6560-50-P Environmental Protection Agency 40 Cfr
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This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 05/19/2021 and available online at federalregister.gov/d/2021-09545, and on govinfo.gov 6560-50-P ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 40 CFR Parts 9 and 84 [EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0044; FRL-10023-08-OAR] RIN 2060-AV17 Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Establishing the Allowance Allocation and Trading Program under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Proposed rule. SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to issue regulations to implement certain provisions of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, as enacted on December 27, 2020. This rulemaking proposes to: establish the hydrofluorocarbon production and consumption baselines based on historical data; establish the allowance allocation program to phase down hydrofluorocarbon production and consumption; determine an initial methodology to allocating allowances and allowing for the transfer of those allowances; establish provisions for the international transfer of allowances; establish requirements to support compliance with phasing down hydrofluorocarbon production and consumption; establish recordkeeping and reporting requirements; release certain data to provide transparency and support implementation of the program; and, address certain other elements related to the effective implementation of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act. In addition to the proposed provisions, EPA is seeking advance input on how the Agency may alter its determination of company-specific allocations in later years. EPA is considering these issues, and therefore is seeking public input on them, but is not making any particular proposal in relation to them, and therefore will not finalize any requirements on these topics before issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking and requesting public comment. DATES: Comments on this notice of proposed rulemaking must be received on or before [INSERT DATE 45 DAYS AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), comments on the information collection provisions are best assured of consideration if the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) receives a copy of your comments on or before [INSERT DATE 30 DAYS AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a virtual public hearing on [INSERT DATE 15 DAYS AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. The date, time, and other relevant information for the virtual public hearing will be available at https://www.epa.gov/climate-hfcs- reduction. ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021- 0044, by any of the following methods: Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov (our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center, Air and Radiation Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460. Hand Delivery or Courier (by scheduled appointment only): EPA Docket Center, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004. The Docket Center’s hours of operations are 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday – Friday (except Federal Holidays). Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID No. for this rulemaking. Comments received may be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. EPA is temporarily suspending its Docket Center and Reading Room for public visitors, with limited exceptions, to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. Our Docket Center staff will continue to provide remote customer service via email, phone, and webform. We encourage the public to submit comments via https://www.regulations.gov as there may be a delay in processing mail. Hand deliveries and couriers may be received by scheduled appointment only. For further information on EPA Docket Center services and the current status, please visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets. You may find the following suggestions helpful for preparing your comments: direct your comments to specific sections of this proposed rulemaking and note where your comments may apply to future separate actions where possible; explain your views as clearly as possible; describe any assumptions that you used; provide any technical information or data you used that support your views; provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns; offer alternatives; and, make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline. Please provide any published studies or raw data supporting your position. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. EPA will generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of the primary submission (e.g., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). If you produced, imported, exported, or destroyed hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and were subject to the regulatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP)1 requirements (under 40 CFR part 98) and are seeking to provide EPA with your past HFC activity, you must report that data to EPA’s electronic Greenhouse Gas Reporting Tool (e-GGRT) (https://ghgreporting.epa.gov/ghg/login.do). Companies that were not subject to the GHGRP may also submit HFC activity through e-GGRT. Information on how to report through e-GGRT in general is available at: https://ccdsupport.com/confluence, and specific guidance on HFC reporting is available at: https://ccdsupport.com/confluence/display/help/e- GGRT+and+HFC+Data+Reporting+related+to+AIM. EPA requests that any company that 1 OMB Control No. 2060–0629. reports on HFC activity to the GHGRP in response to the requests in this proposed rule also submit a comment to the docket noting the date that the company submitted the information to e- GGRT so that EPA can more easily track such submissions. EPA recognizes that given the nature of this proposed rulemaking, potentially affected entities may wish to submit Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other confidential information. CBI should not be submitted through https://www.regulations.gov. For submission of confidential comments or data (e.g., information relevant to your company’s use of a hydrofluorocarbon in an application listed in subsection (e)(4)(B)(iv) titled Mandatory Allocations), please work with the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section, particularly if submitting a comment containing CBI. For additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andy Chang, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Stratospheric Protection Division, telephone number: 202-564-6658; or email address: [email protected]. You may also visit EPA’s Web site at https://www.epa.gov/climate-hfcs- reduction 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: AD/CVD – Anti-Dumping/Countervailing Duties AIM Act – American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020 ANPRM – Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking CAA – Clean Air Act CBI – Confidential Business Information CBP – Customs and Border Protection CFC – Chlorofluorocarbon CO2 – Carbon Dioxide DRE – Destruction and Removal Efficiency e-GGRT – Electronic Greenhouse Gas Reporting Tool EVe – Exchange Value Equivalent GHG – Greenhouse Gas GHGRP – Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program GWP – Global Warming Potential HCFC – Hydrochlorofluorocarbon HFC – Hydrofluorocarbon IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change MDI – Metered Dose Inhaler MMTCO2 eq – Million Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent MMTEVe – Million Metric Tons of Exchange Value Equivalent MT – Metric tons MTCO2 eq – Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent MVAC – Motor Vehicle Air Conditioner NAICS – North American Industry Classification System NPRM – Notice of Proposed Rulemaking NRC – National Research Council ODP – Ozone Depletion Potential ODS – Ozone-Depleting Substance RIA – Regulatory Impact Analysis SC-HFCs – Social Cost of HFCs TRI – Toxics Release Inventory USGCRP – U.S. Global Change Research Program This supplementary information section is arranged as follows: I. What is the Background for this Proposed Action? A. Does this Proposed Action Apply to Me? B. What is the AIM Act, and What are its Main Areas of Focus? C. What are HFCs? D. How do HFCs Affect Public Health and Welfare? II. What is the Summary of this Proposed Action? III. How is EPA Considering Environmental Justice? IV. What Definitions are Proposed to Implement the AIM Act? A. What Definitions is EPA Proposing to Adopt from 40 CFR 82.3 without Substantive Change? B. What Definitions is EPA Proposing to Adopt from 40 CFR 82.3 with Substantive Change? C. What New Definitions is EPA Proposing? V. How is EPA Proposing to Establish the HFC Production and Consumption Baselines? A. What are the Components of the Production and Consumption Baselines? 1. How is EPA Proposing to Determine the HFC Component of the Production and Consumption Baselines? a) What is the GHGRP and