CLEAN AIR ACT:
PROTECTION OF THE STRATOSPHERIC OZONE LAYER
by
David E. Gushee
Senior Specialist, ENR
Congressional Research Service
CONGRESSIONAL
RESEARCH
SERVICE
THE LIBRARY
OF CONGRESS
CONTENTS
SUMMARY
ISSUE DEFINITION
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
Stratospheric Ozone Depletion
Attention Focused on Chlorofluorocarbons
Federal Activity
Congress
EPA
International Concerns
Economic Impacts of a CFC Production Limit
Latest Data From the Stratosphere
LEGISLATION
CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS, REPORTS, AND DOCUMENTS
CHRONOLOGY
FOR ADDITIONAL READING
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CLEAN AIR ACT: PROTECTION OF THE STRATOSPHERIC OZONE LAYER
SUMMARY
For over a decade, scientists have been warning that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are widely used as refrigerants, solvents, foam
blowing agents, and outside the United States as aerosol sprays, may
deplete the stratospheric ozone shield that screens out some of the sun's
harmful ultraviolet rays from the earth's surface.
Increased radiation
could result in an increase in skin cancers, suppression of the human
immune system, and decreased productivity of commercially important crops
and aquatic organisms.
The stratosphere is global, as are the manufacture and use of CFCs.
The United States is therefore acting on this issue not only domestically
but also through international channels.
Domestically, the U.S. has
banned (1978) "nonessential" uses of CFCs such as in aerosol spray cans,
is carrying out extensive research, and has been developing background
information preparatory to deciding whether or not to regulate CFCs
further and, if so, how.
In the meantime, the United States is
international activities through the United
for Economic Cooperation and Development,
international Convention for the Protection
been negotiating within the Convention on
international set of control actions, at the
out of CFC use throughout the world.
participating in a number of
Nations and the Organization
and others; has ratified an
of the Ozone Layer; and has
the issue of agreeing to an
heart of which is the phasing
In September 1987, 47 countries agreed to the Montreal Protocol on
Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, which first freezes world
consumption of specified CFC's and by 1999 would reduce consumption 50Z.
In December, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed rules to
implement the Montreal Protocol. On Feb. 17, 1988, the Senate Committee
on Foreign Relations, after a brief hearing on the Montreal Protocol,
voted to report the Treaty to the Senate and recommended that the Senate
give its consent. On Mar. 14, 1988, the Senate voted, 83-0, to advise and
consent to ratification of the Treaty.
At issue in the United States are (1) whether the Montreal Protocol
is aggressive enough to cope with the depletion problem and, if not, what
should be done to strengthen it, (2) whether EPA's proposed rules are
adequate to the task of U.S. fulfillment of the Protocol, and (3) whether
the United States should go beyond the Protocol in its domestic
regulations.
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ISSUE DEFIHITIOII
For the-past 13 years, scientists have been expressing concern that
large scale releases of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the atmosphere
will lead to depletion of the delicately balanced ozone levels in the
stratosphere.
In 1978, the United States banned use of CFCs in aerosol
products. In 1986, the United States ratified an international agreement
to work toward protection of the ozone layer; in 1987, U.S. negotiators
signed a treaty which would first cap and then reduce CFC production and
use throughout the world.
In the 100th Congress, the issue is whether the international
agreement so recently signed goes far enough in responding to the ozone
depletion concerns and, if not, what actions should be taken to go
farther.
BACKGROUND AMD ANALYSIS
Stratospheric ozone
nonattainment. The latter
the problem there is too
see CRS Issue Brief 87066,
depletion is a different issue from ozone
is an atmospheric issue at the Earth's surface;
much ozone. (For information on this subject,
Clean Air Act: Ozone Nonattainment.)
Stratospheric Ozone Depletion
Ozone is
miles up), it
believe that
stratosphere,
under siege.
a special form of oxygen.
In the stratosphere (6 to 20
is formed by the action of sunlight on oxygen. Scientists
over the history of Earth, the ozone concentration in the
although small, has been relatively constant but is now
Ozone in the stratosphere is important to life processes on Earth.
It absorbs some of the ultraviolet (UV) light reaching the Earth from the
Sun. It thus acts as a regulator of the amount of UV light reaching the
Earth's surface.
This is important because UV causes sunburn and
sometimes skin cancer (among other effects); the greater a person's
exposure to UV, the greater the effect.
Concern that man's activities could in some fashion change the
stratosphere first emerged as a public issue during the Supersonic
Transport (SST) debate in 1969. That concern led to a sharp increase in
research in stratospheric chemistry and physics. One of the results of
that heightened attention was evolution of a theory that
chlorofluorocarbons would, in the stratosphere, break down to release
active chlorine fragments which would destroy the ozone.
