Subscribe to the Environment Headline RSS feed | Subscribe to the Environment Headline feed via EmailEPA Proposes Changes to HCFC Allocation System in Response to Federal Court Decision
January 5, 2012 in World Climate Change Report · Leave a Comment
By Andrew Childers
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing revisions to its methods for allocating consumption and production allowances for two hydrochlorofluorocarbons for 2012 through 2014 in response to a 2010 federal court decision.
The proposed rule, to be published in the Federal Register Jan. 4, would establish company-by-company baselines for HCFC-22 and HCFC-142b production and consumption.
It would also clarify the procedures for intercompany transfers of the ozone-depleting substances, EPA said. The revised system would account for transfers of the ozone-depleting substances between companies, something EPA had previously eliminated from its calculations.
Under the proposed rule, EPA would continue to allocate HCFC-22 and HCFC-142b allowances based on the projected needs for those compounds while encouraging companies to recycle and reclaim existing stores of the substances. That could result in fewer allocations for HCFC-22, EPA said.
As part of the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, the United States is required to eliminate the use of HCFCs, ozone-depleting gases that also contribute to global warming, by 2030. Hydrochlorofluorocarbons are commonly used as refrigerants…
