[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 67 (Tuesday, April 8, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 19305-19307]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-07696]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 770

[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2012-0018; FRL-9909-05]
 RIN 2070-AJ92


Formaldehyde Emissions Standards for Composite Wood Products; 
Notice of Public Meeting and Reopening of Comment Period

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of meeting and reopening of comment 
period.

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SUMMARY: On June 10, 2013, EPA published a notice of proposed 
rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register entitled ``Formaldehyde 
Emissions Standards for Composite Wood Products.'' This document 
announces a public meeting for April 28, 2014, and reopens the comment 
period for the June 10, 2013 Federal Register document for 30 days to 
allow additional comments to be submitted by the public. Information 
obtained at the public meeting and during the comment period will be 
considered by the Agency when preparing the final regulations 
implementing the formaldehyde emission standards. In particular, EPA is 
requesting information related to the treatment of laminated products 
under the proposed regulations.

DATES: For the proposed rule published June 10, 2013 (78 FR 34820), 
comments must be received on or before May 8, 2014.
    The meeting will be held on April 28, 2014, from 1 p.m. to 3:30 
p.m.
    Requests to participate in the meeting must be received on or 
before April 21, 2014.
    Registered participants, if presenting at the meeting, must request 
to be scheduled to present on or before April 21, 2014.
    To request accommodation of a disability, please contact the 
technical person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATON CONTACT, 
preferably by April 21, 2014, to give EPA as much time as possible to 
process your request.

ADDRESSES: For submission of comments, follow the detailed instructions 
provided under ADDRESSES in the Federal Register document of June 10, 
2013 (78 FR 34820) (FRL-9342-3).
    The meeting will be held at in the East William Jefferson Clinton 
Bldg., Rm. 1153, 1201 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC.
    Submit requests to participate in the meeting, identified by docket 
identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2012-0018, to the technical 
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Upon request, a 
teleconferencing number will be provided for those who wish to attend 
the meeting remotely.
    Submit requests to schedule a presentation at the meeting, 
identified by docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2012-0018, to the technical 
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical information contact: 
Sara Kemme, National Program Chemicals Division (7404T), Office of 
Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: 
(202) 566-0511; email address: [email protected].
    For general information contact: The TSCA-Hotline, ABVI-Goodwill, 
422 South Clinton Ave., Rochester, NY 14620; telephone number: (202) 
554-1404; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this action apply to me?

    You may be potentially affected by this action if you manufacture 
(including import), purchase, or sell composite wood products. You may 
also be affected if you manufacture (including import), purchase, or 
sell finished goods or component parts that contain composite wood 
products. The following list of North American Industrial 
Classification System (NAICS) codes is not intended to be exhaustive, 
but rather provides a guide to help readers determine whether this 
document applies to them. Potentially affected entities may include:

[[Page 19306]]

     Furniture and related product manufacturing (NAICS code 
337).
     Veneer, plywood, and engineered wood product manufacturing 
(NAICS code 3212).
     Plastics material and resin manufacturing (NAICS code 
325211).
     Furniture merchant wholesalers (NAICS code 42321).
     Lumber, plywood, millwork, and wood panel merchant 
wholesalers (NAICS code 42331).
     Other construction material merchant wholesalers (NAICS 
code 423390), e.g., merchant wholesale distributors of manufactured 
homes (i.e., mobile homes) and/or prefabricated buildings.
    If you have any questions regarding the applicability of this 
action to a particular entity, consult the technical person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

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

    1. Submitting Confidential Business Information (CBI). Do not 
submit this information to EPA through regulations.gov or email. 
Clearly mark the part or all of the information that you claim to be 
CBI. 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. Information so marked will not be 
disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 
2.
    2. Tips for preparing your comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
    i. Identify the document by docket ID number and other identifying 
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
    ii. Follow directions. The Agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
    iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and 
substitute language for your requested changes.
    iv. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information 
and/or data that you used.
    v. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you 
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
    vi. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and 
suggest alternatives.
    vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of 
profanity or personal threats.
    viii. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

C. Are there requirements for meeting presentations?

    To ensure that all interested parties will have an opportunity to 
comment in the allotted time, oral presentations or statements will be 
limited to 10 minutes. EPA, therefore, recommends that stakeholders who 
present oral comments also submit written comments following the 
instructions provided under ADDRESSES.

D. What is the Agency's authority for taking this action?

    This document is being developed under the authority of section 601 
of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), 15 U.S.C. 2697.

