Protection of Stratospheric Ozone

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 82

[FRL-6015-3]

Protection of Stratospheric Ozone

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of acceptability.

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

SUMMARY: This document expands the list of acceptable substitutes for

ozone-depleting substances (ODS) under the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency's (EPA) Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP)

program.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 22, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Information relevant to this document is contained in Air

Docket A-91-42, U.S. Environmental Agency, Office of Air and Radiation

Docket and Information Center, Room M-1500, 401 M Street, SW,

Washington, DC 20460. Telephone: (202) 260-7548. The docket may be

inspected between 8:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. weekdays. As provided in 40

CFR Part 2, a reasonable fee may be charged for photocopying.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Monroe at (202) 564-9161 or

fax (202) 565-2093, U.S. EPA, Stratospheric Protection Division, 401 M

Street, S.W., Mail Code 6205J, Washington, D.C. 20460; EPA

Stratospheric Ozone Protection Hotline at (800) 296-1996; EPA World

Wide Web Site (http://www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/snap).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Section 612 Program

A. Statutory Requirements

B. Regulatory History

II. Listing of Acceptable Substitutes

A. Aerosols

III. Additional Information

Appendix A--Summary of Acceptable Decisions

I. Section 612 Program

A. Statutory Requirements

Section 612 of the Clean Air Act authorizes EPA to develop a

program for evaluating alternatives to ozone-depleting substances. EPA

refers to this program as the Significant New Alternatives Policy

(SNAP) program. The major provisions of section 612 are:

Rulemaking--Section 612(c) requires EPA to promulgate

rules making it unlawful to replace any class I (chlorofluorocarbon,

halon, carbon tetrachloride, methyl chloroform, methyl bromide, and

hydrobromofluorocarbon) or class II (hydrochlorofluorocarbon) substance

with any substitute that the Administrator determines may present

adverse effects to human health or the environment where the

Administrator has identified an alternative that (1) reduces the

overall risk to human health and the environment, and (2) is currently

or potentially available.

Listing of Unacceptable/Acceptable Substitutes--Section

612(c) also requires EPA to publish a list of the substitutes

unacceptable for specific uses. EPA must publish a corresponding

[[Page 28252]]

list of acceptable alternatives for specific uses.

Petition Process--Section 612(d) grants the right to any

person to petition EPA to add a substance to or delete a substance from

the lists published in accordance with section 612(c). The Agency has

90 days to grant or deny a petition. Where the Agency grants the

petition, EPA must publish the revised lists within an additional 6

months.

90-day Notification--Section 612(e) requires EPA to

require any person who produces a chemical substitute for a class I

substance to notify the Agency not less than 90 days before new or

existing chemicals are introduced into interstate commerce for

significant new uses as substitutes for a class I substance. The

producer must also provide the Agency with the producer's unpublished

health and safety studies on such substitutes.

Outreach--Section 612(b)(1) states that the Administrator

shall seek to maximize the use of federal research facilities and

resources to assist users of class I and II substances in identifying

and developing alternatives to the use of such substances in key

commercial applications.

Clearinghouse--Section 612(b)(4) requires the Agency to

set up a public clearinghouse of alternative chemicals, product

substitutes, and alternative manufacturing processes that are available

for products and manufacturing processes which use class I and II

substances.

B. Regulatory History

On March 18, 1994, EPA published the Final Rulemaking (FRM) (59 FR

13044) which described the process for administering the SNAP program

and issued EPA's first acceptability lists for substitutes in the major

industrial use sectors. These sectors include: refrigeration and air

conditioning; foam blowing; solvent cleaning; fire suppression and

explosion protection; sterilants; aerosols; adhesives, coatings and

inks; and tobacco expansion. These sectors compose the principal

industrial sectors that historically consumed the largest volumes of

ozone-depleting compounds.

As described in the final rule for the SNAP program (59 FR 13044),

EPA does not believe that rulemaking procedures are required to list

alternatives as acceptable with no limitations. Such listings do not

impose any sanction, nor do they remove any prior license to use a

substance. Consequently, by this notice EPA is adding substances to the

list of acceptable alternatives without first requesting comment on new

listings.

EPA does, however, believe that Notice-and-Comment rulemaking is

required to place any substance on the list of prohibited substitutes,

to list a substance as acceptable only under certain conditions, to

list substances as acceptable only for certain uses, or to remove a

substance from either the list of prohibited or acceptable substitutes.

