The EPA announced a final rule to establish a new program to better manage, recycle, and reuse climate-damaging hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) under the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act. The final rule includes provisions that will reduce wasteful leaks from large refrigeration and air conditioning equipment and will support American leadership and innovation in the development of clean solutions to tackle these dangerous heat-trapping emissions.Today’s final rule, establishing the Emissions Reduction and Reclamation (ER&R) program, addresses the third part of the bipartisan AIM Act, and comes less than two years after President Biden signed the U.S. ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to phase down climate-damaging HFCs and help avoid up to 0.5 degrees Celsius of global warming by 2100. By reducing leaks and promoting innovative reuse of existing HFCs, this final rule will help the nation achieve an 85% HFC phasedown by 2036 while boosting American leadership and competitiveness.
“American companies are leading the world in developing and innovating clean solutions to reduce climate-damaging HFCs,” said EPA Administration Michael S. Regan. “This rule is the final foundational step in our strategy to address HFCs, building on programs to reduce HFC production and imports, and to guide technologies to safer alternatives. Our HFC programs embody the Biden-Harris Administration’s strong belief that climate action opens up new opportunities for American technology and innovation.”
“The Biden-Harris Administration has moved with urgency and ambition since Day One to implement the bipartisan AIM Act and deliver the massive climate benefits and American manufacturing opportunities of a rapid HFC phasedown,” said White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi. “Today’s final rule will support a growing American industry for HFC recycling and reclamation, building on the Administration’s successful implementation of a 10% HFC reduction step on production and imports in 2022 and 2023 and ongoing implementation of the 40% reduction step that started this year – major results that we have delivered while working in partnership with industry to create good-paying jobs and strengthen American leadership on innovative HFC alternatives.”
“Alliance members welcome the completion of the Refrigerant Management and Reclaim rule,” said Kevin Fay, Executive Director of the Alliance for Atmospheric Policy. “We look forward to reviewing the details of the final rule, which establishes a formal baseline for a unified Federal approach to refrigerant management. We recognize that much work remains to fulfill the implementation requirements and to grow the program to achieve refrigerant emission controls that are environmentally and economically effective.”
“EPA has taken an important step today in setting up the third leg of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act. There are many measures necessary to effectively manage super pollutant hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and EPA will now require several of the most impactful. With this rule, EPA has laid the foundation for reducing leaks and increasing recovery and reuse of HFCs from equipment,” said Richie Kaur, Senior Advocate, Natural Resources Defense Council.
“This landmark rule solidifies a strong regulatory foundation to drastically cut emissions - curbing demand for new super pollutant HFCs by incentivizing the reuse of HFCs already in circulation and penalizing their leaks. In addition to real emissions reductions at home, this provides a powerful example for other countries looking to regulate climate pollution from the cooling sector, especially as we push for robust refrigerant management globally, including at the Montreal Protocol,” said Avipsa Mahapatra, Climate Campaign Director, Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA US).
The ER&R program will help minimize releases of HFCs from equipment by addressing leaks across the lifespan of refrigerant-containing equipment, such as air conditioners and refrigeration systems, while also maximizing the reuse of existing HFCs — supporting a growing American industry for recovering HFCs from existing equipment and reclaiming them to be used again, all while reducing lifecycle emissions. Earlier this year, EPA announced grant recipients for funding from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to support American innovation on HFC reclamation.
The final ER&R program includes requirements for repairing leaking equipment, the installation and use of automatic leak detection systems on large refrigeration systems, using reclaimed HFCs to service certain existing equipment, minimizing HFC releases from fire suppression equipment, fire suppression technician training, and removal of HFCs from disposable cylinders before they are discarded. The regulations also establish a standard that limits the amount of new, or virgin, HFCs that can be contained in reclaimed HFC refrigerants. Additionally, the EPA is establishing alternative standards under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act for ignitable spent refrigerants when recycled for reuse.
EPA estimates that in addition to the benefits from prior HFC actions, from 2026 through 2050, this rule will provide additional cumulative greenhouse gas emissions reductions of approximately 120 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, an incremental net benefit of at least $6.9 billion.
Earlier this month, EPA also published another action regarding HFCs. The proposed rulemaking concerns the eligibility of the six applications listed in the AIM Act to continue to receive priority access to HFC allowances beyond 2025, and, among other things, includes targeted revisions to the methodology for allocating these application-specific allowances. This proposal builds on extensive EPA engagement with stakeholders, including manufacturers of semiconductors and metered dose inhalers, which can be used to deliver potentially life-saving medications, to support continued availability of critical devices. EPA will accept comments on the proposed rulemaking, “Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Review and Renewal of Eligibility for Application-specific Allowances,” through October 31.
The AIM Act authorizes EPA to address HFCs in three main ways, and EPA has now issued final rules to implement all three of these pillars: phasing down their production and consumption through an allowance allocation program – through which EPA is implementing a 40% reduction of HFCs that started this year; facilitating the transition to next-generation technologies through sector-based restrictions; and promulgating regulations for purposes of maximizing reclaiming and minimizing releases of HFCs from equipment and ensuring the safety of technicians and consumers.
