Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0167-0156
Agency: epa
Document Type: Proposed Rule
Title: Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Amendments to the Section 608 Leak Repair Requirements; Proposed rule; reopening of public comment period
Posted Date: 2011-02-23T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 23, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 9987]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-3992]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 82

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0167; FRL-9270-2]

Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Amendments to the Section 608 
Leak Repair Requirements

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: EPA issued a proposed rule in the December 15, 2010, Federal 
Register proposing changes to the leak repair regulations promulgated 
under Section 608 of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. In response 
to stakeholder requests, this action reopens the public comment period 
through March 25, 2011.

DATES: Comments, identified by docket ID number EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0167, 
must be received on or before March 25, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments to docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0167 by one 
of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
on-line instructions for submitting comments.
    E-mail: a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov.
    Mail: Environmental Protection Agency. EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), 
Mailcode 6102T, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0167, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460.
    Hand Delivery: Public Reading Room, Room 3334, EPA West Building, 
1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC. Such deliveries are only 
accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special 
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2003-0167. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site 
is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your 
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of 
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without 
going through http://www.regulations.gov your e-mail address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you 
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name 
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any 
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to 
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA 
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid 
the use of special characters and any form of encryption, and be free 
of any defects or viruses.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available: e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy.
    Publicly available docket materials are available either 
electronically in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air 
Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC. This Docket Facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone 
number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone 
number for the Air Docket is (202) 566-1742.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ross Brennan, Stratospheric Protection 
Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs; Environmental Protection 
Agency, Mail Code 6205J, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 
20460; telephone number (202) 343-9226; fax number (202) 343-2338; e-
mail address brennan.ross@epa.gov. More information about EPA's leak 
repair requirements under Section 608, including a copy of the proposed 
rule, is available at http://epa.gov/ozone/title6/608/leak.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The statutory and regulatory background is described in detail in 
the December 15, 2010, notice of proposed rulemaking (75 FR 78558). EPA 
has proposed to lower the leak repair trigger rates for comfort 
cooling, commercial refrigeration, and industrial process refrigeration 
and air-conditioning equipment with refrigerant charges greater than 50 
pounds of ozone-depleting substances. This action proposes to 
streamline existing required practices and associated reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements by establishing similar leak repair 
requirements for owners or operators of comfort cooling, commercial 
refrigeration, and industrial process refrigeration appliances. This 
action also proposes to reduce the use and emissions of class I and 
class II controlled substances (such as but not limited to CFC-11, CFC-
12, HCFC-123, and HCFC-22) by requiring verification and documentation 
of all repairs, retrofit or retirement of appliances that cannot be 
sufficiently repaired; replacement of appliance components that have a 
history of failures; and recordkeeping of the determination of the full 
charge and the fate of recovered refrigerant.

This Action

    EPA has received a request to provide additional time for public 
comment on the proposed rule. We believe that the request is reasonable 
and that a further 30 days for additional public comment is 
appropriate, since it will provide affected entities with necessary 
time to complete analysis and comment on the proposal. This action 
therefore reopens the comment period for 30 days. We intend to issue a 
final rule as expeditiously as possible following consideration of the 
comments and information we receive.

    Dated: February 16, 2011.
Gina McCarthy,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 2011-3992 Filed 2-22-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P