[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 92 (Thursday, May 13, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26904-26906]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-11430]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 98

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0927; FRL-9150-9]


Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases: Notice of Data 
Availability; Default Emission Factors for Semiconductor Manufacturing 
Refined Process Categories

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Data availability and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making available 
to the public draft default emission factors for semiconductor 
manufacturing refined process categories. On April 12, 2010 EPA 
published a proposed rule, Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases: 
Additional Sources of Fluorinated GHGs (75 FR 18652) which included 
proposed methods for monitoring and reporting greenhouse gases (GHGs) 
from electronics manufacturing. More specifically, as one option for 
monitoring and reporting, EPA proposed semiconductor manufacturers 
estimate emissions using default emission factors for nine distinct 
process categories. For each default emission factor, EPA proposed a 
range of values differentiated by production technology generation 
(i.e., wafer size). Based on additional information received since the 
publication of the proposed rule, EPA has developed draft emission 
factors for the proposed process categories. EPA is making those draft 
emission factors as well as the underlying data that was used to 
develop the draft emission factors available to the public for review 
and comment in the report, Draft Emission Factors for Refined 
Semiconductor Manufacturing Process Categories.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 14, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2009-0927 by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: (202) 566-1741.
     Mail: EPA Docket Center, Attention Docket OAR-2009-0927, 
Mail code 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand/Courier Delivery: EPA Docket Center, Public Reading 
Room, Room 3334, EPA West Building, Attention Docket OAR-2009-0927, 
1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20004. 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-
2009-0927. 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. 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, 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 EPA's Docket Center, 
Public Reading Room, EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20004. 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: Kirsten Cappel, Climate Change 
Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs (MC-6207J), Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone number: (202) 343-9556; fax number: (202) 343-2202; e-mail 
address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Outline

1. What is today's action?
2. What information is EPA making available for review and comment?
3. How does this information relate to the proposed rule Mandatory 
Reporting of Greenhouse Gases: Additional Sources of Fluorinated 
GHGs?
4. Where can I get the information?
5. What is EPA taking comment on and what supporting documentation 
do I need to include in my comments?

[[Page 26905]]

6. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?
7. Submitting Confidential Business Information (CBI)

1. What is today's action?

    This notice of data availability (NODA) provides for public review 
and comment draft emission factors for the nine proposed refined 
semiconductor process categories differentiated by production 
technology generation (i.e., wafer size). The draft emission factors 
are being made available in Draft Emission Factors for Refined 
Semiconductor Manufacturing Process Categories. In Draft Emission 
Factors for Refined Semiconductor Manufacturing Process Categories EPA 
also presents detailed information on how the draft emission factors 
were developed and the underlying data used to develop the draft 
emission factors.

2. What information is EPA making available for review and comment?

    EPA is making available for review and comment draft default 
emission factors for semiconductor manufacturing refined process 
categories in Draft Emission Factors for Refined Semiconductor 
Manufacturing Process Categories. EPA is also making available to the 
public the underlying emissions measurement data that were used to 
develop the draft emission factors.

3. How does this information relate to the proposed rule Mandatory 
Reporting of Greenhouse Gases: Additional Sources of Fluorinated GHGs?