Shipping Companies Face $2M Criminal Penalty for Concealing Oil Discharge
Two corporations that operated the motor tanker P/S Dream — Prive Overseas Marine LLC and Prive Shipping Denizcilik Ticaret — were sentenced in federal court in New Orleans to pay a $2 million criminal penalty and complete four years of probation. The companies pleaded guilty in May to charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS). The court sentenced the P/S Dream’s Captain, Abdurrahman Korkmaz, on Sept. 10 to eight months in prison for an APPS offense and obstructing the U.S. Coast Guard’s investigation.The charges pertain to the investigation of the P/S Dream vessel when it was heading to New Orleans in January 2023. Senior corporate managers were aware that Korkmaz had arranged to discharge oil-contaminated waste from a residual tank on deck into the ocean. The captain ordered the crew to pump the waste overboard and clean the tank with soap. The seamen rigged a portable pump to empty the contents overboard over three days. The defendants falsified the vessel’s oil record book by omitting the discharge.
One of the crew members alerted the Coast Guard and shared videos of the discharge and resulting oil sheen. When the ship arrived in Louisiana, another crew member came forward and gave the Coast Guard a recording of an officer discussing the discharge.
The falsified logs, presented to the Coast Guard during its inspection, were intended to conceal the fact that the crew had dumped oil-contaminated waste overboard in violation of MARPOL Annex I, an international treaty regulating oil pollution from ships. Corporate representatives at Prive Shipping were aware that the oil-contaminated waste remained in the tank and were informed by the ship’s master that it had been dumped overboard.
The $2 million criminal penalty includes $500,000 in organizational community service payments that will fund various maritime environmental projects in the Eastern District of Louisiana. Those projects will be managed by the congressionally established National Fish & Wildlife Foundation.
Captain Korkmaz is a Turkish national. Prive Overseas Marine is based in Dubai and Prive Shipping is headquartered in Turkey. As a condition of probation, the corporations must also adhere to an environmental compliance plan mandating audit, safety and inspection requirements over the next four years.
Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans for the Eastern District of Louisiana made the announcement.
The Coast Guard Investigative Service and EPA Criminal Investigations Division investigated the case with assistance from Coast Guard Sector New Orleans.
Senior Litigation Counsel Richard A. Udell and Senior Trial Attorney Ryan Connors of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys G. Dall Kammer and Christine M. Calogero for the Eastern District of Louisiana prosecuted the case.
Inspectors Find Shipyard Workers Exposed to Fire, Asphyxiation Hazards
Federal safety inspectors found a crew working aboard the Cuyahoga, a commercial iron ore vessel moored at the Port of Ashtabula, narrowly avoided disaster after a large fire erupted as they welded off paint in a cargo hold, an incident their employer could have avoided by following U.S. Department of Labor safety regulations.Acting on a referral from the U.S. Coast Guard, inspectors with OSHA determined the fire began while a worker used welding equipment to remove paint in the vessel’s hold in March 2024. Many crewmembers, who had been working below the cargo hold, were on lunch break at the time and avoided the danger of the fire trapping them below decks.
OSHA found the employer – South Marine Systems of Westlake – did not designate a competent person able to identify hazards, nor had a marine chemist present to test for hazardous atmospheres before welding started. They also determined South Marine Systems did not stop work when small fires began to assess hazardous conditions and risks.
“Fate, not South Marine Systems, helped the cargo vessel’s crew avoid disaster. The company’s failure to comply with basic safety requirements for welding operations and working in confined spaces exposed workers to fires, asphyxiation and other dangers,” explained OSHA Area Director Howard Eberts in Cleveland. “South Marine Systems must review its training program and its work operations immediately to make certain everyone on their work crews can recognize hazards and safely respond to emergencies.”
OSHA has cited the company for 15 serious violations and one other-than-serious violation and proposed $164,540 in penalties.
Specifically, the agency found South Marine Systems failed to do the following:
- Determine flammability of the preservative coating on the bulkhead before hot work.
- Provide a 1-1/2 inch or larger fire hose with fog nozzle while employees used a welder to remove Amerthane 490 off the bulkhead, which would have protected workers from exposure to fire hazards and asphyxiation.
- Provide workers with a ladder to exit the water if they fell in, to prevent exposing them to hypothermia.
- Develop a fire safety plan.
- Establish an internal and external fire response organization.
- Ensure a Chinese-speaking employee performing hot work activities was able to communicate with a Spanish-speaking employee conducting fire watch, to ensure awareness of potential fire hazards.
- Verify employees received a medical examination to ensure fitness for duties involving fighting fires and using fire extinguishers.
- Provide employees exposed to asphyxiation hazards with a self-contained breathing apparatus.
- Train fire watch employees on the very basic elements of fighting a fire, including extinguishing agents and methods of extinguishing fires.
