Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 135 / Thursday, July 15, 2010 / Notices 41177 

claimed as CBI must be submitted for 

inclusion in the public docket. 

Dated: July 9, 2010. 

Gina McCarthy, 

Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and 

Radiation. 

[FR Doc. 2010–17266 Filed 7–14–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2010–0280; FRL–9173–9] 

Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: 

Request for Methyl Bromide Critical 

Use Exemption Applications for 2013 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of solicitation of 

applications and information on 

alternatives. 

SUMMARY: EPA is soliciting applications 

for the critical use exemption from the 

phaseout of methyl bromide for 2013. 

Critical use exemptions last only one 

year. All entities interested in obtaining 

a critical use exemption for 2013 must 

provide EPA with technical and 

economic information to support a 

‘‘critical use’’ claim and must do so by 

the deadline specified in this notice 

even if they have applied for an 

exemption in a previous year. Today’s 

notice also invites interested parties to 

provide EPA with new data on the 

technical and economic feasibility of 

methyl bromide alternatives. The U.S. 

critical use exemption program has 

cushioned the U.S. transition in an 

important way. Thus far, EPA has 

allocated critical use methyl bromide 

through rulemaking for each of the six 

years (2005–2010) since the U.S. 

phaseout, and plans to do so for another 

four years (2011–2014). Critical use 

nominations must be approved each 

year at the international level by the 

Parties to the Montreal Protocol, and the 

U.S. is one of five remaining developed 

countries requesting such exemptions; 

several of these countries have 

announced final dates for all or part of 

their requests in the years between now 

and 2015, the year that developing 

countries are required to phase out 

methyl bromide. While EPA with this 

notice is seeking applications for 2013 

and will likely request applications for 

2014, EPA believes it is appropriate at 

this time to consider a year in which the 

Agency will stop requesting 

applications for critical use exemptions. 

EPA will seek comment on this issue in 

the proposed rule for the 2011 critical 

use exemption. 

DATES: Applications for the 2013 critical 

use exemption must be postmarked on 

or before September 13, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: EPA encourages users to 

submit their applications electronically 

to Jeremy Arling, Stratospheric 

Protection Division, at 

arling.jeremy@epa.gov. If the 

application is submitted electronically, 

applicants must fax a signed copy of 

Worksheet 1 to 202–343–9055 by the 

application deadline. Applications for 

the methyl bromide critical use 

exemption can also be submitted by 

mail to: U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, 

Stratospheric Protection Division, 

Attention Methyl Bromide Team, Mail 

Code 6205J, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave, 

NW., Washington, DC 20460 or by 

courier delivery (other than U.S. Post 

Office overnight) to: U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, Office of Air and 

Radiation, Stratospheric Protection 

Division, Attention Methyl Bromide 

Review Team, 1310 L St., NW., Room 

1047E, Washington, DC 20005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

General Information: U.S. EPA 

Stratospheric Ozone Information 

Hotline, 1–800–296–1996; also http:// 

www.epa.gov/ozone/mbr. 

Technical Information: Bill Chism, 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 

Office of Pesticide Programs (7503P), 

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 

Washington, DC 20460, 703–308–8136. 

E-mail: chism.bill@epa.gov. 

Regulatory Information: Jeremy 

Arling, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, Stratospheric Protection 

Division (6205J), 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, 202– 

343–9055. E-mail: 

arling.jeremy@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. What do I need to know to respond to this 

request for applications? 

A. Who can respond to this request for 

information? 

B. Who can I contact to find out if a 

consortium is submitting an application 

form for my methyl bromide use? 

C. How do I obtain an application form for 

the methyl bromide critical use 

exemption? 

D. What alternatives must applicants 

address when applying for a critical use 

exemption? 

E. What portions of the applications will be 

considered confidential business 

information? 

F. What if I submit an incomplete 

application? 

G. What if I applied for a critical use 

exemption in a previous year? 

II. What is the legal authority for the critical 

use exemption? 

A. What is the Clean Air Act (CAA) 

authority for the critical use exemption? 

B. What is the Montreal Protocol authority 

for the critical use exemption? 

III. How will the U.S. implement the critical 

use exemption in 2013 and beyond? 

A. What is the timing for applications for 

the 2013 control period? 

B. How might EPA implement the critical 

use exemption after the 2013 control 

period? 

I. What do I need to know to respond 

to this request for applications? 

A. Who can respond to this request for 

information? 

Entities interested in obtaining a 

critical use exemption must complete 

the application form available at 

http://www.epa.gov/ozone/mbr. The 

application may be submitted either by 

a consortium representing multiple 

users who have similar circumstances or 

by individual users who anticipate 

needing methyl bromide in 2013 and 

have evaluated alternatives and as a 

result of that evaluation, believe they 

have no technically and economically 

feasible alternatives. EPA encourages 

groups of users with similar 

circumstances of use to submit a single 

application (for example, any number of 

pre-plant users with similar soil, pest, 

and climactic conditions can join 

together to submit a single application). 

In some instances, state agencies will 

assist users with the application process 

(see discussion of voluntary state 

involvement in Part I.B. below). 

In addition to requesting information 

from applicants for the critical use 

exemption, this solicitation for 

information provides an opportunity for 

any interested party to provide EPA 

with information on methyl bromide 

alternatives (e.g., technical and/or 

economic feasibility research). 

B. Who can I contact to find out whether 

a consortium is submitting an 

application for my methyl bromide use? 

You should contact your local, state, 

regional, or national commodity 

association to find out whether it plans 

to submit an application on behalf of 

your commodity group. 

Additionally, you should contact your 

state regulatory agency (generally this 

will be the state’s agriculture or 

environmental protection agency) to 

receive information about its 

involvement in the process. If your state 

agency has chosen to participate, EPA 

recommends that you first submit your 

application to the state agency, which 

will then forward applications to EPA. 

The National Pesticide Information 

Center Web site identifies the lead 

pesticide agency in each state (http:// 

npic.orst.edu/state1.htm). 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
41178 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 135 / Thursday, July 15, 2010 / Notices 

C. How do I obtain an application form 

for the methyl bromide critical use 

exemption? 

An application form for the methyl 

bromide critical use exemption can be 

obtained either in electronic or hardcopy form. EPA encourages use of the 

electronic form. Applications can be 

obtained in the following ways: 

1. PDF format and Microsoft Excel at 

EPA’s Web site: http://www.epa.gov/ 

ozone/mbr/cueinfo.html; 

2. Hard copy ordered through the 

Stratospheric Ozone Protection Hotline 

at 1–800–296–1996; 

3. Hard-copy format at DOCKET ID 

No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2010–0280. The 

docket can be accessed at the http:// 

www.regulations.gov site. To obtain 

copies of materials in hard copy, please 

e-mail the EPA Docket Center: a-and-rdocket@epa.gov. 

D. Which alternatives must applicants 

address when applying for a critical use 

exemption? 

To support the assertion that a 

specific use of methyl bromide is 

‘‘critical,’’ applicants are expected to 

demonstrate that there are no 

technically and economically feasible 

alternatives available for that use. The 

Parties to the Montreal Protocol have 

developed an ‘‘International Index’’ of 

methyl bromide alternatives, which lists 

chemical and non-chemical alternatives 

by crop. In 2009, the United States 

submitted an index of alternatives, 

which includes the current registration 

status of available and potential 

alternatives, that is available on the 

Ozone Secretariat Web site: http:// 

ozone.unep.org/ 

Exemption_Information/Critical_use_

nominations_for_methyl_bromide/ 

methyl bromide_Submissions/USAAlternatives-Ex4-1-2008.pdf. 

