listing of Acceptable Substitutes

    This section presents EPA's most recent acceptable listing decision 
for substitutes for class I and class II substances in the aerosol 
sector. For copies of the full list of SNAP decisions in all industrial 
sectors, contact the EPA Stratospheric Protection Hotline at (800) 296-
1996.
    Part A below presents a detailed discussion of the substitute 
listing determination; by major use sector; the table summarizing 
today's listing decision is in Appendix A. The comments contained in 
Appendix A provide additional information on a substitute, but for 
listings of acceptable substitutes, they are not legally binding under 
section 612 of the Clean Air Act. Thus, adherence to recommendations in 
the comments is not mandatory for use of a substitute. In addition, the 
comments should not be considered comprehensive with respect to other 
legal obligations pertaining to the use of the substitute. However, EPA 
encourages users of acceptable substitutes to apply all comments to 
their use of these substitutes. In many instances, the comments simply 
allude to sound operating practices that have already been identified 
in existing industry and/or building-code standards. Thus, many of the 
comments, if adopted, would not require significant changes in existing 
operating practices for the affected industry.

A. Aerosols

1. Acceptable Substitute
    Under section 612 of the Clean Air Act, EPA is authorized to review 
substitutes for class I (CFCs) and class II (HCFCs) chemicals. The 
following decision expands the acceptable listing for propellants in 
the aerosol sector.
    (a) Aerosol Propellants
    (1) HFC-227ea
    HFC-227ea is an acceptable substitute for CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-114, 
HCFC-22, and HCFC-142b as a propellant in the aerosol sector. HFC-227ea 
has a zero ozone depletion potential and an atmospheric lifetime of 
36.5 years, yet this compound contributes to global warming with a 100-
year global warming potential (GWP) of 2,900 relative to carbon 
dioxide. Despite this concern, the Agency has listed this substitute as 
acceptable in today's notice since it meets a specialized medical 
application in metered dose inhalers (MDIs), used by asthmatics and 
others with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, where only one 
other substitute meets the medical requirements.

III. Additional Information

    Contact the Stratospheric Protection Hotline at 1-800-296-1996, 
Monday-Friday, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (Eastern 
Standard Time).
    For more information on the Agency's process for administering the 
SNAP program or criteria for evaluation of substitutes, refer to the 
SNAP final rulemaking published in the Federal Register on March 18, 
1994 (59 FR 13044). Notices and rulemakings under the SNAP program, as 
well as all EPA publications on protection of stratospheric ozone, are 
available from EPA's Ozone World Wide Web site at ``<a href="http://www.epa.gov/
ozone/title6/snap">http://www.epa.gov/
ozone/title6/snap</a>'' and from the stratospheric Protection Hotline whose 
number is listed above.

    Dated: May 8, 1998.
Richard D. Wilson,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.
    Note: The following Appendix will not appear in the Code of 
Federal Regulations.

[[Page 28253]]



                                   Appendix A: Summary of Acceptable Decisions                                  
                                              [Aerosol Propellants]                                             
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      ODS being replaced               Substitute               Decision                     Comments           
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CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-114, HCFC-  HFC-227ea..............  Acceptable............  Despite the relatively high    
 22, HCFC-142b as aerosol                                                         global warming potential of   
 propellant.                                                                      this compound, the Agency has 
                                                                                  listed this substitute as     
                                                                                  acceptable since it meets a   
                                                                                  specialized application in    
                                                                                  MDIs where other substitutes  
                                                                                  do not provide acceptable     
                                                                                  performance.                  
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[FR Doc. 98-13125 Filed 5-21-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P