Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Notice of Revocation of Certification for Refrigerant Reclaimers, 75455-75456 [2015-30363]
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 231 / Wednesday, December 2, 2015 / Notices
EXEMPTIONS CLAIMED FOR THE SYSTEM:
None.
[FR Doc. 2015–30526 Filed 12–1–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[EPA–HQ–OAR–2015–0771; FRL–9939–41–
OAR]
Protection of Stratospheric Ozone:
Notice of Revocation of Certification
for Refrigerant Reclaimers
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of revocation.
AGENCY:
In accordance with 40 CFR
82.164, no person may sell or offer for
sale or use as a refrigerant, any class I
or class II ozone-depleting substance
consisting wholly or in part of used
refrigerant unless the substance has
been reclaimed by an Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)-certified
refrigerant reclaimer. All persons
reclaiming used refrigerant for sale to a
new owner are required to certify to the
EPA Administrator in accordance with
40 CFR 82.164 and to maintain records
and submit reports in accordance with
40 CFR 82.166.
Through this action, the EPA is giving
notice of the impending revocation of
one refrigerant reclaimer, Refrigerants
Exchange, Inc. (RefEx) of Irwindale, CA,
in accordance with 40 CFR part 82,
subpart F. In addition, the EPA is
announcing the previous revocation of
certification of eight refrigerant
reclaimers. An up-to-date list of EPAcertified refrigerant reclaimers is
available online at www.epa.gov/ozone/
title6/608/reclamation/reclist.html.
DATES: If RefEx wishes to request a
hearing for the impending revocation of
its reclaimer certification, it must
request a hearing in writing on or before
January 4, 2016. If a written request and
supporting data are not received by that
date, RefEx’s certification to reclaim
refrigerants is revoked effective
February 1, 2016.
The following entities had their
certification as refrigerant reclaimers
revoked previously, effective as of the
dates listed below and on EPA’s Web
site:
November 2009: Polar Refrigerant in
South Hampton, NH
March 19, 2009: Refrigerant Services,
Inc in Imperial Beach, CA
January 10, 2008: Rocky Mountain
Reclamation, Inc in Denver, CO; Star
Refrigerants in Fort Worth, TX
March 9, 2007: Teris, LLC in El Dorado,
AR
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
13:24 Dec 01, 2015
Jkt 238001
March 13, 2006: Cryo-Line Supplies
USA, Inc. in Henderson, NV;
Refrigerant Recovery, Inc. in
Milwaukee, WI; South Florida Trane
Service in Miami, FL
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Luke Hall-Jordan, Stratospheric
Protection Division, Office of
Atmospheric Programs, (6205T), 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington,
DC 20460; telephone number (202) 343–
9591; email address hall-jordan.luke@
epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Impending Revocation
On June 10, 2011, the EPA issued a
request for information (June 10, 2011
Request or Request, available in the
docket for this notice) to RefEx pursuant
to Section 114 of the Clean Air Act
(CAA). Section 114 of the CAA
authorizes the EPA to request such
information from anyone who is subject
to any requirement of the CAA in order
to determine the compliance status of
that person or entity. RefEx is subject to
regulations at 40 CFR 82.164 and 82.166
implementing section 608 of the Clean
Air Act.
The June 10, 2011 Request asked, in
part, for records documenting that
reclaimed refrigerant sold by RefEx met
the ARI 700 standard (upon which the
Specifications for Fluorocarbon and
Other Refrigerants in appendix A to 40
CFR part 82, subpart F are based), for
the two-year period prior to RefEx’s
receipt of the request. RefEx responded
to the Request in part on July 7, 2011.
