80 FR 75455 - Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Notice of Revocation of Certification for Refrigerant Reclaimers

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 231 (December 2, 2015)

In accordance with 40 CFR 82.164, no person may sell or offer for sale or use as a refrigerant, any class I or class II ozone- depleting substance consisting wholly or in part of used refrigerant unless the substance has been reclaimed by an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-certified refrigerant reclaimer. All persons reclaiming used refrigerant for sale to a new owner are required to certify to the EPA Administrator in accordance with 40 CFR 82.164 and to maintain records and submit reports in accordance with 40 CFR 82.166. Through this action, the EPA is giving notice of the impending revocation of one refrigerant reclaimer, Refrigerants Exchange, Inc. (RefEx) of Irwindale, CA, in accordance with 40 CFR part 82, subpart F. In addition, the EPA is announcing the previous revocation of certification of eight refrigerant reclaimers. An up-to-date list of EPA-certified refrigerant reclaimers is available online at www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/608/reclamation/reclist.html.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 231 (Wednesday, December 2, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75455-75456]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30363]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0771; FRL-9939-41-OAR]


Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Notice of Revocation of 
Certification for Refrigerant Reclaimers

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of revocation.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with 40 CFR 82.164, no person may sell or offer 
for sale or use as a refrigerant, any class I or class II ozone-
depleting substance consisting wholly or in part of used refrigerant 
unless the substance has been reclaimed by an Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA)-certified refrigerant reclaimer. All persons reclaiming 
used refrigerant for sale to a new owner are required to certify to the 
EPA Administrator in accordance with 40 CFR 82.164 and to maintain 
records and submit reports in accordance with 40 CFR 82.166.
    Through this action, the EPA is giving notice of the impending 
revocation of one refrigerant reclaimer, Refrigerants Exchange, Inc. 
(RefEx) of Irwindale, CA, in accordance with 40 CFR part 82, subpart F. 
In addition, the EPA is announcing the previous revocation of 
certification of eight refrigerant reclaimers. An up-to-date list of 
EPA-certified refrigerant reclaimers is available online at 
www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/608/reclamation/reclist.html.

DATES: If RefEx wishes to request a hearing for the impending 
revocation of its reclaimer certification, it must request a hearing in 
writing on or before January 4, 2016. If a written request and 
supporting data are not received by that date, RefEx's certification to 
reclaim refrigerants is revoked effective February 1, 2016.
    The following entities had their certification as refrigerant 
reclaimers revoked previously, effective as of the dates listed below 
and on EPA's Web site:

November 2009: Polar Refrigerant in South Hampton, NH
March 19, 2009: Refrigerant Services, Inc in Imperial Beach, CA
January 10, 2008: Rocky Mountain Reclamation, Inc in Denver, CO; Star 
Refrigerants in Fort Worth, TX
March 9, 2007: Teris, LLC in El Dorado, AR
March 13, 2006: Cryo-Line Supplies USA, Inc. in Henderson, NV; 
Refrigerant Recovery, Inc. in Milwaukee, WI; South Florida Trane 
Service in Miami, FL

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Luke Hall-Jordan, Stratospheric 
Protection Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs, (6205T), 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number (202) 
343-9591; email address [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Impending Revocation

    On June 10, 2011, the EPA issued a request for information (June 
10, 2011 Request or Request, available in the docket for this notice) 
to RefEx pursuant to Section 114 of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Section 
114 of the CAA authorizes the EPA to request such information from 
anyone who is subject to any requirement of the CAA in order to 
determine the compliance status of that person or entity. RefEx is 
subject to regulations at 40 CFR 82.164 and 82.166 implementing section 
608 of the Clean Air Act.
    The June 10, 2011 Request asked, in part, for records documenting 
that reclaimed refrigerant sold by RefEx met the ARI 700 standard (upon 
which the Specifications for Fluorocarbon and Other Refrigerants in 
appendix A to 40 CFR part 82, subpart F are based), for the two-year 
period prior to RefEx's receipt of the request. RefEx responded to the 
Request in part on July 7, 2011. Records provided by RefEx in its 
response did not demonstrate that all refrigerant sold by RefEx in the 
relevant time frame was reprocessed to meet all of the applicable 
specifications in appendix A to 40 CFR part 82, subpart F. As part of 
its reclaimer certification, RefEx is required to verify that the 
reprocessed refrigerant meets all of the specifications in appendix A. 
See 40 CFR 82.164(b), (e)(3), and (g). In addition, among other things, 
the June 10, 2011 Request asked for the names and addresses of persons 
that sent RefEx material for reclamation in the 12 months prior to the 
Request. RefEx's July 7, 2011 response also did not provide that 
information. RefEx is required to keep this information under 40 CFR 
82.164(e)(3) and 82.166(g).
    EPA sent two follow-up letters (also available in the docket for 
this notice), dated August 19, 2011 and October 25, 2011, noting 
deficiencies in RefEx's July 7, 2011 response and requesting a full and 
complete response to the June 10, 2011 Request. Further, EPA offered 
RefEx the opportunity to provide any additional documentation in 
response to the June 10, 2011 Request that EPA may use to determine 
RefEx's compliance with 40 CFR 82.164 and 82.166 in a letter dated 
March 16, 2015 (also available in the docket for this notice). To date, 
EPA has not received the requested information.
    In the March 16, 2015 letter, the EPA warned that if RefEx did not 
provide additional information to demonstrate compliance with 40 CFR 
82.164, EPA would consider initiating procedures to revoke RefEx's 
status as a certified reclaimer pursuant to 40 CFR 82.164(g) and 
82.169. Since many of the letters sent to RefEx have been returned as 
undeliverable, in addition to the copy of the letter sent by certified 
mail, the EPA emailed the March 16, 2015 letter to the email address 
that RefEx uses to provide its annual report of the amount of 
refrigerant reclaimed on May 7, 2015. The last report was received by 
the EPA from this email address on March 24, 2015.
    Since RefEx failed to fully respond to the information requests and 
has not shown that it is complying with 40 CFR 82.164 and 82.166, 
including particularly 40 CFR 82.164(b) and 82.166(g), the EPA is 
revoking RefEx's certification to reclaim refrigerants. Under 40 CFR 
82.169, the EPA has the ability to revoke a reclaimer's certification 
for failing ``to abide by any of the provisions of this subpart . . . . 
In such cases, the Administrator or her or his designated 
representative shall give notice of an impending suspension [or 
revocation] to the person or organization setting forth the facts or 
conduct that provide the basis for the revocation or suspension.'' See 
also 40 CFR 82.164(g) (providing that ``[f]ailure to abide by any of 
the provisions of this subpart may result in revocation . . . of the 
certification of the reclaimer in accordance with 40 CFR 82.169'' and 
including an analogous notice requirement).
    If RefEx believes that its certification to reclaim refrigerants 
should not be revoked, it may request a hearing under 40 CFR 82.169 by 
filing a written request within 30 days of this notice to the 
individual identified in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. The request 
must include RefEx's objections to the revocation and data to support 
the objections. If the Agency does not receive a written request for a 
hearing within 30 days of the date of this notice, the revocation will 
become effective 60 days after the publication of this notice.

Notice of Previous Revocations

    To ensure that all stakeholders are aware of past revocations, EPA 
is also

[[Page 75456]]

providing notice in this action of eight former refrigerant reclaimers 
that no longer are certified to reclaim refrigerants. All of these 
revocations have previously been noted on EPA's Web site at 
www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/608/reclamation/recrevoke.html. Six of these 
reclaimers have requested to be removed from the list of certified 
reclaimers. They are: Rocky Mountain Reclamation, Inc. in Denver, CO; 
Star Refrigerants in Fort Worth, TX; Teris, LLC in El Dorado, AR; Cryo-
Line Supplies USA, Inc. in Henderson, NV; Refrigerant Recovery, Inc. in 
Milwaukee, WI; and South Florida Trane Service in Miami, FL.
    Two other reclaimers, Polar Refrigerant in South Hampton, NH, and 
Refrigerant Services, Inc. in Imperial Beach, CA, had their 
certification revoked for failing to comply with the recordkeeping and 
reporting requirements in 40 CFR 82.166. The dates of revocation are 
noted on EPA's Web site and in the DATES section of this notice. EPA 
sent letters to these two companies in November 2009, and February 12, 
2009, respectively, that included an explanation of the basis for EPA's 
decision.

    Dated: November 16, 2015.
Drusilla Hufford,
Director, Stratospheric Protection Division.
[FR Doc. 2015-30363 Filed 12-1-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P