32728 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 109 / Friday, June 6, 2014 / Notices 

1This notice does not address all exemptions in 

section 604 such as the exemptions for critical uses, 

sanitation and food protection, or national security. 

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

3501 et seq.). An agency may not 

conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 

required to respond to, a collection of 

information unless it displays a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Courtney Kerwin at (202) 566–1669 or 

email at Kerwin.Courtney@epa.gov and 

please refer to the appropriate EPA 

Information Collection Request (ICR) 

Number. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The OMB 

control numbers for EPA regulations are 

listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR 

chapter 15. 

OMB Responses to Agency Clearance 

Requests 

OMB Approvals 

EPA ICR Number 2456.02; 

Willingness to Pay for Improved Water 

Quality in the Chesapeake Bay 

(Revised); was approved on 04/11/2014; 

OMB Number 2010–0043; expires on 

09/30/2015; Approved with change. 

EPA ICR Number 2405.01; 

Underground Storage Tank: Information 

Request Letters, Pacific Southwest 

Region (Region IX) (New); 40 CFR part 

280; was approved on 04/11/2014; OMB 

Number 2050–0210; expires on 08/31/ 

2014; Approved. 

EPA ICR Number 1230.29; Prevention 

of Significant Deterioration and NonAttainment New Source Review 

(Renewal); 40 CFR 51.160–51.164; 40 

CFR 51.166; 40 CFR part 52.21; 40 CFR 

51.165; 40 CFR part 51 Appendix S; 40 

CFR 52.24; and 40 CFR 49.166–49.173 

and 49.151–49.161; was approved on 

04/02/2014; OMB Number 2060–0003; 

expires on 04/30/2017; Approved with 

change. 

Dated: May 16, 2014. 

Erin Collard, 

Acting Director, Collections Strategies 

Division. 

[FR Doc. 2014–12462 Filed 6–5–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9911–77–OAR] 

Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: 

Request for Applications for Essential 

Use Exemptions 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In this notice, the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

is providing information about the 

process for submitting applications for 

essential use exemptions. Essential use 

exemptions are exceptions to the 

phaseout of production and import of 

controlled class I ozone-depleting 

substances (ODS). Essential use 

exemptions must be authorized by the 

Parties to the Montreal Protocol on 

Substances That Deplete the Ozone 

Layer and must be in accordance with 

the Clean Air Act. Applications received 

in accordance with this notice will be 

considered as the basis for submitting 

potential nominations for essential use 

exemptions to future Meetings of the 

Parties to the Montreal Protocol. 

DATES: Applications for essential use 

exemptions must be submitted to EPA 

no later than September 30 of each year, 

in order for the U.S. Government to 

complete its consideration for 

nomination to the United Nations 

Environment Programme and the Parties 

to the Montreal Protocol in a timely 

manner. 

ADDRESSES: Send application materials 

to: Essential Use Exemption 

Coordinator, Stratospheric Protection 

Division (6205J), U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460. 

Confidentiality: Application materials 

that are confidential should be 

submitted under separate cover and be 

clearly identified as ‘‘confidential 

business information.’’ Information 

covered by a claim of business 

confidentiality will be treated in 

accordance with the procedures for 

handling information claimed as 

confidential under 40 CFR part 2, 

subpart B, and will be disclosed only to 

the extent and by means of the 

procedures set forth in that subpart. If 

no claim of confidentiality accompanies 

the information when it is received by 

EPA, the information may be made 

available to the public by EPA without 

further notice to the company (40 CFR 

2.203). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jeremy Arling at the addresses above, by 

telephone at (202) 343–9055, or by 

email at arling.jeremy@epa.gov. 

Information about essential uses may be 

obtained from EPA’s stratospheric 

protection Web site at www.epa.gov/

ozone/title6/exemptions/essential.html. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background on the Essential Use 

Exemption 

The Parties to the Montreal Protocol 

on Substances that Deplete the Ozone 

Layer (Montreal Protocol) agreed during 

the Fourth Meeting in Copenhagen in 

1992 that non-Article 5 Parties 

(developed countries) would phase out 

the production and consumption of 

halons by January 1, 1994, and phase 

out the production and consumption of 

other substances referred to under the 

Clean Air Act as class I substances, 

except methyl bromide, by January 1, 

1996. The control measures for many of 

these substances, however, allow 

exemptions from the phaseout ‘‘to the 

extent the Parties decide to permit the 

level of production or consumption that 

is necessary to satisfy uses agreed by 

them to be essential.’’ See, e.g. art. 2A 

para 4. The Parties also decided on the 

criteria to be used for allowing 

‘‘essential use’’ exemptions from the 

phaseout of production and import of 

controlled substances. Decision IV/25 of 

the Fourth Meeting of the Parties details 

the specific criteria and review process 

for granting essential use exemptions. 