Applicants must address technical, 

regulatory, and economic issues that 

limit the adoption of ‘‘chemical 

alternatives’’ and combinations of 

‘‘chemical’’ and ‘‘non-chemical 

alternatives’’ listed for their crop or use 

within the ‘‘U.S. Index’’ of Methyl 

Bromide Alternatives. 

E. What portions of the applications will 

be considered confidential business 

information? 

You may assert a business 

confidentiality claim covering part or all 

of the information by placing on (or 

attaching to) the information, at the time 

it is submitted to EPA, a cover sheet, 

stamped or typed legend, or other 

suitable form of notice employing 

language such as ‘‘trade secret,’’ 

‘‘proprietary,’’ or ‘‘company 

confidential.’’ You should clearly 

identify the allegedly confidential 

portions of otherwise non-confidential 

documents, and you may submit them 

separately to facilitate identification and 

handling by EPA. If you desire 

confidential treatment only until a 

certain date or until the occurrence of a 

certain event, your notice should state 

that. Information covered by a claim of 

confidentiality will be disclosed by EPA 

only to the extent, and by means of the 

procedures, set forth under 40 CFR part 

2 subpart B; 41 FR 36752, 43 FR 40000, 

50 FR 51661. If no claim of 

confidentiality accompanies the 

information when EPA receives it, EPA 

may make it available to the public 

without further notice. 

If you are asserting a business 

confidentiality claim covering part or all 

of the information in the application, 

please submit a non-confidential 

version that EPA can place in the public 

docket for reference by other interested 

parties. Do not include on the 

‘‘Worksheet Six: Application Summary’’ 

page of the application any information 

that you wish to claim as confidential 

business information. Any information 

on Worksheet 6 shall not be considered 

confidential and will not be treated as 

such by the Agency. EPA will place a 

copy of Worksheet 6 in the public 

domain. Please note, claiming business 

confidentiality may delay EPA’s ability 

to review your application. 

F. What if I submit an incomplete 

application? 

EPA will not accept any applications 

postmarked after September 13, 2010. If 

the application is postmarked by the 

deadline but is incomplete or missing 

any data elements, EPA will not accept 

the application and will not include the 

application in the U.S. nomination 

submitted for international 

consideration. If the application is 

substantially complete with only minor 

errors, corrections will be accepted. EPA 

reviewers may also call an applicant for 

further clarification of an application, 

even if it is complete. 

All consortia or users who did not 

apply to EPA for the 2009 control period 

(calendar year 2009) must submit an 

entire completed application with all 

Worksheets. 

G. What if I applied for a critical use 

exemption in a previous year? 

Critical use exemptions are valid for 

only one year and do not renew 

automatically. Users desiring to obtain 

an exemption for 2013 must apply to 

EPA. However, if a user group 

submitted a complete application to 

EPA in 2009, the user is only required 

to submit revised copies of the 

Worksheets listed below, though the 

entire application with all Worksheets 

must be on file with EPA. You must 

submit Worksheets 1, 2B, 2C, 2D, 4, 5, 

and 6 in full regardless of whether you 

submitted an application in 2009. You 

need only complete the remaining 

worksheets if any information has 

changed since 2009. If you submitted a 

critical use exemption application to 

EPA in 2002 through 2008 but did not 

submit an application in 2009, then you 

must submit all of the worksheets in the 

application again in their entirety. 

II. What is the legal authority for the 

critical use exemption? 

A. What is the Clean Air Act (CAA) 

authority for the critical use exemption? 

In October 1998, Congress amended 

the Clean Air Act to require EPA to 

conform the U.S. phaseout schedule for 

methyl bromide to the provisions of the 

Montreal Protocol for industrialized 

countries and to allow EPA to provide 

a critical use exemption. These 

amendments were codified in Section 

604 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 

7671c. Under EPA implementing 

regulations, methyl bromide production 

and consumption were phased out as of 

January 1, 2005. Section 604(d)(6), as 

added in 1998, allows EPA to exempt 

the production and import of methyl 

bromide from the phaseout for critical 

uses, to the extent consistent with the 

Montreal Protocol. 

