[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 183 (Thursday, September 22, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57898-57899]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-20473]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0755; FRL-10216-01-OAR]
Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Notice of Grant of Request To
Extend Compliance Date for Requirements To Control Emissions of
Hydrofluorocarbon-23
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) granted a request for a six-month extension of the October
1, 2022, compliance date for a facility to control emissions of
hydrofluorocarbon-23. The requestor submitted a timely and complete
request with a credible rationale for an extension and a reasonable
plan to meet compliance requirements and reduce emissions of this
potent greenhouse gas. The Agency granted the request in a letter dated
September 13, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Feather, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Stratospheric Protection Division; telephone number
202-564-1230; or email address: [email protected]. You may also
visit our website at https://www.epa.gov/climate-hfcs-reduction/control-HFC-23-emissions 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:
AIM Act--American Innovation and Manufacturing Act
CFR--Code of Federal Regulations
EPA--Environmental Protection Agency
FR--Federal Register
GWP--Global Warming Potential
HCFC--hydrochlorofluorocarbon
HFC--hydrofluorocarbon
HFO--hydrofluoroolefin
Table of Contents
I. General Information
A. Why is EPA issuing this notice?
B. Background
II. What action was taken?
I. General Information
A. Why is EPA issuing this notice?
This notice is directed to the public to announce an action that
EPA has taken. On September 13, 2022, EPA issued a letter granting a
request for a six-month extension of the October 1, 2022, compliance
date for a facility to control emissions of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC)-23,
which has been posted to EPA's website (https://www.epa.gov/climate-hfcs-reduction/control-HFC-23-emissions) and can be found in the docket
for this notice (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0755).
B. Background
HFC-23 is a very potent greenhouse gas with a 100-year global
warming potential (GWP) of 14,800.\1\ While EPA is also aware of
limited instances where HFC-23 is captured, purified, and used for
commercial purposes such as fire suppression, very low temperature
refrigeration, and semiconductor manufacturing, the majority of HFC-23
is unintentionally created as a byproduct during the production of
[[Page 57899]]
certain fluorinated compounds, including hydrochlorofluorocarbon
(HCFC)-22.\2\ Unless sold for a consumptive use, controlled, or
captured and destroyed, such creation of HFC-23 is ultimately vented to
the atmosphere where it contributes to climate change. HFC-23 is not an
air toxic and does not pose a direct risk to local communities, but, as
described in sections III and IV of a rulemaking published last year,
climate change threatens the public health of the U.S. population and
especially those that may be vulnerable based on their characteristics
or circumstances (86 FR 55116, October 5, 2021).
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\1\ Exchange values of regulated substances, including for HFC-
23, are listed in 40 CFR part 84, appendix A. These exchange values
are identical to the 100-year GWPs included in IPCC (2007). In this
notice, EPA uses the terms ``global warming potential'' and
``exchange value'' interchangeably.
\2\ HCFC-22 is an ozone-depleting substance that has been phased
out domestically under the Clean Air Act in line with the
international phase out occurring under the Montreal Protocol on
Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. While HCFC-22 has been
phased out of production and consumption, the chemical can still be
produced for use as a feedstock to make other chemicals, such as
low-GWP hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs). HFOs can be used in many of the
same applications as high-GWP HFCs, so transitioning to them from
HFCs can reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
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HFC-23 is a regulated substance under the American Innovation and
Manufacturing Act of 2020 (AIM Act) enacted December 27, 2020, as
section 103 in Division S, Innovation for the Environment, of the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (42 U.S.C. 7675). Under the
implementing regulations at 40 CFR part 84, subpart A, EPA established,
among other things, HFC-23 emission control requirements and a process
for chemical producers to request limited extensions of the compliance
date. These provisions were intended to ensure that high-GWP emissions
of HFC-23 are promptly controlled, while allowing limited discretion to
account for individual circumstances where that timeline may not be
practicable. EPA estimates that from 2022 through 2050 these HFC-23
emission control requirements will have abated cumulative emissions
from the Chemours Louisville Works facility of more than 7,000 metric
tons of HFC-23, or more than 3.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide
equivalent annually, and result in net present cumulative benefits of
$6.4 billion in 2020 dollars at a three percent discount rate (see
Regulatory Impact Analysis for Phasing Down Production and Consumption
of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) available at https://www.epa.gov/climate-hfcs-reduction/final-rule-phasedown-hydrofluorocarbons-establishing-allowance-allocation).
To reduce emissions of this potent greenhouse gas, the Agency
requires in 40 CFR 84.27(a) that ``[n]o later than October 1, 2022, as
compared to the amount of chemical intentionally produced on a facility
line, no more than 0.1 percent of HFC-23 created on the line may be
emitted.'' After such point, emissions of HFC-23 byproduct that exceed
the 0.1 percent will be treated as violations of an applicable
emissions limitation in violation of federal law and subject to any
appropriate enforcement action. In 40 CFR 84.27(b), EPA further
specifies that if captured HFC-23 is destroyed at a different facility
than where it was produced, then HFC-23 emissions during the
transportation to and destruction at the different facility are
calculated into whether the producer meets the 0.1 percent HFC-23
limit.
EPA recognized that individual circumstances could arise that may
warrant a six-month deferral of the compliance date, subject to a one-
time additional six-month extension. Requests for an extension of the
HFC-23 emission control requirements were due to EPA by August 1, 2022,
and requests had to contain information including a description of the
specific actions the facility has taken to improve their HFC-23
control, capture, and destruction and the facility's plans to meet the
0.1 percent HFC-23 limit.
II. What action was taken?
By August 1, 2022, one company, Chemours Company FC, LLC, submitted
a request for a six-month extension of the HFC-23 control requirements
for its Chemours Louisville Works facility in Louisville, Kentucky. It
is EPA's understanding that the delays in installing new emission
control technology were due in part to supply chain issues which
prevented Chemours Louisville Works from physically taking possession
of all necessary parts until July 2022. However, Chemours reported that
the facility intends to have the new control technology operational and
effective by October 1, 2022, such that the facility should be able to
meet the emissions limit on the required timeline. The primary purpose
of Chemours requesting the extension is to allow time to measure,
validate, and optimize the effectiveness of the process change at the
facility. Chemours expects to complete this validation by the end of
the year, three months in advance of the extended compliance deadline.
EPA determined that the requestor submitted a timely and complete
request with a credible rationale for an extension and a reasonable
plan to meet compliance requirements. The Agency granted this extension
with the understanding that Chemours will have all necessary equipment
onsite, operational, and effective by October 1, 2022, and will be
running that equipment from that date onwards. With this understanding
and EPA's review of the submitted information, the Agency granted the
request in a letter dated September 13, 2022.
EPA will monitor the facility's progress on meeting the emission
control requirements and intends to post status updates to its website
at https://www.epa.gov/climate-hfcs-reduction/control-HFC-23-emissions
as information becomes available for public release. This will help
ensure interested stakeholders are aware of the facility's current
status and progress toward meeting the HFC-23 emission limit.
Cynthia A. Newberg,
Director, Stratospheric Protection Division.
[FR Doc. 2022-20473 Filed 9-21-22; 8:45 am]
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