With this action, EPA allocates essential-use allowances for the 1998 control period. The United States nominated specific uses of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) as essential uses for 1998 under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Protocol). The Parties to the Protocol subsequently approved production and import of ODS for the uses nominated by the United States in the quantities specified. In today's action, EPA allocates essential use allowances based on the quantities approved by the Parties for the nominated uses. Essential use allowances permit a person to obtain controlled ozone-depleting substances as an exemption to the January 1, 1996 regulatory phaseout of production and import. Essential use allowances are allocated to a person for exempted production or importation of a specific quantity of a controlled substance solely for the designated essential purpose.