Costco Agrees to Limit Greenhouse Gas, Ozone-Depleting Emissions at U.S. Stores

摘要

Costco Wholesale Corp., the second-largest retailer in the U.S., has agreed to take steps to limit greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting emissions from refrigeration equipment at 274 of the company's U.S. locations, according to court documents (United States v. Costco Wholesale Corp., N.D. Cal., No. 3:14-cv-3989, proposed consent decree filed 9/3/14). The Environmental Protection Agency, in a proposed consent decree filed Sept. 3, said that Costco has agreed to pay $335,000 in civil penalties and improve refrigerant management at its stores to settle an enforcement case over leaks of the ozone-depleting substance R-22, a hydrochlorofluorocarbon refrigerant that has a global warming potential 1,700 times higher than carbon dioxide.