Records provided by RefEx in its
response did not demonstrate that all
refrigerant sold by RefEx in the relevant
time frame was reprocessed to meet all
of the applicable specifications in
appendix A to 40 CFR part 82, subpart
F. As part of its reclaimer certification,
RefEx is required to verify that the
reprocessed refrigerant meets all of the
specifications in appendix A. See 40
CFR 82.164(b), (e)(3), and (g). In
addition, among other things, the June
10, 2011 Request asked for the names
and addresses of persons that sent RefEx
material for reclamation in the 12
months prior to the Request. RefEx’s
July 7, 2011 response also did not
provide that information. RefEx is
required to keep this information under
40 CFR 82.164(e)(3) and 82.166(g).
EPA sent two follow-up letters (also
available in the docket for this notice),
dated August 19, 2011 and October 25,
2011, noting deficiencies in RefEx’s July
7, 2011 response and requesting a full
and complete response to the June 10,
2011 Request. Further, EPA offered
RefEx the opportunity to provide any
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
75455
additional documentation in response to
the June 10, 2011 Request that EPA may
use to determine RefEx’s compliance
with 40 CFR 82.164 and 82.166 in a
letter dated March 16, 2015 (also
available in the docket for this notice).
To date, EPA has not received the
requested information.
In the March 16, 2015 letter, the EPA
warned that if RefEx did not provide
additional information to demonstrate
compliance with 40 CFR 82.164, EPA
would consider initiating procedures to
revoke RefEx’s status as a certified
reclaimer pursuant to 40 CFR 82.164(g)
and 82.169. Since many of the letters
sent to RefEx have been returned as
undeliverable, in addition to the copy of
the letter sent by certified mail, the EPA
emailed the March 16, 2015 letter to the
email address that RefEx uses to provide
its annual report of the amount of
refrigerant reclaimed on May 7, 2015.
The last report was received by the EPA
from this email address on March 24,
2015.
Since RefEx failed to fully respond to
the information requests and has not
shown that it is complying with 40 CFR
82.164 and 82.166, including
particularly 40 CFR 82.164(b) and
82.166(g), the EPA is revoking RefEx’s
certification to reclaim refrigerants.
Under 40 CFR 82.169, the EPA has the
ability to revoke a reclaimer’s
certification for failing ‘‘to abide by any
of the provisions of this subpart . . . .
In such cases, the Administrator or her
or his designated representative shall
give notice of an impending suspension
[or revocation] to the person or
organization setting forth the facts or
conduct that provide the basis for the
revocation or suspension.’’ See also 40
CFR 82.164(g) (providing that ‘‘[f]ailure
to abide by any of the provisions of this
subpart may result in revocation . . . of
the certification of the reclaimer in
accordance with 40 CFR 82.169’’ and
including an analogous notice
requirement).
If RefEx believes that its certification
to reclaim refrigerants should not be
revoked, it may request a hearing under
40 CFR 82.169 by filing a written
request within 30 days of this notice to
the individual identified in FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT. The request must
include RefEx’s objections to the
revocation and data to support the
objections. If the Agency does not
receive a written request for a hearing
within 30 days of the date of this notice,
the revocation will become effective 60
days after the publication of this notice.
Notice of Previous Revocations
To ensure that all stakeholders are
aware of past revocations, EPA is also
E:\FR\FM\02DEN1.SGM
02DEN1
75456
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 231 / Wednesday, December 2, 2015 / Notices
providing notice in this action of eight
former refrigerant reclaimers that no
longer are certified to reclaim
refrigerants. All of these revocations
have previously been noted on EPA’s
Web site at www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/
608/reclamation/recrevoke.html. Six of
these reclaimers have requested to be
removed from the list of certified
reclaimers. They are: Rocky Mountain
Reclamation, Inc. in Denver, CO; Star
Refrigerants in Fort Worth, TX; Teris,
LLC in El Dorado, AR; Cryo-Line
Supplies USA, Inc. in Henderson, NV;
Refrigerant Recovery, Inc. in
Milwaukee, WI; and South Florida
Trane Service in Miami, FL.
Two other reclaimers, Polar
Refrigerant in South Hampton, NH, and
Refrigerant Services, Inc. in Imperial
Beach, CA, had their certification
revoked for failing to comply with the
recordkeeping and reporting
requirements in 40 CFR 82.166. The
dates of revocation are noted on EPA’s
Web site and in the DATES section of this
notice. EPA sent letters to these two
companies in November 2009, and
February 12, 2009, respectively, that
included an explanation of the basis for
EPA’s decision.