B. What is the Montreal Protocol 

authority for the critical use exemption? 

The Montreal Protocol provides that 

the Parties may exempt ‘‘the level of 

production or consumption that is 

necessary to satisfy uses agreed by them 

to be critical uses’’ (Art. 2H para 5). The 

Parties to the Protocol included this 

language in the treaty’s methyl bromide 

phaseout provisions in recognition that 

alternatives might not be available by 

2005 for certain uses of methyl bromide 

agreed by the Parties to be ‘‘critical 

uses.’’ 

In their Ninth Meeting (1997), the 

Parties to the Protocol agreed to 

Decision IX/6, setting forth the 

following criteria for a ‘‘critical use’’ 

determination and an exemption from 

the production and consumption 

phaseout: 

(a) That a use of methyl bromide 

should qualify as ‘‘critical’’ only if the 

nominating Party determines that: 

(i) The specific use is critical because the 

lack of availability of methyl bromide for that 

use would result in a significant market 

disruption; and 

(ii) There are no technically and 

economically feasible alternatives or 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 135 / Thursday, July 15, 2010 / Notices 41179 

substitutes available to the user that are 

acceptable from the standpoint of 

environment and health and are suitable to 

the crops and circumstances of the 

nomination. 

(b) That production and consumption, 

if any, of methyl bromide for a critical 

use should be permitted only if: 

(i) All technically and economically 

feasible steps have been taken to minimize 

the critical use and any associated emission 

of methyl bromide; 

(ii) Methyl bromide is not available in 

sufficient quantity and quality from existing 

stocks of banked or recycled methyl bromide, 

also bearing in mind the developing 

countries’ need for methyl bromide; 

(iii) It is demonstrated that an appropriate 

effort is being made to evaluate, 

commercialize and secure national regulatory 

approval of alternatives and substitutes, 

taking into consideration the circumstances 

of the particular nomination. * * * NonArticle 5 Parties [e.g., developed countries, 

including the U.S.] must demonstrate that 

research programs are in place to develop 

and deploy alternatives and substitutes. 

* * * 

EPA has defined ‘‘critical use’’ in its 

regulations at 40 CFR 82.3 in a manner 

similar to Decision IX/6 paragraph (a). 

III. How will the U.S. implement the 

critical use exemption in 2013 and 

beyond? 

EPA regulations at 40 CFR 82.4 

prohibit the production and import of 

methyl bromide in excess of the amount 

of unexpended critical use allowances 

held by the producer or importer, unless 

authorized under a separate exemption. 

Methyl bromide produced or imported 

by expending critical use allowances 

may be used only for the appropriate 

category of approved critical uses as 

listed in Appendix L to the regulations 

(40 CFR 82.4(p)(2)). The use of methyl 

bromide that was produced or imported 

through the expenditure of production 

or consumption allowances prior to 

2005 is not confined to critical uses 

under EPA’s phaseout regulations; 

however, other restrictions may apply. 

A. What is the timing for applications 

for the 2013 control period? 

There is both a domestic and 

international component to the critical 

use exemption process. The following 

outline projects a timeline for the 

process for the 2013 critical use 

exemption. 

July 15, 2010: Solicit applications for 

the methyl bromide critical use 

exemption for 2013. 

September 13, 2010: Deadline for 

submitting critical use exemption 

applications to EPA. 

Fall 2010: U.S. Government (through 

EPA, Department of State, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, and other 

interested Federal agencies) prepares 

U.S. Critical Use Nomination package. 

January 24, 2011: Deadline for U.S. 

Government to submit U.S. nomination 

package to the Protocol Parties. 

Early 2011: Technical and Economic 

Assessment Panel (TEAP) and Methyl 

Bromide Technical Options Committee 

(MBTOC) reviews Parties’ nominations 

for critical use exemptions. 