    On April 12, 2010 EPA published a proposed rule (Mandatory 
Reporting of Greenhouse Gases: Additional Sources of Fluorinated GHGs 
(75 FR 18652)) revising and supplementing its initial proposed actions 
to require reporting of fluorinated greenhouse gas (fluorinated GHG) 
emissions from certain source categories.\1\ In that rule EPA proposed 
requirements for monitoring and reporting GHG emissions from 
electronics manufacturing, which includes facilities that manufacture 
semiconductors, photovoltaic cells (PV), micro-electro-mechanical 
systems (MEMS), and liquid crystal displays (LCDs). For semiconductor 
manufacturing, as one option, EPA proposed a method based on a refined 
set of process categories. More specifically, EPA proposed nine process 
categories differentiated by wafer diameter sizes of 150 mm, 200 mm and 
300 mm. For each of the nine proposed process categories, EPA proposed 
to establish default emission factors within a range of values. EPA 
used the term ``NA'' where currently available information did not 
exist to support a range. Within each process category, the emission 
factor ranges accounted for (1) the mass fraction of the input gas that 
is utilized during (i.e., not emitted from) the process and (2) the 
mass of each fluorinated GHG by-product formed as a fraction of the 
mass of the dominant fluorinated GHG input used. EPA proposed ranges 
because it had not yet received sufficient data to select a specific 
value within each range.
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    \1\ EPA initially proposed monitoring and reporting methods for 
electronics manufacturing in Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases 
(74 FR 16448).
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    In its proposal, EPA requested comment on the nine process 
categories that were proposed. In particular, EPA requested comment on 
whether the categories should be further refined to better capture the 
variability in emission rates among fluorinated GHG using manufacturing 
activities (e.g., whether any additional categories should be added or 
whether the proposed categories should be combined, and the definition 
of those categories).
    EPA also stated that if additional data were received in a timely 
fashion, EPA might develop draft emission factors for each category 
prior to the issuance of a final rule, differentiating among wafer 
sizes to the extent feasible. EPA noted that it would use a method of 
aggregation similar to the 2006 IPCC factor development methodology. 
EPA is making available, for public review and comment, draft emission 
factors for each of the nine proposed refined process categories in 
Draft Emission Factors for Refined Semiconductor Manufacturing Process 
Categories.
    It is important to note that in addition to an approach where EPA 
would publish draft emission factors for the nine proposed process 
categories, in its proposal, EPA stated that it is considering other 
approaches for monitoring and reporting emissions from semiconductor 
manufacturing. Please refer to the Electronics Manufacturing section of 
the notice titled Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases: Additional 
Sources of Fluorinated GHGs (75 FR 18652) for a detailed discussion of 
the additional alternatives that EPA is considering for monitoring and 
reporting GHG emissions from semiconductor manufacturing.

4. Where can I get the information?

    All of the information can be obtained through the Air Docket and 
at http://www.regulations.gov (see ADDRESSES section above for docket 
contact information).

5. What is EPA taking comment on and what supporting documentation do I 
need to include in my comments?

    EPA requests comment on topics including, but not limited to the 
following:
     The representativeness and reliability of the draft 
emission factors for each process category based on measurements 
conducted. Where commenters provide data (i.e., emission measurement 
results), EPA encourages the submission of supporting information such 
as details of the method used to characterize process equipment 
emissions.
     The validity of applying 200 mm processing technology 
emission factors to 150 mm processing technology emission factors, and 
potential alternatives for drawing analogies for 150 mm processing 
technology emission factors. Where commenters provide data (e.g., 
emission factors), EPA encourages the submission of supporting 
information such as details of the method used to characterize process 
equipment emissions.
    X Method used to form the draft emission factors, including EPA's 
method for averaging the factors that account for gas utilization and 
by-product formation for multi-gas chemistries.
    X The potential merits and disadvantages of consolidating emission 
factors by process category across all wafer technologies and how EPA 
could weight emission factors collected from various wafer technology 
equipment.
    X Number of significant figures to provide in emission factor 
tables for both gas utilization and by-product formation factors.
    X Alternatives to the analogies EPA used to assign gas utilization 
and by-product formation factors when information for a gas or category 
is not currently available.
    X The merits and disadvantages of maintaining three wafer-
technology categories compared to combining them into a single 
category.
    X The merits and disadvantages of reducing the number of etching 
categories from four to three (from oxide, nitride, silicon and metal 
etch to, for example, dielectric, silicon and metal etch categories), 
reducing the number of wafer cleaning categories from two to one, or 
reducing the number of categories for both etching and wafer cleaning.

6. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?

    You may find the following suggestions helpful for preparing your 
comments:

[[Page 26906]]

    1. Explain your views as clearly as possible.
    2. Describe any assumptions that you used.
    3. Provide any technical information or data you used that support 
your views.
    4. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns.
    5. Offer alternatives.
    6. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline 
identified.
    7. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, identify the appropriate docket 
identification number in the subject line on the first page of your 
response. It would also be helpful if you provided the name, date, and 
Federal Register citation related to your comments.

7. Submitting Confidential Business Information (CBI)

    Do not submit information you are claiming as CBI to EPA through 
http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part of the 
information that you claim to be CBI. Information so marked will not be 
disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 
2. For CBI information in a disk or CD ROM that you mail to EPA, mark 
the outside of the disk or CD ROM as CBI and then identify 
electronically within the disk or CD ROM the specific information that 
is claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version of the comment 
that includes information claimed as CBI, a copy of the comment that 
does not contain the information claimed as CBI must be submitted for 
inclusion in the public docket.

    Dated: May 6, 2010.
Brian J. McLean,
Director, Office of Atmospheric Programs.
[FR Doc. 2010-11430 Filed 5-12-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P