# L E A l

b emarl e C orporati on 45] Fl o r ida S tree t Telephon e: 22 5-388-801 1 B aron Ro uge, Louisia n a 7 080 1-176 5 Facs i mi l e: 22 5-388-7686
Decem ber 1 5 , 2 009
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. J ack s on , A dmini s trator U
. S. E nviro n me n t al Prote ction A g en cy 1 200 Penn s ylvani a Ave nne, N W ( 110 I A ) W a shin gton , D C 20 460 Re : E P A- In du s t r y D ccaBD E Pha s e - Out I ni t ia t ive De ar A dm in i st ra to r J ack s on : Thi s le tt e r c o nfir ms o ur c o mmitm e n t t o pha s e out p ro duct io n o f dec abromod ip hen yl e ther (decaBDE) i n th e Un ited S t a tes no Ia te r than December 2 0 1 2 , as part o f th e EPA

- In du s try D ecaBD E Phase - Out I n iti at iv e tha t h a s re su lted f rom re cen t d i s cu ss i on s between th e maj or manuf acturer s a nd i mport e r s of dec a B DE and E PA s t a f f. S ch e dule We intend t o meet thi s com mitment by p hasing ou t s ale s o ve r th e next three years acco rdin g t o the f o llowing sc he d u le: De c em b e r 3 1 , 2 0 I 0

De cember 3 1, 2 0 12 E lectrica l a nd ele ctronic e quipment ( e x cept a s u sed In tra ns p ort a ti o n e q u ipme n t) A ll o ther u s es e xc e pt tr an s porta t ion a nd mi lita ry use s, a s noted b elo w . So m e c u s t o mer s m ay t rans ition to alt erna tive m aterial s t hat we have dev e loped ahea d o f the sc h ed ule s e t f orth ab ov e . At th e s ame tim e , 

### we are aware that qu a li fy in g n ew m ateri als i s a co mplicated exe rci s e tha t tak e s tim e. I f we ide ntify s p e c i fic u s e s t hat ma y r equ i re m ore t im e, we w ill n otify E PA. S imi larl y . if we id entif y use s that canno t b e re p l a c e d. w e w ill notif y E PA. We are n ot awa re o f a ny s uc h u s e s at thi s t ime . Tran s port at ion and Mili ta nt" U s e s T ra n sp ortatio n ( e . g ., a utomobile s . airp la ne s, c ertai n wa rehou sin g a nd s h ippin g e q uipmen t) an d mil itary us e s m a y require an a dd iti o na l yea r t o co mp le te th e ph ase o ut. Thi s i s pr imar il y beca u se o f th e c omplexity of the s e u s es ( cars and plane s h ave a very larg e num ber o f p art s that rel y on flame re tardant c hemi s try) a nd lea d tim es f or qua l if yi ng new materi a l s. W e are com mitting t o p h a se o ut o f the se u se s on o r b e fore Dec e mber 3 1 , 201 3
.Annua l Re po rtin g We w ill su bmit an annu a l prog ress re port t o E PA co mparing o ur t otal US p roduction a nd sales fi gures f or th e p revious ye ar t o a 20 08 b aseline. W e will provide co nfidential an d no n-confidentia l ve rsions of th ose reports an d co mply wit h C onfidenti al B usiness Info rmation (C B I) h andling proced ures und er th e To xic S ubstances Con trol Ac t ( TSCA)
. T he fi rst reports w ill b e submitt ed in 2 0 11 and will prov ide i nformation o n 2 010 pr oduction a nd sa les. This reporting is i ntended t o demo nstrate reasonab l e progress each ye ar t oward o ur g oal o f ac hieving a com plete ph ase o ut by th e e nd of 2013. Unsold Inv entory Whi le we i ntend to cea se production of d ecaBDE f or mo st uses as of th e e nd of 2 012, it is p ossible t hat we will have so me un sold in ventory o n h and whe n p roduction i s stopped
. We wo uld expe ct to sell any s uch r emaining inventory w ithin th e fi rst s ix m onths after th e end o f th e pr oduction pha se o ut p eriod
. I f w e require more tim e, we will not if y E PA. We d o n ot i ntend t o s tockpi le pro duct eith er b ef ore or durin g th e in itiative , but we wan t t o m ake cl ear that we m ay need t o s ell o ut or dinary in ventory beyo nd th e c ommitment per iod. Resale o f Products and U se of Recycled Mat erial s Th e vol untary phase ou t o f d ecaBDE w i ll n ot af fect sa le /res alc/reuse / disposallcontinued u se of fini s h ed p roducts m ade w ith pr e -ph ase o ut d eca - BDE, th e recycling o f pro ducts that co ntain decaBDE, o r th e s ale of an y products m ade from recycled m aterial s . We u nderstand EPA may take regulatory ac tion to a ddre ss import of art icles that co ntain d eca -BDE to co incide with t he end o f th e p hase-out p eriod
. Conclusion We h ave i ssued a publi c s tatement a nnouncing o ur p l ans to pha se o ut decaBDE as we ll a s the avail ability o f a lternative mat erials. We are c ommitted t o thi s vo lu ntary ph ase o ut. A t th e sa me tim e, we wis h t o reaffirm our be li ef in t he safe ty o f decaRD E. D ecaBDE h as b een u sed as an effe ctive fl ame retardant f or more than 30 years , and w e be lieve its use h as s aved m any hu ndreds o f l i ves . We understand th at thi s letter and o ur non-confidential pro gress re port s w ill b e pos ted on E PA's w eb s ite, a long w ith o ur final letter c onfirming t hat a ll p roduction of decaBDE in th e U S ha s b een d i sco ntinued. Tha nk yo u. Si ncerely y ours ,

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. C lary V ice P re s ident a nd C hief Sus taina 

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