[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 23, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 9987]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-3992]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 82
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0167; FRL-9270-2]
Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Amendments to the Section 608
Leak Repair Requirements
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of public comment period.
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SUMMARY: EPA issued a proposed rule in the December 15, 2010, Federal
Register proposing changes to the leak repair regulations promulgated
under Section 608 of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. In response
to stakeholder requests, this action reopens the public comment period
through March 25, 2011.
DATES: Comments, identified by docket ID number EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0167,
must be received on or before March 25, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments to docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0167 by one
of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
on-line instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected].
Mail: Environmental Protection Agency. EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC),
Mailcode 6102T, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0167, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460.
Hand Delivery: Public Reading Room, Room 3334, EPA West Building,
1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC. Such deliveries are only
accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2003-0167. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site
is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without
going through http://www.regulations.gov your e-mail address will be
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid
the use of special characters and any form of encryption, and be free
of any defects or viruses.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available: e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy.
Publicly available docket materials are available either
electronically in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air
Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., 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 telephone
number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone
number for the Air Docket is (202) 566-1742.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ross Brennan, Stratospheric Protection
Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs; Environmental Protection
Agency, Mail Code 6205J, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC
20460; telephone number (202) 343-9226; fax number (202) 343-2338; e-
mail address [email protected]. More information about EPA's leak
repair requirements under Section 608, including a copy of the proposed
rule, is available at http://epa.gov/ozone/title6/608/leak.html.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The statutory and regulatory background is described in detail in
the December 15, 2010, notice of proposed rulemaking (75 FR 78558). EPA
has proposed to lower the leak repair trigger rates for comfort
cooling, commercial refrigeration, and industrial process refrigeration
and air-conditioning equipment with refrigerant charges greater than 50
pounds of ozone-depleting substances. This action proposes to
streamline existing required practices and associated reporting and
recordkeeping requirements by establishing similar leak repair
requirements for owners or operators of comfort cooling, commercial
refrigeration, and industrial process refrigeration appliances. This
action also proposes to reduce the use and emissions of class I and
class II controlled substances (such as but not limited to CFC-11, CFC-
12, HCFC-123, and HCFC-22) by requiring verification and documentation
of all repairs, retrofit or retirement of appliances that cannot be
sufficiently repaired; replacement of appliance components that have a
history of failures; and recordkeeping of the determination of the full
charge and the fate of recovered refrigerant.
This Action
EPA has received a request to provide additional time for public
comment on the proposed rule. We believe that the request is reasonable
and that a further 30 days for additional public comment is
appropriate, since it will provide affected entities with necessary
time to complete analysis and comment on the proposal. This action
therefore reopens the comment period for 30 days. We intend to issue a
final rule as expeditiously as possible following consideration of the
comments and information we receive.
Dated: February 16, 2011.
Gina McCarthy,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 2011-3992 Filed 2-22-11; 8:45 am]
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