Hydrogen Fluoride; TSCA Section 21 Petition for Rulemaking Under TSCA Section 6; Reasons for Agency Response; Denial of Requested Rulemaking

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <CFR>40 CFR Chapter I</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2025-0102; FRL-12651-01-OCSPP]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Hydrogen Fluoride; TSCA Section 21 Petition for Rulemaking Under TSCA Section 6; Reasons for Agency Response; Denial of Requested Rulemaking</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Petition; reasons for Agency response. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> This action announces the availability of the EPA's response to a petition received on February 11, 2025, from the Clean Air Council, Communities for a Better Environment, and Natural Resources Defense Council (petitioners). The petition requests that EPA establish a TSCA rule prohibiting the use of hydrogen fluoride (HF) in domestic oil refining to eliminate unreasonable risks to public health and the environment. After careful consideration, EPA has denied the TSCA petition for the reasons set forth in this notice. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> EPA's response to this TSCA section 21 petition was signed May 9, 2025. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> The docket for this TSCA section 21 petition, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2025-0102, is available online at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov.</E> Additional instructions on visiting the docket, along with more information about dockets generally, is available at <E T="03">https://www.epa.gov/dockets.</E> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> <E T="03">For technical information contact:</E> Thomas Groeneveld, Existing Chemicals Risk Management Division (7404T), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: 202-566-1188; email address: <E T="03">groeneveld.thomas@epa.gov.</E> <E T="03">For general information contact:</E> The TSCA-Hotline, ABVI-Goodwill, 422 South Clinton Ave., Rochester, NY 14620; telephone number: (202) 554-1404; email address: <E T="03">TSCA-Hotline@epa.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. General Information</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Does this action apply to me?</HD> This action is directed to the public in general. This action may, however, be of interest to those persons who manufacture (including import), process, distribute in commerce, use, or dispose of hydrogen fluoride (Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number (CASRN) 7664-39-3). Since other entities may also be interested, the Agency has not attempted to describe all the specific entities that may be affected by this action. <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. What is EPA's authority for taking this action?</HD> Under TSCA section 21 (15 U.S.C. 2620), any person can petition EPA to initiate a proceeding for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of a rule under TSCA section 4, 6, or 8, or to issue an order under TSCA section 4, 5(e), or 5(f). A TSCA section 21 petition must set forth the facts which it is claimed establish that it is necessary to initiate the action requested. EPA is required to grant or deny the petition within 90 days of its filing. If EPA grants the petition, the Agency must promptly commence an appropriate proceeding. If EPA denies the petition, the Agency must publish its reasons for the denial in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> . A petitioner may commence a civil action in a U.S. district court seeking to compel initiation of the requested proceeding within 60 days of a denial or, if EPA does not issue a decision, within 60 days of the expiration of the 90-day period. <HD SOURCE="HD2">C. What criteria apply to a decision on this TSCA section 21 petition?</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD3">1. Legal Standard Regarding TSCA Section 21 Petitions</HD> TSCA section 21(b)(1) requires that the petition “set forth the facts which it is claimed establish that it is necessary” to initiate the proceeding requested (15 U.S.C. 2620(b)(1)). Thus, in addition to petitioners' burden under TSCA section 21 itself, TSCA section 21 implicitly incorporates the statutory standards that apply to the requested actions. Accordingly, EPA has reviewed this section 21 petition by considering the standards in TSCA section 21 and in the provisions under which actions have been requested. <HD SOURCE="HD3">2. Legal Standard Regarding TSCA Section 6(a)</HD> Under TSCA section 6(a), if EPA determines after conducting a risk evaluation that the manufacture, processing, distribution in commerce, use, or disposal of a chemical substance or mixture, or that any combination of such activities, presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment, EPA will issue a rulemaking to apply one or more of TSCA section 6(a) requirements to the extent necessary so that the chemical substance or mixture no longer presents such risk. In proposing and promulgating rules under TSCA section 6(a), EPA considers, among