When that theory became public in 1974, public reaction caused
another public debate as in the SST case. In this instance, however, in
addition to funding more research, the U.S. Government banned CFCs in
domestic aerosol products and then began to press in international
negotiations for other countries to do likewise. Most did not. (For a
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brief description of events leading up to the aeroso
l ban, see
"Inadvertent Weather and Climate Modification" by John R.
Justus, CRS,
1978, in a-committee print entitled Weather Modification
: Programs,
Problems, Policy, and Potential.)
Attention Focused on Chlorofluorocarbons
The ozone-depleting substances currently receiving policy attent
ion
are generically labeled halogenated alkanes, the most common
of which are
Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs.
CFCs are widely used by industry and
consumers.
They are nontoxic, nonflammable, chemically inert, and score
highly on thermal energy absorption. CPCs were first developed
in 1931 as
a result of an intensive effort to produce an efficient, safe
refrig
erant
for home use.
Since then, CFCs have been manufactured for a wide variety
of uses
(see Figure 1 at the end of this issue brief): as a blowing agent
in both
flexible urethane foams (as in carpeting, furniture, and auto
seats), and
in rigid polyurethane foams (as insulation for buildings
and mobile
refrigeration units). Others are used as blowing agents in
non-urethane
foams as well (polystyrene sheet products, foam trays, fast-food
and the like). Because of their exceptional thermodynamic qualit wrappers,
are used as refrigerants in automobile air conditioners, industies, CFCs
commercial air conditioners, and home refrigerators and freeze rial and
rs.
They
are an important solvent:
the electronics and aerospace industries use
CFCs as a precision cleaning agent for printed circuit
boards and
scientific instruments.
The CFC family has
and physically from its
highest ozone depletion
refrigerants). However,
many members, each somewhat different chemically
relatives. The most widely used CFCs with the
potential are CFC-11 and -12 (mainly used as
most have some ozone depletion potential.
TABLE 1
Relative Ozone Depletion Potential (RODP)
and Atmospheric Lifetimes
Compound
CFC
CFC
CFC
CFC
CFC
CFC
-
11 *
12 *
113 *
114
115
22 *
RODP
1.00
0.86
0.80
0.60
0.32
0.05
Lifetime (years)
1.0
1.0
0.8
1.0
0.6
63.8
107.8
88.3
181.1
385.3
27.7
* Together these account for over 90Z of U.S. CFC production.
** Ozone depleting potentials agreed to in Montreal Protocol.
Source:
Wuebbles, Donald J., Chlorocarbon Emissions Scenarios:
Potential Impact on Stratospheric Ozone, Journal of Geophysical
Research,
vol. 88, no. c2, Feb. 20, 1983: 1433-1443.
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Annual world CFC production (see Figure 2) peaked in 1974 at about
2
billion pounds.
The worldwide interest in ozone depletion which arose
about that lime and the associated U.S. ban on aerosol uses
caused
production to fall about 101 and then hold steady for about 6
years.
Recently, however, production has again begun to rise; it is now
about
where it was at its peak in 1974 and growing at several percent per
year.
Because of the wide variety of uses, the feasibility of substitution
varies with the product. One manufacturer, the DuPont Co., the world's
largest producer of CFCs, has stated that viable substitutes to the
most
ozone-damaging CFCs could perhaps be available in volume for some
uses
within 5 to 7 years. This view is more optimistic than those held by
most
producers and users, at least for most uses and most particularly for
air
conditioning and commercial refrigeration.
In 1987, interest in ozone depletion rose sharply, fed by news of the
ozone hole over Antarctica, new data showing a measurable reduction
in
ozone concentrations at the top of the stratosphere, and the recent
sharp
rise in CFC production levels.
Federal Activity
Congress
Legislative debate began in 1975 with a bill (H.R. 17881, Aspin
al., not enacted) which would have prohibited production and importa et
of CFCs except under license. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977 tion
(P.L.
95-95) included authority for regulation (Section 157 requires that
the
EPA Administrator promptly propose regulations on any substan
ce or
activity which in his judgment may reasonably be anticipated to affect
the
stratosphere, especially the ozone in the stratosphere, if such effect
may
reasonably be expected to endanger public health or the environ
ment).
P.L. 95-95 set up a research program to include atmospheric effects
,
control technologies, and economic impacts of regulation; sought to
assure
interagency coordination; and authorized international negotiations.
Hearings have been held periodically since 1977 on stratospheric
ozone R&D and damage assessments. In the 99th Congress, the pace began
to
quicken.
