Fact Sheet - Final Rulemaking: The 2007 Critical Use Exemption From the Phaseout of Methyl Bromide

On December 12, 2006, EPA created an exemption to the phaseout of methyl bromide production and import for 2007 critical uses. Specifically, EPA established the uses that will qualify for the 2007 critical use exemption, and the amount of methyl bromide that may be produced, imported, or made available from pre-phaseout inventory for those uses in 2007.
For the 2007 calendar year, EPA is making 6,230,655 kilograms (24.4 percent of the 1991 baseline of 25,528,000 kilograms) available for critical use sectors such as strawberry fruit, tomatoes, and food processing.
Critical use exemptions may be available for those uses of methyl bromide that the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer agree have no technically or economically feasible alternatives. The framework for critical use exemptions was created on December 23, 2004 (69 FR 76982).

Methyl bromide, an odorless, colorless gas, is used to control a variety of pests in many different situations. It is heavily used by growers of minor crops, such as tomatoes and strawberries, to fumigate the soil prior to planting.
EPA promulgates separate rules on an annual basis to provide notice and comment on the amount of methyl bromide to be made available for specifically identified critical uses during each calendar year. These rules follow annual Decisions by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol. Parties approved critical uses for the 2007 calendar year in Decision XVII/9 at the 17th Meeting of the Parties in December, 2005.
Today"s action affects regulations that govern the production, import, and export of methyl bromide, an ozone-depleting substance, under the authority of Title VI of the CAA and in accordance with U.S. obligations under the Montreal Protocol. This rule amends EPA regulations under the authority of the CAA to create critical use exemptions, in accordance with Article 2H paragraph 5 of the Montreal Protocol, "to permit the level of production or consumption that is necessary to satisfy uses agreed to them [the Parties to the Montreal Protocol] to be critical uses."

Additional information on methyl bromide can be found at http://www.epa.gov/ozone/mbr.
For further information about this action, contact Marta Montoro of EPA"s Office of Atmospheric Programs at (202) 343-9321 or at montoro.marta@epa.gov