[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 116 (Thursday, June 16, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 36282-36283]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-13007]



[[Page 36282]]

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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.

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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: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b2d4d7d3c6dad7c09cd8dddadcf2d7c2d39cd5ddc4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ff999a9e8b979a8dd195909791bf9a8f9ed1989089">[email protected]</span></a>. You may also 
visit our website at https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection 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 
ozone-depleting 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.
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    \1\ The Clean Air Act provisions addressing stratospheric ozone 
protection are codified at 42 U.S.C. 7671-7671q.
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    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

[[Page 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 CAA-specific 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


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