Paragraph 1(a) of Decision IV/25 

states that ‘‘use of a controlled 

substance should qualify as ‘essential’ 

only if: (i) It is necessary for the health, 

safety or is critical for the functioning of 

society (encompassing cultural and 

intellectual aspects); and (ii) there are 

no available technically and 

economically feasible alternatives or 

substitutes that are acceptable from the 

standpoint of environment and health.’’ 

In addition, Paragraph 1(b) of Decision 

IV/25 states that ‘‘production and 

consumption, if any, of a controlled 

substance, for essential uses should be 

permitted only if: (i) All economically 

feasible steps have been taken to 

minimize the essential use and any 

associated emission of the controlled 

substance; and (ii) the controlled 

substance is not available in sufficient 

quantity and quality from the existing 

stocks of banked or recycled controlled 

substances . . .’’ 

The Clean Air Act in section 604 

contemplates exemptions from the 

phaseout of Class I controlled 

substances in the United States, 

including exemptions for essential 

uses.1 The Clean Air Act sets sunset 

dates for three of these uses that are now 

in the past: (1) Methyl chloroform use 

generally (ending January 1, 2005); (2) 

halons for fire suppression and 

explosion prevention generally (ending 

December 31, 1999); and (3) halons for 

fire suppression and explosion 

prevention for oil production on the 

North Slope of Alaska (ending 

December 31, 2004). Two other uses do 

not have statutory sunset dates: (1) Class 

I substances for medical devices (section 

604(d)(2)), and (2) halons for aviation 

safety (section 604(d)(3)). Each of these 


wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 109 / Friday, June 6, 2014 / Notices 32729 

provisions has its own criteria and 

process that must be followed; no 

exceptions are automatic. 

Prior essential use applications were 

typically for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) 

for metered dose inhalers (MDIs). The 

Parties last authorized an essential use 

exemption for the United States 

allowing the production of CFCs for 

MDIs in 2008 for the 2010 calendar year. 

Effective December 31, 2013, all CFCcontaining MDIs have been removed 

from the Food and Drug 

Administration’s (FDA’s) list of 

essential uses found at 21 CFR 2.125(e). 

The United States has not nominated 

halons for aviation safety as an essential 

use. If EPA were to receive an 

application for halons for aviation 

safety, EPA would work with other 

relevant Federal agencies to establish 

the process for reviewing applications 

for this use. 

II. Essential Use Nomination Process 

Entities requesting essential use 

exemptions should send a completed 

application to EPA on the candidate use 

by September 30, three years prior to the 

year of the intended use. Upon receipt 

of applications, EPA will review the 

information and work with other 

interested Federal agencies as required 

in section 604 of the Clean Air Act to 

determine whether the candidate use 

satisfies Clean Air Act requirements, as 

well as whether it meets the essential 

use criteria adopted by the Parties to the 

Montreal Protocol and warrants 

nomination by the United States for an 

exemption. 

All Parties, including the United 

States, must transmit nominations to the 

UNEP Ozone Secretariat by January 31 

to be considered by the Parties at their 

annual meeting at the end of that year. 

The UNEP Ozone Secretariat forwards 

nominations to the Montreal Protocol’s 

Technical and Economic Assessment 

Panel (TEAP) and its relevant Technical 

Options Committee (TOC). The TOC 

and the TEAP review the nomination to 

determine whether it meets the criteria 

for an essential use established by 

Decisions IV/25, XII/2, XV/5, and XVI/ 

12, and to make recommendations to the 

Parties for essential use exemptions. 

The Parties then consider those 

recommendations at their annual 

meeting before making a final decision. 