Dated: November 16, 2015.
Drusilla Hufford,
Director, Stratospheric Protection Division.
[FR Doc. 2015–30363 Filed 12–1–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
Section 608 Technician Certification
Programs approved to provide the
technician certification exam. EPA’s list
is found here: https://www.epa.gov/
ozone/title6/608/technicians/
608certs.html.
On January 4, 2016 each program
in the below Table: Delinquent
Technician Certification Programs will
be automatically suspended from their
authorization to provide the technician
certification exam and newly issue
certification cards, except for any
organization that provides its
delinquent biannual reports such that
they are received before that date. Each
such suspended program will be
automatically revoked on February 1,
2016, unless a hearing is requested
consistent with 40 CFR 82.169 before
that date. Please send a copy of any
hearing request to the person listed in
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section below. Technicians certified by
these programs will remain certified, in
accordance with 40 CFR 82.161(a).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Robert Burchard, Stratospheric
Protection Division, Office of
Atmospheric Programs (6205T),
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington,
DC 20460; telephone number (202) 343–
9126; fax number: (202) 343–2338;
email address: burchard.robert@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
DATES:
I. General Information
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
How can I get copies of this document
and other related information?
[EPA–HQ–OAR–2015–0272; FRL–9939–42–
OAR]
Docket. EPA has established a docket
for this action under Docket ID No.
EPA–HQ–OAR–2015–0272. Publicly
available docket materials are available
either electronically through
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at
the Air Docket, EPA/DC, WJC West
Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution
Avenue NW., Washington DC. This
Docket Facility is open from 8:30 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,
excluding legal holidays. The Docket
telephone number is (202) 566–1742.
Electronic Access. You may access
this Federal Register document
electronically from the Government
Printing Office under the ‘‘Federal
Protection of Stratospheric Ozone:
Notice of Pending Suspension and
Revocation of 15 Programs From
EPA’s List of Section 608 Technician
Certifying Programs and Voluntary
Withdrawals for 3 Programs
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of pending suspension
and revocations and voluntary
withdrawals.
AGENCY:
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is updating its list of
SUMMARY:
Register’’ listings at the FDSys Web site
(https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/
collection.action?collectionCode=FR).
II. Pending Suspensions and
Revocations and Voluntary
Withdrawals
In accordance with the standards for
certifying programs, codified at
appendix D of 40 CFR part 82, subpart
F, technician certifying programs must
submit an activity report to EPA on a
biannual basis (by every January 30 and
June 30) that provides certain
information about the certification tests
submitted. 15 programs have repeatedly
failed to submit their activity reports.
40 CFR 82.161(e) says that ‘‘If at any
time an approved program violates any
of the above requirements,’’ which
reference the standards in appendix D
in 82.161(c), ‘‘the Administrator
reserves the right to revoke approval in
accordance with Section 82.169.’’
Today’s notice concerns the revocation
of the approval of 15 programs.
These 15 programs were sent certified
letters explaining that EPA was missing
required activity reports and listing
which reports were missing. In the
letters, the programs were offered the
opportunity to come into compliance by
submitting missing reports.1 The
Agency received no replies. The
programs in the table below have thirty
days from the date of publication of this
notice to submit their missing reports.
Failure to submit these reports so that
they are received by January 4, 2016
will result in an automatic suspension
of the program’s approval to offer the
technician certification exam and of its
approval to newly issue Section 608
technician certification cards.
Automatic program revocation will
occur on February 1, 2016 for any
certifying organization that fails to
provide missing reports, unless the
organization receiving this notice of
impending suspension and revocation
requests a hearing in accordance with
the regulations published at 40 CFR
82.169 before that date. The EPA
expects to announce the final
revocations in a separate Federal
Register notice and to accordingly
update the list of approved technician
certification programs mentioned above.
