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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 27 / Thursday, February 11, 2021 / Notices
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A. Data Presented Related to HFC
Production As explained previously, the GHGRP
collects and reports data related to the production of HFCs. Subpart OO defines produce as follows: To produce a fluorinated GHG means to manufacture a fluorinated GHG from any raw material or feedstock chemical.
Producing a fluorinated GHG includes the manufacture of a fluorinated GHG as an isolated intermediate for use in a process that will result in its transformation either at or outside of the production facility. Producing a fluorinated GHG also includes the creation of a fluorinated GHG with the exception of HFC23 that is captured and shipped off site for any reason, including destruction. Producing a fluorinated GHG does not include the reuse or recycling of a fluorinated GHG, the creation of HFC23 during the production of HCFC22, the creation of intermediates that are created and transformed in a single process with no storage of the intermediates, or the creation of fluorinated GHGs that are released or destroyed at the production facility before the production measurement at 98.414a. 40 CFR
98.410b.
This definition is similar to, but not identical to, the AIM Act definition of produce. The AIM Act defines the term produce as the manufacture of a regulated substance from a raw material or feedstock chemical but not including the destruction of a regulated substance by a technology approved by the Administrator. The term produce does not includei the manufacture of a regulated substance that is used and entirely consumed except for trace quantities in the manufacture of another chemical; or ii the reclamation, reuse, or recycling of a regulated substance. Although the definitions of produce under the GHGRP and the AIM Act are not identical, there is sufficient overlap between the terms that information collected and reported through the GHGRP can be helpful in developing the baseline figures used in future AIM Act regulations.
The GHGRP also collects data related to the destruction of HFCs. Destroyed HFCs are typically byproducts of a
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chemical process and are either destroyed on site or captured and shipped to a separate facility for destruction. Hazardous waste facilities also destroy HFCs that have been recovered from equipment or are otherwise used. The GHGRP has required facilities that produce or import HFCs to report the quantities that they destroy since 2010.4 In 2018, the requirement to report the quantities destroyed was extended to facilities that destroy more than 25,000 metric tons CO2e of fluorinated GHGs but that do not produce or import them.
Six companies have reported production and/or destruction of HFCs listed in the AIM Act to the GHGRP in 2011, 2012, and 2013. The companies are listed in Table 2. EPA requests comment on whether this is the complete listing of companies who produced or destroyed HFCs in those years. The docket also contains data on the quantity equal to production minus destruction minus transformation of the AIM HFCs other than HFC23 on a GWP-weighted basis for 2011, 2012, and 2013. EPA is presenting aggregated information from producers and destruction facilities given the approach to releasing CBI under the GHGRP.5
Data Gaps EPA has identified possible data gaps for HFC production and destruction in the United States for 2011, 2012, and 2013. First, the GHGRP does not collect data on the production of HFC23 that is used, for example, in very low temperature refrigeration, blast chillers, semiconductor etching, and as a fire suppression agent.
Second, as discussed above, the GHGRP data on the destruction of HFCs during 2011, 2012, and 2013 may be incomplete, because facilities that destroyed but that did not produce or import fluorinated GHGs were not 4 Subpart OO of the GHGRP covers neither production nor destruction of HFC23.
5 EPA notes that the data presented in this NODA
may differ from the data provided on the Agencys website. This is because 1 some reporters have provided updated data, and 2 the GHGRP website displays the net supply of saturated HFCs, except HFC23 which does not completely align with the list of regulated substances under the AIM Act. For purposes of this NODA, and its associated docket, EPA is presenting GHGRP data that may be relevant to future AIM Act regulatory actions.

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required to report the quantities destroyed in those years.
EPA specifically encourages comment and submission of data on these potential data gaps and whether there are other gaps that the Agency has not considered.
B. Data Presented Related to HFC
Consumption The AIM Act defines consumption as a quantity equal to the difference between A a quantity equal to the sum ofi the quantity of that regulated substance produced in the United States; and ii the quantity of the regulated substance imported into the United States; and B the quantity of the regulated substance exported from the United States. In more general terms, the net supply of a substance to the United States, as that term is understood under the GHGRP, may be helpful in developing consumption baselines under the AIM Act.
Under the GHGRP, each importer and exporter of HFCs must submit an annual report that includes total mass in metric tons of each HFC imported and exported, including each HFC in a product that makes up more than 0.5
percent of the product by mass. Each importer of HFCs must also report the total mass sold or transferred for use in processes resulting in the transformation or destruction of the HFC. HFCs are also imported and exported in equipment such as precharged air conditioners or in foams.
Subpart QQ of the GHGRP collects data on these imports and exports.
Thirty-eight companies have reported importing and nineteen companies have reported exporting HFCs to the GHGRP
in the years 2011, 2012, and 2013. These companies are listed in Table 2. EPA
requests comment on whether this is the complete listing of companies to have imported and exported HFCs in those years.
The data presented in Tables 3 and 4
are large-scale aggregations of data. Data aggregations not included in the tables are denoted with an asterisk. EPA
intends to provide updated data in the docket for this NODA on February 8, 2021, after providing reporters time to review and respond to the aggregation notification.

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