Notice of Determination: Petitions Granted Under Subsection (i) of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020, 60158-60159 [2022-21510]

Download as PDF 60158 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 191 / Tuesday, October 4, 2022 / Notices khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES select ‘‘Protest’’, ‘‘Intervention’’, or ‘‘Comment on a Filing’’; or 7 (2) You can file a paper copy of your submission by mailing it to the address below. Your submission must reference the Project docket number CP22–511– 000. To mail via USPS, use the following address: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426. To mail via any other courier, use the following address: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The Commission encourages electronic filing of submissions (option 1 above) and has eFiling staff available to assist you at (202) 502–8258 or FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. Protests and motions to intervene must be served on the applicant either by mail at: Scott T. Langston, Senior Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer, Ozark Gas Transmission, LLC, 1501 McKinney Street, Suite 800, Houston, TX 77010, or email (with a link to the document) at: slangston@ blackbearllc.com. Any subsequent submissions by an intervenor must be served on the applicant and all other parties to the proceeding. Contact information for parties can be downloaded from the service list at the eService link on FERC Online. Tracking the Proceeding Throughout the proceeding, additional information about the project will be available from the Commission’s Office of External Affairs, at (866) 208– FERC, or on the FERC website at www.ferc.gov using the ‘‘eLibrary’’ link as described above. The eLibrary link also provides access to the texts of all formal documents issued by the Commission, such as orders, notices, and rulemakings. In addition, the Commission offers a free service called eSubscription which allows you to keep track of all formal issuances and submittals in specific dockets. This can reduce the amount of time you spend researching proceedings by automatically providing you with notification of these filings, document summaries, and direct links to the documents. For more information and to register, go to www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ esubscription.asp. 7 Additionally, you may file your comments electronically by using the eComment feature, which is located on the Commission’s website at www.ferc.gov under the link to Documents and Filings. Using eComment is an easy method for interested persons to submit brief, text-only comments on a project. VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:48 Oct 03, 2022 Jkt 259001 Dated: September 28, 2022. Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary. [FR Doc. 2022–21477 Filed 10–3–22; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717–01–P ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [EPA–HQ–OAR–2021–0643; FRL–9128–02– OAR] Notice of Determination: Petitions Granted Under Subsection (i) of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: The purpose of this notice is to alert the public of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to grant two petitions submitted under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020. The two petitions request that the Environmental Protection Agency restrict the use of certain regulated substances, as defined in the Act, in certain commercial refrigeration applications, pursuant to its authority under the Act to promulgate rules that restrict, fully, partially, or on a graduated schedule, the use of a regulated substance in the sector or subsector in which the regulated substance is used. The Agency is also using this notice to inform the public of how it will treat two additional submissions by the AirConditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute under this subsection. DATES: EPA granted the two petitions referenced in this notice via letters signed on September 19, 2022. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allison Cain, Stratospheric Protection Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs (6205A), Environmental Protection Agency, telephone number: 202–564–1566; email address: cain.allison@epa.gov. You may also visit EPA’s website at https:// www.epa.gov/climate-hfcs-reduction for further information. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: SUMMARY: I. Background Subsection (i) of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020 (AIM Act or the Act),1 entitled ‘‘Technology Transitions,’’ provides that the Administrator may by rule restrict, 1 The AIM Act was enacted as section 103 in Division S, Innovation for the Environment, of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub. L. 116–260) (codified at 42 U.S.C. 7675).116–260). PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 fully, partially, or on a graduated schedule, the use of a regulated substance in the sector or subsector in which the regulated substance is used. Under subsection (i)(3) a person may petition the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate a rule for the restriction on use of a regulated substance 2 in a sector or subsector, and the Act states that the petition shall include a request that the Administrator negotiate with stakeholders in accordance with subsection (i)(2)(A). Once EPA receives a petition, the AIM Act directs the Agency to make petitions publicly available within 30 days of receipt and to grant or deny the petition within 180 days of receipt, taking the factors listed in subsection (i)(4) into account to the extent practicable. The Agency has received two petitions under subsection (i) of the AIM Act requesting that EPA promulgate rules to restrict the use of hydrofluorocarbons in certain commercial refrigeration applications.3 These petitions were submitted by the Air-conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, et. al (hereby, ‘‘AHRI’’) on March 24, 2022, and the International Institute for Ammonia Refrigeration, et. al (hereby, ‘‘IIAR’’) on May 23, 2022. After reviewing information provided by the petitioners and relevant information related to the ‘‘Factors for Determination’’ in subsection (i)(4) of the AIM Act, EPA granted the two petitions.4 The March 24, 2022, and May 23, 2022, petitions requested restrictions on the use of HFCs in sectors and subsectors that were also the subject of the petitions that EPA granted on October 7, 2021. EPA is also clarifying the treatment of two letters AHRI sent to EPA on August 19, 2021, and October 12, 2021.5 EPA initially included these letters on the 2 The Act provides that ‘‘regulated substance’’ refers to those substances included in the list of regulated substances in subsection (c)(1) of the Act and those substances that the Administrator has designated as a regulated substance under subsection (c)(3). Subsection (c)(1) lists 18 saturated hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and by reference their isomers not so listed, as regulated substances. This is the current list of regulated substances, as no additional substances have been designated as regulated substances under subsection (c)(3). 3 Links to copies of these petitions and other petitions received to date can be found in the table at https://www.epa.gov/climate-hfcs-reduction/ petitions-under-aim-act. EPA has a docket (Docket ID EPA–HQ–OAR–2021–0289–0044), where all subsection (i) petitions are posted, and where the public may submit information related to those petitions. 4 The letters granting the two petitions are available in the docket for this action. 