Mid 2011: Parties consider TEAP/ 

MBTOC recommendations. 

November 2011: Parties decide 

whether to authorize critical use 

exemptions for methyl bromide for 

production and consumption in 2013. 

Mid 2012: EPA publishes proposed 

rule for allocating critical use 

exemptions in the U.S. for 2013. 

Late 2012: EPA publishes final rule 

allocating critical use exemptions in the 

U.S. for 2013. 

January 1, 2013: Critical use 

exemption permits the limited 

production and import of methyl 

bromide for specified uses for the 2013 

control period. 

B. How might EPA implement the 

critical use exemption after the 2013 

control period? 

U.S. consumption of methyl bromide 

in the U.S. has declined significantly 

over the last 20 years. Production and 

import was phased out in 2005 in the 

U.S. and all other developed countries 

under the Montreal Protocol. Since 

then, consumption by developed 

country Parties has been subject to 

limited annual exceptions for critical 

uses, which have declined steadily from 

year to year. In 1991, the baseline year, 

the U.S. consumption was 

approximately 25,500 metric tons of 

methyl bromide. In 2010, the amount 

authorized for critical uses declined to 

approximately 3,000 metric tons; for 

2012, the U.S. nominated only 

approximately 1,200 metric tons. This 

transition from methyl bromide— 

formerly one of the most commonly 

used pesticides in the U.S.—to ozonesafe alternatives has been a remarkable 

achievement for U.S. agriculture. 

The critical use exemption program 

has, thus far, provided U.S. 

manufacturers and growers six 

additional years (2005–2010) beyond 

the January 1, 2005, phaseout date to 

develop and market alternatives and 

implement practices that reduce the 

need for fumigants in general. The 

Parties have already approved a U.S. 

critical use amount for 2011, and the 

U.S. submitted a nomination for 2012 

this January. EPA expects that the U.S. 

will submit a nomination for 2013 based 

on applications received in response to 

this notice. However, the international 

context for consideration of critical use 

exemption requests from developed 

country Parties is an important 

consideration for the program’s future, 

since annual approval by the Parties is 

required for any additional production 

and consumption of otherwise banned 

ozone depleting substances. In 2006, 

there were 20 countries with approved 

CUEs. In 2010, that number has 

decreased to five: the United States, 

Australia, Canada, Israel, and Japan. 

Israel has announced that 2011 will be 

its last year of CUE methyl bromide use 

and Japan has indicated that 2013 will 

be the last year for which it will seek a 

critical use exemption authorization for 

soil fumigation. Australia and Canada 

each use only 1 percent of CUE MeBr. 

Further, developing countries face 

their own phaseout deadline for methyl 

bromide under the Montreal Protocol in 

2015. While the Protocol contains a 

provision allowing the Parties to permit 

critical use exemptions for developing 

countries, the extent to which 

developing countries will request such 

exemptions is not yet known. By 2008, 

the last year for which data are 

available, developing countries had 

already reduced methyl bromide 

consumption for soil and post-harvest 

uses by 66% relative to their baselines. 

Furthermore, of the 86 developing 

countries that have baselines, only 34 

continued to use methyl bromide as of 

2008. 

Given this international context and 

that the critical use exemption process 

for a particular control period takes 

three years, as shown in the schedule in 

Section III.A above, EPA believes it is 

appropriate at this time to consider a 

year in which the U.S. Government will 

stop requesting applications for critical 

use exemptions. EPA is not making a 

final decision at this time whether to 

accept applications for subsequent 

control periods. EPA will seek comment 

on this issue in the proposed rule for the 

2011 critical use exemption. 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7414, 7601, 7671– 

7671q. 

Dated: July 1, 2010. 

Gina McCarthy, 

Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and 

Radiation. 

[FR Doc. 2010–17151 Filed 7–14–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Notices 

DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, July 14, 

2010, at 10 a.m. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES