[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 82 (Monday, April 29, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 21135-21137]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-10417]



  Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 82 / Monday, April 29, 2002 / 
Proposed Rules  

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 82

[FRL-7202-7]
RIN 2060-AJ74


Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Interim Change in Allowances 
To Produce Methyl Bromide for Developing Countries

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: With this action, EPA is proposing to extend the time 
companies are allocated limited production rights to manufacture methyl 
bromide solely for export to developing countries. The rule published 
in the Federal Register on November 28, 2000 (65 FR 70795), allocated 
additional production allowances, called Article 5 allowances, for the 
manufacture of methyl bromide solely for export to developing countries 
only until January 1, 2002. Today's action extends this time limit on 
the allocation of Article 5 allowances for methyl bromide until January 
1, 2005, in accordance with the Clean Air Act.
    Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, EPA is extending 
the time companies are allocated limited production rights to 
manufacture methyl bromide solely for export to developing countries as 
a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views 
this changes as noncontroversial and anticipates no relevant adverse 
comments. The rationale for this extension appears in the preamble to 
the direct final rule. If no relevant adverse comments are received in 
response to the direct final rule, no further activity is contemplated 
on this proposed rule. The EPA believes today's action is 
noncontroversial because it does not result in any change in policy and 
merely extends the time period for an existing provision of the 
regulation.

DATES: Written comments on this proposed rule must be received on or 
before May 29, 2002, unless a public hearing is requested. Comments 
must then be received on or before 30 days following the public 
hearing. Any party requesting a public hearing must notify the contact 
person listed below by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on May 9, 2002. If 
a hearing is held, EPA will publish a document in the Federal Register 
announcing the hearing information. Inquires regarding a public hearing 
should be directed to the contact person listed below.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this proposed rulemaking (companion to the 
direct final rule) should be submitted in duplicate (two copies) to: 
Air Docket No. A-92-13, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Mail Code 6102, Washington, D.C., 20460. If 
sending comments by courier, they should be delivered to Air Docket No. 
A-92-13, USEPA, 401 M Street, SW, Room M-1500, Washington, D.C., 20460. 
Comments must be identified with Docket No. A-92-13 and must be 
identified as comments on this proposed rule (companion to the direct 
final rule). Inquiries regarding a public hearing should be directed to 
the Stratospheric Ozone Protection Hotline at 1-800-269-1996.
    Materials relevant to this proposed rulemaking are contained in 
Docket No. A-92-13. The Docket is located in room M-1500, First Floor, 
Waterside Mall at the courier delivery address above. The materials may 
be inspected from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. A 
reasonable fee may be charged by EPA for copying docket materials.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Land, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Global Programs Division, Office of Atmospheric 
Programs, 6205J, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC, 20460, 
(202)-564-9185, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EPA believes that the revision in the 
direct final rule published in today's Federal Register is 
noncontroversial; however, should the Agency receive relevant adverse 
comment on this rule, it will publish a notice informing the public 
that the revision did not take effect. All relevant adverse comments 
received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this 
proposed rule. The EPA will not institute a second comment period on 
this document. Any parties interested in commenting on today's revision 
to part 82, subpart A should do so at this time. For additional 
information, see the direct final rule published in the Final Rules 
section of this Federal Register.

Supporting Analyses

a. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public 
Law 104-4, establishes requirements for Federal agencies to assess the 
effects of their regulatory actions on State, local, and tribal 
governments and the private sector. Under section 202 of the UMRA, EPA 
generally must prepare a written statement, including a cost-benefit 
analysis, for proposed and final rules with ``Federal mandates'' that 
may result in expenditures to State, local, and tribal governments, in 
the aggregate, or to the private sector, of $100 million or more in any 
one year. Before promulgating an EPA rule for which a written statement 
is needed, section 205 of the UMRA generally requires EPA to identify 
and consider a reasonable number of regulatory alternatives and adopt 
the least costly, most cost-effective or least burdensome alternative 
that achieves the objectives of the rule. The provisions of section 205 
do not apply when they are inconsistent with applicable law. Moreover, 
section 205 allows EPA to adopt an alternative other than the least 
costly, most cost-effective or least burdensome alternative if the 
Administrator publishes with the final rule an explanation why that 
alternative was not adopted. Before EPA establishes any regulatory 
requirements that may significantly or uniquely affect small 
governments, including tribal governments, it must have developed under 
section 203 of the UMRA a small government agency plan. The plan must 
provide for notifying potentially affected small governments, enabling 
officials of affected small governments to have meaningful and timely 
input in the development of EPA regulatory proposals with significant 
Federal intergovernmental mandates, and informing, educating, and 
advising small governments on compliance with the regulatory 
requirements.
    Today's rule contains no federal mandates (under the regulatory 
provisions of the Title II of the UMRA) for State, local, or tribal 
governments or the private sector. The rule imposes no enforceable duty 
on any State, local, or tribal government or the private sector. 
Rather, it extends the availability of an exemption from a regulatory 
prohibition. Thus, today's rule is not subject to the requirements of 
sections 202 or 205 of the UMRA.
    We determined that this rule contains no regulatory requirements 
that might significantly or uniquely affect small governments; 
therefore, we are not required to develop a plan with regard to small 
governments under section 203. Finally, because this rule does not 
contain a significant intergovernmental mandate, the Agency is not 
required to develop a process to obtain input from elected state, 
local, and tribal officials under section 204.

b. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), as amended by the Small Business 
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 et 
seq.

    The RFA generally requires an agency to prepare a regulatory 
flexibility analysis of any rule subject to notice

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and comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative Procedure 
Act or any other statute unless the agency certifies that the rule will 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. Small entities include small businesses, small organizations, 
and small governmental jurisdictions.
    For purposes of assessing the impacts of today's rule on small 
entities, small entity is defined as: (1) a small business that is 
identified by the North American Industry Classification System code 
(NAICS) in the Table below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Size
                                                              standard
             Type of enterprise                 NAIC code    (number of
                                                             employees)
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Organic Chemicals Wholesaling...............       422690           100
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (2) a small governmental jurisdiction that is a government of a 
city, county, town, school district or special district with a 
population of less than 50,000; and (3) a small organization that is 
any not-for-profit enterprise which is independently owned and operated 
and is not dominant in its field.
    After considering the economic impacts of today's final rule on 
small entities, I certify that this action will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This final 
rule will not impose any requirements on small entities, as it 
regulates large, multinational corporations that either produce, import 
or export class I, group VI ozone-depleting substances.

c. Executive Order 12866

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), the 
Agency must determine whether this regulatory action is ``significant'' 
and therefore subject to OMB review and the requirements of the 
Executive Order. The Order defines a ``significant'' regulatory action 
as one that is likely to result in a rule that may: (1) Have an annual 
effect on the economy of $100 million or more, or adversely affect in a 
material way the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, 
competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or State, 
local, or tribal governments or communities; (2) create a serious 
inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an action taken or planned by 
another agency; (3) materially alter the budgetary impact of 
entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan programs or the rights and 
obligations of recipients thereof; or (4) raise novel legal or policy 
issues arising out of legal mandates, the President's priorities, or 
the principles set forth in the Executive Order.
    It has been determined by OMB and EPA that this action is not a 
``significant regulatory action'' under the terms of Executive Order 
12866, and is therefore not subject to OMB review under the Executive 
Order.

d. Applicability of Executive Order 13045--Children's Health Protection

    Executive Order 13045: ``Protection of Children from Environmental 
Health Risks and Safety Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997) applies 
to any rule that: (1) Is determined to be ``economically significant'' 
as defined under Executive Order 12866, and (2) concerns an 
environmental health or safety risk that EPA has reason to believe may 
have a disproportionate effect on children. If the regulatory action 
meets both criteria, the Agency must evaluate the environmental health 
or safety effects of the planned rule on children, and explain why the 
planned regulation is preferable to other potentially effective and 
reasonably feasible alternatives considered by the Agency.
    EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 as applying only to those 
regulatory actions that are based on health or safety risks, such that 
the analysis required under section 5-501 of the Order has the 
potential to influence the regulation. This rule is not subject to 
Executive Order 13045 because it implements an exemption established in 
the Montreal Protocol and adopted by Congress in section 604(e)(3) of 
the Clean Air Act.

e. Paperwork Reduction Act

    This action does not add any information collection requirements or 
increase burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) renewed 
the approval of the information collection requirements and assigned 
OMB control number 2060-0170 (EPA ICR No. 1432.18).
    Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources 
expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or 
provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time 
needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize 
technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and 
verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and 
disclosing and providing information; adjust the existing ways to 
comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements; 
train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; 
search data sources; complete and review the collection of information; 
and transmit or otherwise disclose the information.
    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. The OMB control numbers for EPA's 
regulations are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR chapter 15.

f. Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)

    Executive Order 13132, entitled ``Federalism'' (64 FR 43255, August 
10, 1999), requires EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure 
``meaningful and timely input by State and local officials in the 
development of regulatory policies that have federalism implications.'' 
``Policies that have federalism implications'' is defined in the 
Executive Order to include regulations that have ``substantial direct 
effects on the States, on the relationship between the national 
government and the States, or on the distribution of power and 
responsibilities among the various levels of government.''
    This rule does not have federalism implications. It will not have 
substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship between 
the national government and the States, or on the distribution of power 
and responsibilities among the various levels of government, as 
specified in Executive Order 13132. This rule extends an exemption used 
by large, multinational corporations that either produce, import or 
export class I, group VI ozone-depleting substances. It has no effect 
on State or local governments. Thus, Executive Order 13132 does not 
apply to this rule.

g. Executive Order 13175 (Consultation and Coordination With Indian 
Tribal Governments)

    Executive Order 13175, entitled ``Consultation and Coordination 
with Indian Tribal Governments,'' (65 FR 67249, November 6, 2000), 
requires EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure ``meaningful 
and timely input by tribal officials in the development of regulatory 
policies that have tribal implications.'' ``Policies that have tribal 
implications'' is defined in the Executive Order to include regulations 
that have ``substantial direct effects on one or more Indian tribes, on 
the relationship between the Federal government and the Indian tribes, 
or on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the 
Federal government and Indian tribes.''
    This final rule does not have tribal implications. It will not have 
substantial

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direct effects on tribal governments, on the relationship between the 
Federal government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power 
and responsibilities between the Federal government and Indian tribes, 
as specified in Executive Order 13175. This rule extends an exemption 
used by large, multinational corporations that either produce, import 
or export class I, group VI ozone-depleting substances. It has no 
effect on tribal governments. Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not 
apply to this rule.

h. The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act

    Section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement 
Act of 1995 (``NTTAA''), Public Law No. 104-113, Section 12(d) (15 
U.S.C. 272 note) directs EPA to use voluntary consensus standards in 
its regulatory activities unless to do so would be inconsistent with 
applicable law or otherwise impractical. Voluntary consensus standards 
are technical standards (e.g., materials specifications, test methods, 
sampling procedures, and business practices) that are developed or 
adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies. The NTTAA directs EPA 
to provide Congress, through OMB, explanations when the Agency decides 
not to use available and applicable voluntary consensus standards. This 
rulemaking does not involve technical standards. Therefore, EPA did not 
consider the use of any voluntary consensus standards.

i. Executive Order 13211 (Energy Effects)

    This proposed rule is not a ``significant energy action'' as 
defined in Executive Order 13211, ``Actions Concerning Regulations That 
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355 
(May 22, 2001)) because it is not likely to have a significant adverse 
effect on the supply, distribution, or use of energy. The proposed rule 
would simply extend the time period for production of methyl bromide 
explicitly for export to developing countries and therefore have no 
adverse impacts on energy supply, distribution or use.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 82

    Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure, 
Air pollution control, Chemicals, Exports, Imports, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: April 22, 2002.
Christine Todd Whitman,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 02-10417 Filed 4-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P