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
TABLE—DELINQUENT TECHNICIAN CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS
Number
Technician certification program
1 ..............................
2 ..............................
3 ..............................
ACI Environmental Safety Training Institute .........................
California Career Center ........................................................
Delaware County Community College ..................................
1 Some of these organizations also received notice
in these letters of impending suspensions and
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Year of most recent activity report
2009.
No record of a submitted report.
2011.
revocations, but because some of these letters were
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
returned to us unopened, we are providing a second
notice in this Federal Register notice.
E:\FR\FM\02DEN1.SGM
02DEN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 231 (Wednesday, December 2, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75455-75456]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30363]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0771; FRL-9939-41-OAR]
Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Notice of Revocation of
Certification for Refrigerant Reclaimers
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of revocation.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with 40 CFR 82.164, no person may sell or offer
for sale or use as a refrigerant, any class I or class II ozone-
depleting substance consisting wholly or in part of used refrigerant
unless the substance has been reclaimed by an Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA)-certified refrigerant reclaimer. All persons reclaiming
used refrigerant for sale to a new owner are required to certify to the
EPA Administrator in accordance with 40 CFR 82.164 and to maintain
records and submit reports in accordance with 40 CFR 82.166.
Through this action, the EPA is giving notice of the impending
revocation of one refrigerant reclaimer, Refrigerants Exchange, Inc.
(RefEx) of Irwindale, CA, in accordance with 40 CFR part 82, subpart F.
In addition, the EPA is announcing the previous revocation of
certification of eight refrigerant reclaimers. An up-to-date list of
EPA-certified refrigerant reclaimers is available online at
www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/608/reclamation/reclist.html.
DATES: If RefEx wishes to request a hearing for the impending
revocation of its reclaimer certification, it must request a hearing in
writing on or before January 4, 2016. If a written request and
supporting data are not received by that date, RefEx's certification to
reclaim refrigerants is revoked effective February 1, 2016.
The following entities had their certification as refrigerant
reclaimers revoked previously, effective as of the dates listed below
and on EPA's Web site:
November 2009: Polar Refrigerant in South Hampton, NH
March 19, 2009: Refrigerant Services, Inc in Imperial Beach, CA
January 10, 2008: Rocky Mountain Reclamation, Inc in Denver, CO; Star
Refrigerants in Fort Worth, TX
March 9, 2007: Teris, LLC in El Dorado, AR
March 13, 2006: Cryo-Line Supplies USA, Inc. in Henderson, NV;
Refrigerant Recovery, Inc. in Milwaukee, WI; South Florida Trane
Service in Miami, FL
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Luke Hall-Jordan, Stratospheric
Protection Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs, (6205T), 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number (202)
343-9591; email address hall-jordan.luke@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Impending Revocation
On June 10, 2011, the EPA issued a request for information (June
10, 2011 Request or Request, available in the docket for this notice)
to RefEx pursuant to Section 114 of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Section
114 of the CAA authorizes the EPA to request such information from
anyone who is subject to any requirement of the CAA in order to
determine the compliance status of that person or entity. RefEx is
subject to regulations at 40 CFR 82.164 and 82.166 implementing section
608 of the Clean Air Act.
The June 10, 2011 Request asked, in part, for records documenting
that reclaimed refrigerant sold by RefEx met the ARI 700 standard (upon
which the Specifications for Fluorocarbon and Other Refrigerants in
appendix A to 40 CFR part 82, subpart F are based), for the two-year
period prior to RefEx's receipt of the request. RefEx responded to the
Request in part on July 7, 2011. Records provided by RefEx in its
response did not demonstrate that all refrigerant sold by RefEx in the
relevant time frame was reprocessed to meet all of the applicable
specifications in appendix A to 40 CFR part 82, subpart F. As part of
its reclaimer certification, RefEx is required to verify that the
reprocessed refrigerant meets all of the specifications in appendix A.