An essential use exemption is granted 

to the nominating Party for a specific 

quantity of a specified ODS for a 

specific time period. If the Parties 

determine that a specified use of a 

controlled substance is essential and 

authorize an exemption from the 

Protocol’s production and consumption 

phaseout, EPA may then take domestic 

action to allow the production and 

consumption to the extent consistent 

with the Clean Air Act. 

III. Information Required for Essential 

Use Applications 

In the past, EPA had annually issued 

a notice requesting applications for 

essential use exemptions. Through this 

action, EPA provides the opportunity to 

submit applications for essential use 

exemptions for class I substances for all 

future control periods (calendar years). 

Applications requesting essential use 

allowances should include information 

that U.S. Government agencies and the 

Parties to the Protocol can use to 

evaluate the candidate use according to 

the criteria in the Decisions described 

above. Applications that fail to include 

sufficient information may not be 

nominated. 

Specifically, all applications 

submitted to EPA should include the 

information requested in the current 

version of the TEAP Handbook on 

Essential Use Nominations, which as of 

the date of this notice was last updated 

in 2009. The handbook is available 

electronically on the internet at http:// 

ozone.unep.org/teap/Reports/TEAP_

Reports/EUN-Handbook2009.pdf. EPA 

requests that applications contain the 

following information, as described in 

the handbook, in order for the U.S. to 

provide sufficient information to the 

Montreal Protocol’s technical review 

bodies within the nomination: 

1. A detailed description of the use 

that is the subject of the nomination; 

2. Details of the type, quantity, and 

quality of the controlled substance that 

is requested to satisfy the use; 

3. The period of time and the annual 

quantities of the controlled substances 

that are requested; 

4. An explanation of why the 

nominated volumes and the intended 

use of these quantities are necessary for 

health and/or safety, or critical for the 

functioning of society; 

5. An explanation of what other 

alternatives and substitutes are 

currently available and what steps are 

being taken to implement those 

alternatives and substitutes; 

6. An explanation of why alternatives 

and substitutes are not sufficient or 

appropriate to eliminate the proposed 

use; 

7. A description of the measures that 

are proposed to eliminate all 

unnecessary emissions, including 

design considerations and maintenance 

procedures; 

8. An explanation of what efforts are 

being undertaken to employ other 

measures for this application in the 

future; 

9. A description of the efforts that 

have been made to acquire stockpiled or 

recycled controlled substance for this 

application both domestically and 

internationally as well as an explanation 

of what efforts have been made to 

establish banks for the controlled 

substance; and 

10. A description of any other barriers 

encountered in attempts to eliminate the 

use of the controlled substance for this 

application. 

In addition, applicants should specify 

which exemption in CAA section 604 

they are seeking: the exemption for 

medical devices at section 604(d)(2) or 

the exemption for aviation safety at 

section 604(d)(3). Each of these statutory 

exemptions has its own process and 

criteria that would need to be satisfied 

prior to any regulatory action 

authorizing the exemption. 

The Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) has approved the information 

collection requirements contained in 

this notice under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 

3501 et seq. and has assigned OMB 

control number 2060–0170. 

Dated: May 30, 2014. 

Paul Gunning, 

Acting Director, Office of Atmospheric 

Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2014–13235 Filed 6–5–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[ER–FRL–9015–3] 

Environmental Impact Statements; 

Notice of Availability 

Responsible Agency: Office of Federal 

Activities, General Information (202) 

564–7146 or http://www.epa.gov/ 

compliance/nepa/. 

Weekly receipt of Environmental Impact 

Statements 

Filed 05/27/2014 Through 05/30/2014 

Pursuant to 40 CFR 1506.9. 

Notice 

Section 309(a) of the Clean Air Act 

requires that EPA make public its 

comments on EISs issued by other 

Federal agencies. EPA’s comment letters 

on EISs are available at: http:// 

www.epa.gov/compliance/nepa/ 

eisdata.html. 

EIS No. 20140162, Final EIS, FAA, TX, 

SpaceX Texas Launch Site, Review 

Period Ends: 07/07/2014, Contact: 

Stacey Zee 202–267–9305. 

EIS No. 20140163, Draft EIS (Tiering), 

NASA, FL, Tier 2—Mars 2020 

Mission, Comment Period Ends: 07/ 


wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES