36282 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 116 / Thursday, June 16, 2022 / Proposed Rules 

1The Clean Air Act provisions addressing 

stratospheric ozone protection are codified at 42 

U.S.C. 7671–7671q. 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 82 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2021–0253; FRL–8506–03– 

OAR] 

RIN 2060–AV29 

Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: 

Standards Related to the Manufacture 

of Class II Ozone-Depleting 

Substances for Feedstock; Withdrawal 

of Proposed Rule 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) 

ACTION: Proposed rule; withdrawal. 

SUMMARY: On September 29, 2021, the 

U.S. EPA issued a proposed rulemaking 

to require the control, capture, and/or 

destruction of a hydrofluorocarbon that 

would otherwise be emitted from 

manufacture of 

hydrochlorofluorocarbons. Specifically, 

EPA proposed to require companies to 

control, capture, and/or destroy HFC–23 

byproduct generated at plants that 

manufacture class II ozone-depleting 

substances regulated under current 

Clean Air Act regulations, such as 

HCFC–22. Upon our consideration of 

comments and based on further action 

by EPA, EPA is now withdrawing the 

proposed requirements described in that 

proposed rule. This document 

summarizes the proposed rule and 

provides an explanation for the 

Agency’s decision not to finalize the 

proposed action. 

DATES: The U.S. EPA is withdrawing the 

proposed rule published September 29, 

2021 (86 FR 53916), as of June 16, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: EPA established a docket 

for this action under Docket ID No. 

EPA–HQ–OAR–2021–0253. All 

documents in the docket are listed on 

the http://www.regulations.gov website. 

Although listed in the index, some 

information may not be publicly 

available, e.g., Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Certain other material, such as 

copyrighted material, is not placed on 

the internet and will be publicly 

available only in hard-copy form. 

Publicly available docket materials are 

available either electronically through 

http://www.regulations.gov, or in hard 

copy at the EPA Docket Center, WJC 

West Building, Room Number 3334, 

1301 Constitution Ave. NW, 

Washington, DC. The Public Reading 

Room hours of operation are 8:30 a.m. 

to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time 

(EST), Monday through Friday (except 

Federal Holidays). The telephone 

number for the Public Reading Room is 

(202) 566–1744, and the telephone 

number for the Docket Center is (202) 

566–1742. For further information on 

the EPA Docket Center services, please 

visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/ 

dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

Feather, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, Stratospheric Protection 

Division; telephone number 202–564– 

1230; or email address: feather.john@

epa.gov. You may also visit our website 

at https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layerprotection for further information. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document, whenever 

‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ ‘‘the Agency,’’ or ‘‘our’’ is 

used, we mean EPA. Acronyms that are 

used in this rulemaking that may be 

helpful include: 

AIM Act—American Innovation and 

Manufacturing Act 

CAA—Clean Air Act 

CBI—Confidential Business Information 

CFR—Code of Federal Regulations 

EPA—Environmental Protection Agency 

FR—Federal Register 

HCFC—Hydrochlorofluorocarbon 

HFC—Hydrofluorocarbon 

ODS—Ozone-depleting substances 

U.S.C.—United States Code 

I. General Information 

A. Does this action apply to me? 

B. Why is EPA issuing this withdrawal of 

the proposed rule? 

C. What is the Agency’s authority for this 

action? 

II. Background 

III. How does EPA intend to proceed? 

IV. Impact Analysis 

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. General Information 

A. Does this action apply to me? 

You may be interested in this action 

if you manufacture class II ozonedepleting substances (ODS) listed at 40 

CFR part 82, subpart A, Appendix B, 

and hydrofluorocarbon-23 (HFC–23) is 

also generated as a byproduct at your 

plant. This action may also be of interest 

to the public in general. 

B. Why is EPA issuing this withdrawal 

of the proposed rule? 

This document serves the following 

purposes: 

1. It announces to the public that EPA 

is withdrawing a proposed rule for 

which the Agency no longer intends to 

issue a final rule; and 

2. It officially terminates the ongoing 

rulemaking activity, which allows the 

Agency to close out the individual 

rulemaking entry for these actions that 

appear in EPA’s Semiannual Regulatory 

Agenda. 

C. What is the Agency’s authority for 

this action? 

The proposed action relied on 

authority provided by several sections 

of the Clean Air Act (CAA).1 Section 

603 provides authority to establish 

monitoring and reporting requirements 

for ODS, and section 605 provides 

authority to phase out the production 

and consumption of class II substances, 

to restrict the use of class II ODS, and 

to promulgate regulations associated 

with the production of class II ODS. 

EPA’s regulations implementing the 

production and consumption controls 

for class II substances, including 

provisions implementing exceptions to 

those controls, can be found at 40 CFR 

part 82, subpart A. 

To the extent the proposal involved 

recordkeeping and reporting 

requirements, it also relied on EPA’s 

authority under section 114 of the CAA, 

which authorizes the EPA 

Administrator to require recordkeeping 

and reporting in carrying out any 

provision of the CAA (with certain 

exceptions that were not applicable to 

the proposed rulemaking). Additional 

authority for electronic reporting comes 

from the Government Paperwork 

Elimination Act (44 U.S.C. 3504), which 

provides ‘‘(1) for the option of the 

electronic maintenance, submission, or 

disclosure of information, when 

practicable as a substitute for paper; and 

(2) for the use and acceptance of 

electronic signatures, when 

practicable.’’ 

II. Background 

EPA issued a proposed rule under 

sections 603 and 605 of the CAA, 42 

U.S.C. 7671(b) and 7671(d), (86 FR 

53916, September 29, 2021) (FRL–8506– 

01–OAR) to require companies to 

control, capture, and/or destroy HFC–23 

byproduct generated at plants that 

manufacture class II ODS (i.e., 

hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)) 

regulated under current CAA 

regulations. 

HFC–23 is a very potent greenhouse 

gas that is generated as a byproduct 

during the manufacture of certain 

HCFCs, including HCFC–22. Under the 

CAA and the implementing regulations, 

the production and consumption of 

HCFCs are restricted with limited 

exceptions. One such exception is 

production for use in transformation, or 

as a feedstock, which is allowed 

indefinitely. The Agency planned to 

limit emissions of HFC–23 from plants 

manufacturing HCFCs. In the proposal 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 116 / Thursday, June 16, 2022 / Proposed Rules 36283 

that EPA is withdrawing, EPA proposed 

standards for these emissions under the 

CAA. Specifically, EPA proposed that 

no later than October 1, 2022, as 

compared to the amount of HCFCs 

intentionally manufactured on a facility 

line, no more than 0.1 percent of HFC– 

23 generated on the line may be emitted. 

Proposed requirements were that HFC– 

23 byproduct must be captured and 

employed for a commercial use or 

destroyed using a technology approved 

by EPA, thereby ensuring it was not 

directly emitted. The proposed rule 

being withdrawn also referenced 

another proposed rulemaking under 

authority from the American Innovation 

and Manufacturing Act of 2020 (AIM 

Act), and stated in footnote 6, ‘‘If that 

proposed approach under the AIM Act 

were to be finalized, all generation of 

HFC–23 would be regulated, including 

HFC–23 generated as a byproduct 

during production of HCFCs for 

feedstock use. Under such a scenario, 

EPA anticipates that it would not 

finalize this proposal’’ (86 FR 53918). 

On October 5, 2021, EPA finalized 

that rule, ‘‘Phasedown of 

Hydrofluorocarbons: Establishing the 

Allowance Allocation and Trading 

Program under the American Innovation 

and Manufacturing Act’’ (HFC 

Allocation Framework Rule) at 86 FR 

55116, which codified regulatory 

standards for these HFC–23 byproducts 

(40 CFR 84.27). This HFC Allocation 

Framework Rule used EPA’s discretion 

under the AIM Act to restrict the use of 

allocated allowances for HFC–23 

byproducts to those that were 

consumptive, or to otherwise destroy 

the HFC–23 byproducts, and disallowed 

emitting HFC–23 at quantities greater 

than 0.1 percent of the amount of 

chemical intentionally produced on a 

facility line. The finalized HFC 

Allocation Framework Rule codified 

regulatory requirements that are 

duplicative of the proposed 

requirements included in the proposed 

rule being withdrawn. 

As noted, EPA stated in footnote 6 of 

the proposal that it anticipated not 

finalizing this proposed rule if it were 

to finalize HFC–23 requirements under 

the referenced AIM Act rulemaking. 

EPA solicited comment on whether, in 

such a scenario, ‘‘this CAA-specific 

rulemaking would still be beneficial’’ 

(86 FR 53918). One commenter 

supported not finalizing this CAAspecific rulemaking if the AIM Act 

HFC–23 requirements were finalized. A 

separate commenter supported 

finalizing overlapping requirements due 

to a perceived benefit in reducing HFC– 

23 emissions and implementing the 

requirements but did not provide a 

supporting rationale. Additional 

comments on the proposed rule were 

submitted and are not relevant to the 

Agency’s decision on whether to 

withdraw this proposed rule. 

III. How does EPA intend to proceed? 

Given the issuance of the HFC 

Allocation Framework Rule that 

codified regulatory standards that are 

duplicative of the requirements 

proposed in the proposed rule being 

withdrawn through this document, EPA 

has determined that finalizing the 

proposed rule would be unnecessarily 

duplicative. We considered comments 

on this issue to the proposed rule that 

is being withdrawn, but the one 

comment in favor of overlapping 

requirements did not justify that 

approach. That comment did not change 

our conclusion that the requirements 

proposed in the proposed rule being 

withdrawn are duplicative of what EPA 

has already established, and thus are not 

necessary. 

For these reasons, EPA is 

withdrawing the proposed rule that was 

published on September 29, 2021 (86 FR 

53916; FRL–8506–01–OAR). 

IV. Impact Analysis 

Because EPA is not promulgating any 

regulatory requirements, there are no 

compliance costs or impacts associated 

with this notice. 

V. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

This document does not establish new 

regulatory requirements. Hence, the 

requirements of other regulatory statutes 

and Executive Orders that generally 

apply to rulemakings (e.g., the 

Unfunded Mandate Reform Act) do not 

apply. 

Michael S. Regan, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2022–13007 Filed 6–15–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 36, 51, and 54 

[WC Docket Nos. 10–90, 14–58, 09–197, 16– 

271; RM–11868; FCC 22–35; FR ID 89579] 

Connect America Fund: A National 

Broadband Plan for Our Future HighCost Universal Service Support, ETC 

Annual Reports and Certifications, 

Telecommunications Carriers Eligible 

To Received Universal Service Support 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal 

Communications Commission (FCC or 

Commission) seeks comment on a 

proposal by the ACAM Broadband 

Coalition (Coalition) to achieve 

widespread deployment of 100/20 Mbps 

broadband service throughout the rural 

areas served by carriers currently 

receiving Alternative Connect America 

Model (A–CAM) support. 

DATES: Comments are due on or before 

July 18, 2022, and reply comments are 

due on or before August 1, 2022. 

If you anticipate that you will be 

submitting comments, but find it 

difficult to do so within the period of 

time allowed by this document, you 

should advise the contact listed in the 

following as soon as possible. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by WC Docket No. 10–90, by 

any of the following methods: 

• Electronic Filers: Comments may be 

filed electronically using the internet by 

accessing the ECFS: www.fcc.gov/ecfs. 

• Paper Filers: Parties who choose to 

file by paper must file an original and 

one copy of each filing. 

• Filings can be sent by commercial 

overnight courier, or by first-class or 

overnight U.S. Postal Service mail. All 

filings must be addressed to the 

Commission’s Secretary, Office of the 

Secretary, Federal Communications 

Commission. 

• Commercial overnight mail (other 

than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail 

and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9050 

Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 

20701. 

• U.S. Postal Service first-class, 

Express, and Priority mail must be 

addressed to 45 L Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20554. 

• Effective March 19, 2020, and until 

further notice, the Commission no 

longer accepts any hand or messenger 

delivered filings. This is a temporary 

measure taken to help protect the health 

and safety of individuals, and to 

mitigate the transmission of COVID–19. 

See FCC Announces Closure of FCC 

Headquarters Open Window and 

Change in Hand-Delivery Policy, Public 

Notice, 35 FCC Rcd 2788, 2788–89 (OS 

2020). 

Comments and reply comments 

exceeding ten pages must include a 

short and concise summary of the 

substantive arguments raised in the 

pleading. Comments and reply 

comments must also comply with § 1.49 

and all other applicable sections of the 

Commission’s rules. The Commission 

directs all interested parties to include 

the name of the filing party and the date 

of the filing on each page of their 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS