EPA Plans to Phase Out Use of HCFC-22 By 2020, but Quicker Reduction Sought

摘要

The Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to phase out use of several hydrochlorofluo-rocarbons with high global warming potentials by 2020 as part of a final rule. The EPA announced production, import and export allocations for, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) for the years 2015 through 2019 (RIN 2060-AR04), including plans to phase out use of HCFC-22, HCFC-142b and HCFC-225ca/cb by 2020. But environmental advocates argued the EPA should pursue a quicker phaseout for the HCFCs with the greatest impact on the climate. The U.S. is required to phase out use of some HCFCs by 2020 as part of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The protocol requires the U.S. to reduce its production and consumption of HCFCs to 10 percent of its baseline beginning in 2015. The EPA's final rule would actually reduce production and consumption to 5 percent of that baseline in 2015.