EPA to Use DIS Filing for HFCs; Says Goods Arriving Late After Jan. 1 Still Subject to New Requirements

The Environmental Protection Agency will initially use the ACE Document Image System (DIS) to collect a new data element required for imports of hydrofluorocarbons under a recent EPA final rule (see 2109230054), it said during a webinar Dec. 9. Though most data elements collected under the agency’s new 14-day pre-arrival filing requirement are already transmitted in ACE, CBP needs more time to build the new Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) number data element into its electronic filing system, EPA’s Roy Chaudet said.

The filing is required for covered bulk HFCs hitting U.S. ports on or after Jan. 1, which means filers must begin transmitting the data in mid-December for goods arriving at the beginning of January. The filing requirement is part of a broader quota system for HFCs for which producers and importers will need to use allowances to produce or import covered HFCs.

Most of the data elements will be filed in ACE using EPA’s Ozone Depleting Substances PGA message set, and EPA’s ODS PG01 program code, Chaudet said. The DIS filing for the CAS number should be tagged EPA-08-Import of ODS so EPA can view it, he said. Examples provided during the webinar of the DIS filing show a simple two-column table, with one column for the chemical and the other for the CAS number, and the EPA-08 tag above. Examples of DIS filings for blends also include either the (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) ASHRAE number of the blend or a percentage breakdown of the blend’s components.

Correctly transmitted advance filings will result in a “may proceed.” An “under review” means there is an issue, such as not enough allowances for the import, missing information or choosing the wrong program code.

Non self-filers will need to work with their importers to get the data in time to meet the 14-day requirement, especially for air, truck and rail shipments that are loaded after the prefiling deadline, Chaudet said. For those environments, filers may transmit an estimated quantity prior to loading, then update it prior to arrival, he said. That can be done via a cargo release replacement request if prior to arrival, or an SE update if a cargo release replacement is no longer possible, said Tsutomu Morishita, a CBP client representative who also spoke during the webinar.

The 14 days runs back from the goods’ first contact with the U.S., so goods moving in-bond will require prefiling 14 days prior to when they get to the first U.S. port, rather than 14 days prior to arriving at the port of discharge, EPA’s Luke Hall-Jordan said.

There is “no flexibility” built into the regulations, so goods scheduled to arrive prior to the final rule’s Jan. 1 effective date but that actually arrive after the new year due to port congestion will be covered by the final rule and require allowances, Hall-Jordan said.

EPA will use the prefiled data to put together a list of valid importer of record numbers with HFC import allowances, unique to each IOR for their filings of HFC imports. EPA transmits the list to CBP, currently nightly, and CBP uses it as a reference file to match up entries and make sure the importer has enough allowances for the imports, Chaudet said. If there’s a match, the importer gets an automatic may proceed. The 14 days is required so EPA has enough time to review each entry before it gets to the port of entry. “We really, really do not want to see” goods conditionally released, Chaudet said.

EPA hopes ACE flags will be deployed “within the next week or two,” Chaudet said. The agency is currently working on “tip sheets” that it intends to send to CBP this week for posting on the CBP website, he said. CATAIR changes aren’t needed, because the filing requirements, with the exception of the DIS filing of the CAS number, are identical to those for EPA’s ODS message set, Chaudet said.

EPA is “looking at a more robust way to report and file these HFC imports,” Chaudet said. The trade should “stay tuned,” with an update possible in the spring or “maybe an update a year from now,” he said. EPA is considering “how to do this in a way that’s more distinct and specific to HFCs, and hopefully more automated as well, so you’re not having to upload to DIS,” Chaudet said.