See 40 CFR 82.164(b), (e)(3), and (g). In addition, among other things,
the June 10, 2011 Request asked for the names and addresses of persons
that sent RefEx material for reclamation in the 12 months prior to the
Request. RefEx's July 7, 2011 response also did not provide that
information. RefEx is required to keep this information under 40 CFR
82.164(e)(3) and 82.166(g).
EPA sent two follow-up letters (also available in the docket for
this notice), dated August 19, 2011 and October 25, 2011, noting
deficiencies in RefEx's July 7, 2011 response and requesting a full and
complete response to the June 10, 2011 Request. Further, EPA offered
RefEx the opportunity to provide any additional documentation in
response to the June 10, 2011 Request that EPA may use to determine
RefEx's compliance with 40 CFR 82.164 and 82.166 in a letter dated
March 16, 2015 (also available in the docket for this notice). To date,
EPA has not received the requested information.
In the March 16, 2015 letter, the EPA warned that if RefEx did not
provide additional information to demonstrate compliance with 40 CFR
82.164, EPA would consider initiating procedures to revoke RefEx's
status as a certified reclaimer pursuant to 40 CFR 82.164(g) and
82.169. Since many of the letters sent to RefEx have been returned as
undeliverable, in addition to the copy of the letter sent by certified
mail, the EPA emailed the March 16, 2015 letter to the email address
that RefEx uses to provide its annual report of the amount of
refrigerant reclaimed on May 7, 2015. The last report was received by
the EPA from this email address on March 24, 2015.
Since RefEx failed to fully respond to the information requests and
has not shown that it is complying with 40 CFR 82.164 and 82.166,
including particularly 40 CFR 82.164(b) and 82.166(g), the EPA is
revoking RefEx's certification to reclaim refrigerants. Under 40 CFR
82.169, the EPA has the ability to revoke a reclaimer's certification
for failing ``to abide by any of the provisions of this subpart . . . .
In such cases, the Administrator or her or his designated
representative shall give notice of an impending suspension [or
revocation] to the person or organization setting forth the facts or
conduct that provide the basis for the revocation or suspension.'' See
also 40 CFR 82.164(g) (providing that ``[f]ailure to abide by any of
the provisions of this subpart may result in revocation . . . of the
certification of the reclaimer in accordance with 40 CFR 82.169'' and
including an analogous notice requirement).
If RefEx believes that its certification to reclaim refrigerants
should not be revoked, it may request a hearing under 40 CFR 82.169 by
filing a written request within 30 days of this notice to the
individual identified in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. The request
must include RefEx's objections to the revocation and data to support
the objections. If the Agency does not receive a written request for a
hearing within 30 days of the date of this notice, the revocation will
become effective 60 days after the publication of this notice.
Notice of Previous Revocations
To ensure that all stakeholders are aware of past revocations, EPA
is also
[[Page 75456]]
providing notice in this action of eight former refrigerant reclaimers
that no longer are certified to reclaim refrigerants. All of these
revocations have previously been noted on EPA's Web site at
www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/608/reclamation/recrevoke.html. Six of these
reclaimers have requested to be removed from the list of certified
reclaimers. They are: Rocky Mountain Reclamation, Inc. in Denver, CO;
Star Refrigerants in Fort Worth, TX; Teris, LLC in El Dorado, AR; Cryo-
Line Supplies USA, Inc. in Henderson, NV; Refrigerant Recovery, Inc. in
Milwaukee, WI; and South Florida Trane Service in Miami, FL.
Two other reclaimers, Polar Refrigerant in South Hampton, NH, and
Refrigerant Services, Inc. in Imperial Beach, CA, had their
certification revoked for failing to comply with the recordkeeping and
reporting requirements in 40 CFR 82.166. The dates of revocation are
noted on EPA's Web site and in the DATES section of this notice. EPA
sent letters to these two companies in November 2009, and February 12,
2009, respectively, that included an explanation of the basis for EPA's
decision.
Dated: November 16, 2015.
Drusilla Hufford,
Director, Stratospheric Protection Division.
[FR Doc. 2015-30363 Filed 12-1-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P