other things, the provisions of TSCA sections 6(c)(2), 6(d), 6(g), and 9. In addition, TSCA section 26(h) requires EPA, in carrying out TSCA sections 4, 5, and 6, to use “scientific information, technical procedures, measures, methods, protocols, methodologies, or models, employed in a manner consistent with the best available science,” while also taking into account other considerations, including the relevance of information and any uncertainties (15 U.S.C. 2625(h)). TSCA section 26(i) requires that decisions under TSCA sections 4, 5, and 6 be “based on the weight of scientific evidence” (15 U.S.C. 2625(i)). TSCA section 26(k) requires that EPA consider information that is reasonably available in carrying out TSCA sections 4, 5, and 6 (15 U.S.C. 2625(k)). <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Summary of the TSCA Section 21 Petition</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. What action was requested?</HD> On February 11, 2025, EPA received a TSCA section 21 petition (Ref. 1) from the Clean Air Council, Communities for a Better Environment, and Natural Resources Defense Council. The petition requests EPA “establish a Section 6(a) rule prohibiting the use of HF in domestic oil refining to eliminate unreasonable risks to public health and the environment” (Ref. 1, p. 3). The petition explains that “TSCA requires EPA to issue such a rule because this petition identifies (1) a [‘]chemical substance[’] (HF) that presents, (2) under one or more [‘]conditions of use[’] (the use of HF for alkylation at U.S. refineries, and the rail and truck transportation needed to supply HF to those refineries), (3) an unreasonable risk to health or the environment” (Ref. 1, p. 3). <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. What support did the petitioners offer?</HD> To support the request for issuance of a rule under TSCA section 6(a), the petitioners provided several appendices to the petition that contain data and literature on HF-using refineries (Ref. 2), releases at HF-using refineries since 1987 (Ref. 3), and transportation-related releases of HF (Ref. 4). Supporting information included discussions of the human health hazards associated with exposure to HF (Ref. 1, pp. 4-10), and the potential for exposure to HF for various human populations, including scenarios for hypothetical catastrophic releases that occur on-site, that disperse to off-site, and that occur along rail and road transportation routes for HF-using refineries (Ref. 1, pp. 11-37). In general, the petition and appendices included three categories of information related to releases at HF-using refineries: (1) documented, historical releases; (2) controlled, experimental releases; and (3) modeled, hypothetical releases (Refs. 1, 3, and 4). The petitioners also described challenges and particularly vulnerable populations associated with hypothetical catastrophic releases from HF-using refineries (Ref. 1, pp. 38-41), and assertions related to the likelihood of such releases (Ref. 1, pp. 41-48). The petitioners also described how hypothetical catastrophic releases of HF from refineries or in transit could affect the environment ( <E T="03">e.g.,</E> crops, livestock, and pets) and critical infrastructure (Ref. 1, pp. 48-53). The petitioners also described that existing federal regulations and industry recommended practices are not adequate to eliminate risks associated with hypothetical catastrophic releases from HF-using refineries (Ref. 1, pp. 53-55), and that currently there are alternatives to HF for use for alkylation and refineries that have converted to the use of such chemical substances (Ref. 1, pp. 55-56). The petitioners also provided a list of endnotes and of references cited (Ref. 1, pp. 58-75). EPA also has received public comments on the petition, which can be viewed via docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2025-0102, through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov.</E> <HD SOURCE="HD1">III. Disposition of TSCA Section 21 Petition</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. What is EPA's response?</HD> After careful consideration, EPA has denied this TSCA section 21 petition. A copy of the Agency's response, which consists of the letter to the petitioners and this document, is posted on the EPA TSCA petition website at <E T="03">https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/tsca-section-21#hydrogen-fluoride-domestic-oil-refining.</E> The response, the petition (Ref. 1), and other information is available in the docket for this TSCA section 21 petition (see <E T="02">ADDRESSES</E> ). <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. What was EPA's reason for this response?</HD> TSCA section 21 provides for the submission of a petition seeking the initiation of a proceeding for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of a rule under TSCA section 6. The petition must set forth the facts which it is claimed establish that it is necessary to issue the requested rule (15 U.S.C. 2620(b)(1)). When determining ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 26k characters. 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