II. Background

    On June 10, 2013, EPA published a NPRM in the Federal Register 
entitled ``Formaldehyde Emissions Standards for Composite Wood 
Products'' (Ref. 1). After two extensions, the comment period for the 
NPRM closed on October 9, 2013 (Ref. 2). After the closing of the 
comment period, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) provided 
additional documents that EPA wishes to consider in developing the 
final regulation (Refs. 3 and 4). EPA is especially interested in 
CARB's potential modifications to its Airborne Toxics Control Measure 
to Reduce Formaldehyde Emissions from Composite Wood Products to 
address laminated products (Ref. 3).
    EPA received public comments on the treatment of laminated 
products, including several comments that suggested laminated products 
should be exempted from the definition of hardwood plywood or, if not, 
they should not be held to the same testing requirements as hardwood 
plywood. CARB suggested that laminated products be held to an emission 
standard, but that there should be no required emissions testing (Ref. 
3). Some commenters suggested EPA should consider self-certification 
for smaller companies (Ref. 5). One of these commenters suggested 
excluding small companies that produce less than 100,000 square feet 
per year from the testing and certification requirements (Ref. 5). 
Another commenter, noting that the proposed definition of laminated 
product is limited to products made with particleboard, medium-density 
fiberboard, or veneer cores, suggested a reduced testing frequency 
coupled with third-party certifier oversight for all laminated product 
producers and for all similar products, regardless of core type (Ref. 
6). Other commenters suggested that it is appropriate to reduce the 
testing frequency by limiting the required testing to annual testing 
(Ref. 7) and require laminated product producers to test only their 
highest emitting product (Ref. 8).
    EPA has also received input on the appropriate emission standard, 
if any, for laminated products. One commenter suggested that, because 
hardwood plywood is indistinguishable from laminated products, the 
hardwood plywood emission standard is appropriate (Ref. 6). CARB 
suggested that laminated product producers could be expected to meet an 
emission standard identical to the thin medium-density fiberboard 
standard (Ref. 3). Another commenter suggested the particleboard 
emission standard is the most appropriate standard for laminated 
products (Ref. 9). Another commenter, while not suggesting a specific 
emission standard, noted that, in many cases, laminated products are 
intermediate products that are not offered for sale, and stated that 
EPA's proposal ``gives no credit or recognition to the significant 
reduction in emissions when a product is laminated and finished'' (Ref. 
10).
    The Agency is seeking additional public input related to laminated 
products. The purpose of this meeting and the reopening of the comment 
period is to facilitate additional public input regarding potential 
modifications to EPA's proposed treatment of laminated products under 
the proposed regulation, including options based on the ideas raised in 
the comments discussed in this unit. With respect to the treatment of 
laminated products, EPA is considering one, or a combination of, the 
following: CARB's latest proposal (Ref. 1); a reduced testing program 
for laminated products, a self-certification program for laminated 
products, an exemption of laminated products from the definition of 
``hardwood plywood''; or an exemption from testing and certification 
requirements for all laminated products or just those made by a low-
volume producer. EPA requests comment and information on what an 
appropriate production volume threshold for testing and certification 
might be. EPA is also considering whether third-party certification 
should be required for laminated products if emission testing for these 
products is required; what

[[Page 19307]]

emission standard, if any, would be appropriate for laminated products; 
and whether laminated products should be grouped for testing purposes. 
EPA is also requesting comment on associated definitional changes, 
including those in CARB's latest proposal, and other potential changes 
to the definition of ``laminated product'' (Ref. 3), such as expanding 
the eligible platforms to cover the cores identified in the definition 
of ``hardwood plywood'' (Ref. 4).
    EPA is reopening the comment period for the June 10, 2013 Federal 
Register document to allow interested parties to submit additional 
relevant information before or after the public meeting. The reopened 
comment period will stay open through the public meeting on April 28, 
2014, and continue to remain open until May 8, 2014 to accommodate 
written follow-up comments that participants or the general public wish 
to submit after the public meeting. Comments will be accepted 
regardless of whether the submitter participates in the public meeting.

III. References

    A docket has been established for this document under docket ID 
number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2012-0018. The following is a list of the documents 
that are specifically referenced in this document. The docket includes 
these documents and other information including documents that are 
referenced within the documents that are included in the docket, even 
if the referenced document is not physically located in the docket. For 
assistance in locating these other documents, please consult the 
technical person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

1. Formaldehyde Emissions Standards for Composite Wood Products (78 
FR 34820, June 10, 2013) (FRL-9342-3).
2. Formaldehyde Emissions Standards for Composite Wood Products; 
Extension of Comment Period (78 FR 51695, August 21, 2013) (FRL-
9397-2).
3. CARB. Staff Proposal, Alternate Regulatory Approach for Laminated 
Products Made with Wood Veneer. March 13, 2014.
4. CARB. Preliminary Draft, Amended Final Regulation Order. March 
17, 2014.
5. Comment submitted by Joseph H. DuPree, Jr., Chief Operating 
Officer, Custom Wholesale Floors, Inc. (EPA-HQ-OPPT-2012-0018-0541).
6. Comment submitted by Kip Howlett, President, Brian Sause, 
Director of Testing, Certification and Standards, and Josh Hosen, 
Manager of Certification Services, Hardwood Plywood and Veneer 
Association (EPA-HQ-OPPT-2012-0018-0571).
7. Comment submitted by John Goebel, Chief Executive Officer, 
Northern Contours, Inc. and John Fitzpatrick, Chief Executive 
Officer, Woodcraft Industries, Inc. (EPA-HQ-OPPT-2012-0018-0590).
8. Comment submitted by Mike Zimmerman, Laboratory Manager, Sauder 
Woodworking Corporation (EPA-HQ-OPPT-2012-0018-0566).
9. Comment submitted by Magnus Bj[ouml]rk, Compliance Development 
Specialist, IKEA Trading Operations on behalf of IKEA of Sweden 
(EPA-HQ-OPPT-2012-0018-0530).
10. Comment submitted by Bill Perdue, Vice President of Regulatory 
Affairs, American Home Furnishings Alliance (EPA-HQ-OPPT-2012-0018-
0562).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 770

    Environmental protection, Composite wood, Formaldehyde, Reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements, Toxic substances, Wood.

    Dated: March 28, 2014.
James Jones,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2014-07696 Filed 4-7-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P