5 EPA has a docket (Docket ID EPA–HQ–OAR– 2021–0289–0044), where all subsection (i) petitions are posted, and where the public may submit information related to those petitions. E:\FR\FM\04OCN1.SGM 04OCN1 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 191 / Tuesday, October 4, 2022 / Notices Agency’s website as new petitions. However, after further review EPA determined that these two AHRI letters are addenda to AHRI’s petitions that EPA granted on October 7, 2021. EPA made this determination because the subsectors listed in these letters were identical to those covered by the already-granted AHRI petitions and because EPA received the August and October 2021 letters before or very near in time to the Agency’s action granting the initial set of petitions. khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES II. What happens after EPA grants a petition? Where the Agency grants a petition submitted under subsection (i) of the AIM Act, the statute requires that EPA promulgate a final rule not later than two years from the date the Agency grants the petition. Per subsection (i)(1) of the AIM Act, EPA may issue rules that restrict, fully, partially, or on a graduated schedule, the use of a regulated substance in the sector or subsector in which the regulated substance is used. The Act establishes that no rule developed under subsection (i) may take effect earlier than one year after the rule promulgation date. In addition, prior to issuing a proposed rule under subsection (i), EPA must consider negotiating with stakeholders in the sector or subsector in accordance with negotiated rulemaking procedures.6 If the Agency decides not to undertake a negotiated rulemaking, the AIM Act requires the Agency to publish an explanation of its decision not to use that procedure. As noted, all four of the requests for restrictions on the use of HFCs (i.e., the two petitions granted on September 19, 2022, and the two letters considered as addenda) addressed sectors and subsectors that are the subject of an upcoming Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that was initiated by the prior petitions granted by the Administrator on October 7, 2021. In that rulemaking EPA will consider proposed restrictions in the same sectors and subsectors covered by the May and March petitions and the two letters considered as addenda. EPA is therefore considering addressing all four of the newer requests for restrictions in the same upcoming proposal. EPA issued a notice informing the public of the Agency’s consideration of using the negotiated rulemaking procedure for the sectors and subsectors addressed in the petitions granted on October 7, 2021, 6 The negotiated rulemaking procedure is provided under subchapter III of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990’’). VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:48 Oct 03, 2022 Jkt 259001 and the Agency’s decision to not use these procedures.7 Because the AIM Act subsection (i)(2)(A) requires that EPA consider negotiating with stakeholders using the negotiated rulemaking procedure ‘‘[b]efore proposing a rule for the use of a regulated substance for a sector or subsector,’’ EPA’s prior consideration and decision not to use negotiated rulemaking applies to the petitions addressed in this notice, which request restrictions on sectors and subsectors for which EPA already considered negotiated rulemaking. Cynthia A. Newberg, Director, Stratospheric Protection Division. [FR Doc. 2022–21510 Filed 10–3–22; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560–50–P ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [FRL–10242–01–OA] Local Government Advisory Committee and Small Communities Advisory Subcommittee: Request for Nominations Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice of request for nominations. AGENCY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Intergovernmental Relations invites nominations from a diverse range of qualified candidates to be considered for appointment to its Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) and Small Communities Advisory Subcommittee (SCAS). Qualified nominees for the LGAC and SCAS hold elected positions with local, tribal, state, or territorial governments, or serve in a full-time government position appointed by an elected official. This notice solicits nominations to fill up to 10 positions on EPA’s LGAC and up to 6 positions on the SCAS, for terms beginning in January 2023 and lasting one or two years. For more information on the LGAC/SCAS, including recent meeting summaries and recommendations, visit: https:// www.epa.gov/ocir/local-governmentadvisory-committee-lgac. DATES: To be considered for 2023 appointments, nominations should be submitted by October 31, 2022. How to Apply: Submit nominations electronically to LGAC@epa.gov with a SUMMARY: 7 EPA issued a separate notice in the Federal Register regarding its consideration of using negotiated rulemaking procedures for a rulemaking that responds to granted and partially granted petitions (December 29, 2021; 86 FR 74080). PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 60159 subject heading of ‘LGAC 2023 NOMINATION’ and complete the form at https://tiny.cc/hcezuz. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paige Lieberman, the LGAC Designated Federal Officer at (202) 564–9957/ LGAC@epa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Qualifications The Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) is chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), Public Law 92–463, to advise the EPA Administrator on environmental issues impacting local governments. The Small Communities Advisory Subcommittee (SCAS) is the LGAC’s standing subcommittee to advise on issues of concern to smaller communities. Members of LGAC and SCAS will provide advice and recommendations on a broad range of issues related to promoting and protecting public health and the environment. For 2023 the topics addressed will include but not be limited to: • Advancing environmental justice; • Developing capacity for technical assistance at the local level; • Reducing greenhouse gas emissions; • Bolstering resilience to the impacts of climate change; • Enhancing the infrastructure needed to provide drinking water and wastewater services; • Supporting local governments in the assessment and remediation of PFAS chemicals. Viable candidates must be current elected officials representing local, state, tribal, or territorial governments. Officials working full-time for a local, state, tribal, or territorial government who have been appointed directly by an elected official will also be considered. Preference will be given to qualified candidates who demonstrate experience developing and implementing environmental programs consistent with the 2023 topics listed above. To maintain geographical diversity of the Committee, preference for LGAC membership may also be given to qualified candidates from tribal governments, and states in the South and Southeastern regions of the country; preference for SCAS membership may be given to qualified candidates from Alaska, New England and the Pacific Northwest. Additional criteria to be considered may include: experience with multisector partnerships; coalition-building and grassroots involvement; involvement and leadership in national, state or regional intergovernmental E:\FR\FM\04OCN1.SGM 04OCN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 191 (Tuesday, October 4, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60158-60159]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-21510]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0643; FRL-9128-02-OAR]


