Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Notice of Grant of Request To Extend Compliance Date for Requirements To Control Emissions of Hydrofluorocarbon-23, 57898-57899 [2022-20473]

Agencies

• ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[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]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P