- Provide OSHA 300 Logs and Summary Form 300As for 2021-2023.
The USCG and National Transportation Safety Board have opened separate investigations of the incident.
Based in Pascagoula, Mississippi, South Marine Systems LLC has offices in Westlake, Ohio.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
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EPA Seeks Peer Reviewers for the Industrial Chemical 1,3-Butadiene Risk Evaluation
EPA issued a call for nominations of peer reviewers for the draft risk evaluation of 1,3-butadiene, an industrial chemical that the agency says is used to manufacture plastic and synthetic rubber products, including tires. EPA describes 1,3-butadiene as a volatile, colorless gas and classifies it as a human carcinogen, noting in the Federal Register that “epidemiology studies have demonstrated an association between 1,3-butadiene exposure and increased incidence of leukemia in workers.” One of the issues the agency has highlighted as an area of focus for the peer review has to do with its approach to exposure sampling data that are below the limit of detection (LOD).“The majority of occupational exposure sampling data points… are not quantifiable values but are identified as being below” the LOD, EPA explains. “For datasets including exposure data that were reported as below the LOD, EPA is estimating exposure concentrations, following EPA's Guidelines for Statistical Analysis of Occupational Exposure Data.”
EPA seeks individuals with expertise in areas such as risk assessment and exposure assessment, particularly those with knowledge in occupational inhalation monitoring and air exposure modeling. Scientists with expertise related to human health assessment would also fit this role. Those who are selected will serve as ad-hoc reviewers and assist EPA’s Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals during the peer review of the draft risk evaluation for 1,3-butadiene. According to the agency, the peer review will inform its final risk evaluation and risk management decisions for the chemical under the Toxic Substances Control Act. 1,3-Butadiene was designated as a “high-priority” substance by the agency in December 2019, and the process under TSCA is intended to determine whether it presents an unreasonable risk to public health or the environment.
The peer review of the draft risk evaluation of 1,3-butadiene will be scheduled for early 2025. Nominations of potential peer reviewers are due by Oct. 18. Self-nominations are welcome. Further details are available in EPA’s news release and in the Federal Register.
IARC Publishes Monographs on Aspartame, Two Flavoring Substances
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has published volume 134 of its monograph series, which evaluates the carcinogenicity of the artificial sweetener aspartame and the flavoring compounds methyleugenol and isoeugenol.Aspartame has been used in foods and beverages for decades. Currently, its highest concentrations are found in tabletop sweeteners, chewing gum, and food supplements, according to IARC. An IARC working group classified aspartame as group 2B, possibly carcinogenic to humans, based on limited evidence for an association between aspartame consumption and liver cancer. This conclusion was based on three studies of consumption of artificially sweetened beverages. The working group also found limited evidence for a link between aspartame and cancer in experimental animals and limited mechanistic evidence for aspartame’s carcinogenicity. In occupational environments, the highest potential exposures occur for workers who manually handle aspartame powder.
IARC classified isoeugenol, a fragrance and flavoring compound used in food, cosmetics, household products, and veterinary medicines, as group 2B based on sufficient evidence for cancer in experimental animals and inadequate evidence for cancer in humans. No studies on the effects of isoeugenol on humans were available.
Methyleugenol, like isoeugenol, is a fragrance and flavoring compound. Methyleugenol is used in cosmetics and personal care products, and—in combination with insecticides—as an insect attractant. Neither the United States nor the European Union allows the use of methyleugenol as a flavoring agent, but it occurs naturally in many herbs and spices. IARC classified methyleugenol as group 2A, probably carcinogenic to humans, based on sufficient evidence in experimental animals and strong mechanistic evidence.
A NIOSH survey in the early 1980s identified potential occupational exposures to isoeugenol and methyleugenol for hairdressers, cosmetologists, janitors, machine operators, and packaging and filling machine operators. A later study of wildland firefighters found significant increases in the concentration of isoeugenol in urine following smoke exposure. Aromatherapists may be exposed to methyleugenol, a constituent of essential oils, through dermal contact when giving massages. Workers who handle insect traps may also have dermal exposure to methyleugenol.
When IARC first announced its aspartame classification in July 2023, it noted that no recommendation was made to lower the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of aspartame from its current level of 0–40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight. A news release accompanying the announcement clarified that an adult weighing 70 kg—about 154 pounds—would need to consume more than 9–14 cans of diet soft drinks per day to exceed the ADI, assuming the beverages contained between 200 and 300 mg of aspartame.
“The assessments of aspartame have indicated that, while safety is not a major concern at the doses which are commonly used, potential effects have been described that need to be investigated by more and better studies,” said Dr. Francesco Branca of the World Health Organization.
Following IARC’s 2023 announcement, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration stated that it “disagrees with IARC’s conclusion that these studies support classifying aspartame as a possible carcinogen to humans.”
Volume 134 of IARC’s monograph series is available from the organization’s website. For more information, see IARC’s news release, its 2023 statement on aspartame, and FDA’s webpage on aspartame and other sweeteners.
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