Notice of Determination: Petitions Granted Under Subsection (i) 
of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is to alert the public of the 
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) decision to grant two petitions 
submitted under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020. 
The two petitions request that the Environmental Protection Agency 
restrict the use of certain regulated substances, as defined in the 
Act, in certain commercial refrigeration applications, pursuant to its 
authority under the Act to promulgate rules that restrict, fully, 
partially, or on a graduated schedule, the use of a regulated substance 
in the sector or subsector in which the regulated substance is used. 
The Agency is also using this notice to inform the public of how it 
will treat two additional submissions by the Air-Conditioning, Heating, 
and Refrigeration Institute under this subsection.

DATES: EPA granted the two petitions referenced in this notice via 
letters signed on September 19, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allison Cain, Stratospheric Protection 
Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs (6205A), Environmental 
Protection Agency, telephone number: 202-564-1566; email address: 
[email protected]. You may also visit EPA's website at https://www.epa.gov/climate-hfcs-reduction for further information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Subsection (i) of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 
2020 (AIM Act or the Act),\1\ entitled ``Technology Transitions,'' 
provides that the Administrator may by rule restrict, fully, partially, 
or on a graduated schedule, the use of a regulated substance in the 
sector or subsector in which the regulated substance is used. Under 
subsection (i)(3) a person may petition the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) to promulgate a rule for the restriction on use of a 
regulated substance \2\ in a sector or subsector, and the Act states 
that the petition shall include a request that the Administrator 
negotiate with stakeholders in accordance with subsection (i)(2)(A). 
Once EPA receives a petition, the AIM Act directs the Agency to make 
petitions publicly available within 30 days of receipt and to grant or 
deny the petition within 180 days of receipt, taking the factors listed 
in subsection (i)(4) into account to the extent practicable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The AIM Act was enacted as section 103 in Division S, 
Innovation for the Environment, of the Consolidated Appropriations 
Act, 2021 (Pub. L. 116-260) (codified at 42 U.S.C. 7675).116-260).
    \2\ The Act provides that ``regulated substance'' refers to 
those substances included in the list of regulated substances in 
subsection (c)(1) of the Act and those substances that the 
Administrator has designated as a regulated substance under 
subsection (c)(3). Subsection (c)(1) lists 18 saturated 
hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and by reference their isomers not so 
listed, as regulated substances. This is the current list of 
regulated substances, as no additional substances have been 
designated as regulated substances under subsection (c)(3).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Agency has received two petitions under subsection (i) of the 
AIM Act requesting that EPA promulgate rules to restrict the use of 
hydrofluorocarbons in certain commercial refrigeration applications.\3\ 
These petitions were submitted by the Air-conditioning, Heating, and 
Refrigeration Institute, et. al (hereby, ``AHRI'') on March 24, 2022, 
and the International Institute for Ammonia Refrigeration, et. al 
(hereby, ``IIAR'') on May 23, 2022. After reviewing information 
provided by the petitioners and relevant information related to the 
``Factors for Determination'' in subsection (i)(4) of the AIM Act, EPA 
granted the two petitions.\4\ The March 24, 2022, and May 23, 2022, 
petitions requested restrictions on the use of HFCs in sectors and 
subsectors that were also the subject of the petitions that EPA granted 
on October 7, 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Links to copies of these petitions and other petitions 
received to date can be found in the table at https://www.epa.gov/climate-hfcs-reduction/petitions-under-aim-act. EPA has a docket 
(Docket ID EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0289-0044), where all subsection (i) 
petitions are posted, and where the public may submit information 
related to those petitions.
    \4\ The letters granting the two petitions are available in the 
docket for this action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    EPA is also clarifying the treatment of two letters AHRI sent to 
EPA on August 19, 2021, and October 12, 2021.\5\ EPA initially included 
these letters on the

