Industry Pushing Epa To Quickly Issue Ban On Hcfc-charged Imports

摘要

Industry officials are stepping up their push for the White House to speedily finish review of a pending EPA rule to ban the import of products charged with the ozone-depleting refrigerant hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), with a slew of manufacturing groups now adding to industry's previous calls for quick EPA issuance of the rule. Officials from the 350-member Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), and air-conditioning makers Goodman Manufacturing and Rheem Manufacturing met Aug. 5 with the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) and EPA staff urging the quick issuance of a rule to ban imports of HCFC-charged products before a Jan. 1, 2010, ban on U.S. companies making the products kicks in. The meeting comes just weeks after representatives from Goodman Manufacturing and the law firm McDermott, Will & Emery met July 1 with OMB to urge administration officials to accelerate the rule, in order to close a "loophole" under the EPA rules they say would unfairly harm domestic manufacturers. Regulations currently would not ban foreign manufacturers from importing HCFC-charged products even though they would prevent U.S. companies from manufacturing the products after the rule's Jan. 1, 2010, effective date. One industry source says the meeting this month was designed to ramp up industry's push for quick issuance of the rule to ban imports of the products, entitled Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Ban on the Sale or Distribution of Pre-Charged Products. OMB has been reviewing EPA's proposed draft since last Nov. 9.