Updates to these lists are published as separate notices of rulemaking

in the Federal Register.

The Agency defines a substitute as any chemical, product

substitute, or alternative manufacturing process, whether existing or

new, that could replace a class I or class II substance. Anyone who

produces a substitute must provide the Agency with health and safety

studies on the substitute at least 90 days before introducing it into

interstate commerce for significant new use as an alternative. This

requirement applies to substitute manufacturers, but may include

importers, formulators or end-users, when they are responsible for

introducing a substitute into commerce.

EPA published documents listing acceptable alternatives on August

26, 1994 (59 FR 44240), January 13, 1995 (60 FR 3318), July 28, 1995

(60 FR 38729), February 8, 1996 (61 FR 4736), September 5, 1996 (61 FR

47012), March 10, 1997 (62 FR 10700), June 3, 1997 (62 FR 30275), and

February 24, 1998 (63 FR 9151), and published Final Rulemakings

restricting the use of certain substitutes on June 13, 1995 (60 FR

31092), May 22, 1996 (61 FR 25585), and October 16, 1996 (61 FR 54029).

II. Listing of Acceptable Substitutes

This section presents EPA's most recent acceptable listing decision

for substitutes for class I and class II substances in the aerosol

sector. For copies of the full list of SNAP decisions in all industrial

sectors, contact the EPA Stratospheric Protection Hotline at (800) 296-

1996.

Part A below presents a detailed discussion of the substitute

listing determination; by major use sector; the table summarizing

today's listing decision is in Appendix A. The comments contained in

Appendix A provide additional information on a substitute, but for

listings of acceptable substitutes, they are not legally binding under

section 612 of the Clean Air Act. Thus, adherence to recommendations in

the comments is not mandatory for use of a substitute. In addition, the

comments should not be considered comprehensive with respect to other

legal obligations pertaining to the use of the substitute. However, EPA

encourages users of acceptable substitutes to apply all comments to

their use of these substitutes. In many instances, the comments simply

allude to sound operating practices that have already been identified

in existing industry and/or building-code standards. Thus, many of the

comments, if adopted, would not require significant changes in existing

operating practices for the affected industry.

A. Aerosols

1. Acceptable Substitute

Under section 612 of the Clean Air Act, EPA is authorized to review

substitutes for class I (CFCs) and class II (HCFCs) chemicals. The

following decision expands the acceptable listing for propellants in

the aerosol sector.

(a) Aerosol Propellants

(1) HFC-227ea

HFC-227ea is an acceptable substitute for CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-114,

HCFC-22, and HCFC-142b as a propellant in the aerosol sector. HFC-227ea

has a zero ozone depletion potential and an atmospheric lifetime of

36.5 years, yet this compound contributes to global warming with a 100-

year global warming potential (GWP) of 2,900 relative to carbon

dioxide. Despite this concern, the Agency has listed this substitute as

acceptable in today's notice since it meets a specialized medical

application in metered dose inhalers (MDIs), used by asthmatics and

others with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, where only one

other substitute meets the medical requirements.

III. Additional Information

Contact the Stratospheric Protection Hotline at 1-800-296-1996,

Monday-Friday, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (Eastern

Standard Time).

For more information on the Agency's process for administering the

SNAP program or criteria for evaluation of substitutes, refer to the

SNAP final rulemaking published in the Federal Register on March 18,

1994 (59 FR 13044). Notices and rulemakings under the SNAP program, as

well as all EPA publications on protection of stratospheric ozone, are

available from EPA's Ozone World Wide Web site at ``http://www.epa.gov/

ozone/title6/snap'' and from the stratospheric Protection Hotline whose

number is listed above.

Dated: May 8, 1998.

Richard D. Wilson,

Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.

Note: The following Appendix will not appear in the Code of

Federal Regulations.

[[Page 28253]]

Appendix A: Summary of Acceptable Decisions

[Aerosol Propellants]

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

ODS being replaced Substitute Decision Comments

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

CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-114, HCFC- HFC-227ea.............. Acceptable............ Despite the relatively high

22, HCFC-142b as aerosol global warming potential of

propellant. this compound, the Agency has

listed this substitute as

acceptable since it meets a

specialized application in

MDIs where other substitutes

do not provide acceptable

performance.

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

[FR Doc. 98-13125 Filed 5-21-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P