[[Page 60159]]

Agency's website as new petitions. However, after further review EPA 
determined that these two AHRI letters are addenda to AHRI's petitions 
that EPA granted on October 7, 2021. EPA made this determination 
because the subsectors listed in these letters were identical to those 
covered by the already-granted AHRI petitions and because EPA received 
the August and October 2021 letters before or very near in time to the 
Agency's action granting the initial set of petitions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ EPA has a docket (Docket ID EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0289-0044), 
where all subsection (i) petitions are posted, and where the public 
may submit information related to those petitions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

II. What happens after EPA grants a petition?

    Where the Agency grants a petition submitted under subsection (i) 
of the AIM Act, the statute requires that EPA promulgate a final rule 
not later than two years from the date the Agency grants the petition. 
Per subsection (i)(1) of the AIM Act, EPA may issue rules that 
restrict, fully, partially, or on a graduated schedule, the use of a 
regulated substance in the sector or subsector in which the regulated 
substance is used. The Act establishes that no rule developed under 
subsection (i) may take effect earlier than one year after the rule 
promulgation date. In addition, prior to issuing a proposed rule under 
subsection (i), EPA must consider negotiating with stakeholders in the 
sector or subsector in accordance with negotiated rulemaking 
procedures.\6\ If the Agency decides not to undertake a negotiated 
rulemaking, the AIM Act requires the Agency to publish an explanation 
of its decision not to use that procedure.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ The negotiated rulemaking procedure is provided under 
subchapter III of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code (commonly 
known as the ``Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As noted, all four of the requests for restrictions on the use of 
HFCs (i.e., the two petitions granted on September 19, 2022, and the 
two letters considered as addenda) addressed sectors and subsectors 
that are the subject of an upcoming Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
(NPRM) that was initiated by the prior petitions granted by the 
Administrator on October 7, 2021. In that rulemaking EPA will consider 
proposed restrictions in the same sectors and subsectors covered by the 
May and March petitions and the two letters considered as addenda. EPA 
is therefore considering addressing all four of the newer requests for 
restrictions in the same upcoming proposal. EPA issued a notice 
informing the public of the Agency's consideration of using the 
negotiated rulemaking procedure for the sectors and subsectors 
addressed in the petitions granted on October 7, 2021, and the Agency's 
decision to not use these procedures.\7\ Because the AIM Act subsection 
(i)(2)(A) requires that EPA consider negotiating with stakeholders 
using the negotiated rulemaking procedure ``[b]efore proposing a rule 
for the use of a regulated substance for a sector or subsector,'' EPA's 
prior consideration and decision not to use negotiated rulemaking 
applies to the petitions addressed in this notice, which request 
restrictions on sectors and subsectors for which EPA already considered 
negotiated rulemaking.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ EPA issued a separate notice in the Federal Register 
regarding its consideration of using negotiated rulemaking 
procedures for a rulemaking that responds to granted and partially 
granted petitions (December 29, 2021; 86 FR 74080).

Cynthia A. Newberg,
Director, Stratospheric Protection Division.
[FR Doc. 2022-21510 Filed 10-3-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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