In 1985, under the auspices of United Nations Environmental Progra
m
(UNEP), 20 nations plus the European Economic Community agreed
on a
Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. The Convention creates
a framework for international cooperation on research, monitoring,
and
exchange of information, and provides procedures for developing control
measures as needed. The Senate supported ratification of this Conven
tion
in August 1986. In December 1986, the Convention began to deliberate
on
some possible CFC control measures.
Also in 1986, several hearings were held on ozone depletion.
Concurrent resolutions in both Houses would have promoted domesti
c and
international efforts to prevent environmental degradation due to
ozone
depletion. There were no enactments.
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In the 100th Congress, several concurrent resolutions (H.Con.Res.
47,
H.Con.Res. 50, S.Con.Res. 19) were introduced which would urge
the U.S.
delegation to the Convention to press for agreements to reduce
use of
CFCs worldwide and to accelerate the search for substitutes. Two
were introduced in the Senate (S. 570, S. 571) and one in the House bills
(H.R.
2036) which would phase out CFCs at rates proportional to
their
ozone-depleting potentials. Hearings have been held at which the
scientific results from this past winter's expedition to Antarcticalatest
have
been discussed.
In May, as the Administration began to prepare its negotiators
for
the next round of issues arising from continued progress in
the
UN
negotiations (see International Concerns section hereafter),
the
specialized press began to report concerns that the White House was
about
to withdraw its support from the heretofore aggressive position
of
the
U.S. negotiating team. These rumors peaked with a Washington Post
story
on May 29 that Interior Secretary Hodel was proposing a "public relati
ons
campaign to encourage the use of sunglasses and skin lotion" in
place
of
an international agreement.
Hodel and others immediately denied the report; Hodel, in a June
4
letter to Senator Wirth (Cong. Record, June 5, 1987, p. S7708) emphas
ized
that one of the key issues was "what constitutes sufficient,
assured
participation by other nations before any agreement receiv
es our
government's approval." Another issue, he added, is "whether and
to what
extent an international agreement in some way will give 'credit
1 to the
United States for its 1978 unilateral ban on 'non-essential*
aerosol
sprays containing CFC's." These, and others, are, in Hodel's words,
"the
who, what, when, and how questions."
The Senate on June 5, 1987, passed, 88-2, S.Res. 226, expressing
the
sense of the Senate "that the President ... should be urged to
strongly
endorse the United States' original position in ongoing intern
ational
negotiations...." S.Res. 226 includes in its "whereas" one insert
ed at
the request of Senator Symms that includes "the protection of
American
jobs through adequate trade provisions" along with the protec
tion of
public health and the environment as important negotiating goals.
On June 29, the House followed suit by passing H.Con.Res. 50 by voice
vote.
H.Con.Res. 50 was somewhat less specific in the negotiating
position it urges the President to take, but was otherwise very simila
r to
S.Res. 226, and includes a provision similar to that added on the
Senate
side by Senator Symms.
EPA
In 1980, EPA proposed to regulate nonaerosol applications of CFCs
(45 FR 66726, Oct. 7, 1980).
EPA's objective was to limit CFC use and
production by imposing a production ceiling or "cap" as an interm
ediate
step leading to a longer term effort to phase out CFCs.
EPA proposed an innovative strategy of economic incentives.
setting a ceiling on the total amount of CFCs that would be allowe After
d to be
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manufactured or used in the United States, the Agency propose
d
implement a system of marketable production or use permits which would to
be
allocated or auctioned to either CFG producers or users.
Those CFC
products which could compete successfully for the permits would contin
ue
to be made.
Economic incentives would encourage CFC manufacturers and
users to switch to a lesser depleting CFC, to search for substi
tute
processes, or to recover and reuse CFCs. EPA's intention was to
create
incentives for industries to develop ways to continue their busines
s but
reduce their CFC consumption.
Hopefully, it would have increased the
industries' flexibility in designing their individual controls, mitiga
ting
many of the economic hardships some feared would result from
CFC
regulation.
This proposed program was discontinued in 1982 for several reasons
,
including predictions based on then new data that potential
ozone
depletion would be less severe than previously believed, concern
unilateral U.S. action would weaken our negotiators' hands that
in
international forums, industry concerns over competitive position,
and an
Administration disinclination toward regulation.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) sued EPA in 198A,
claiming that EPA was required under the Clean Air Act's Section 157(b)
to
control CFCs.
In response to this suit, EPA announced on Jan. 10, 1986
(51 FR 1257) its program and schedule for stratospheric ozone protect
ion.
According to this announcement, and confirmed by a consent decree betwee
n
EPA and NRDC (Civil Action no. 84-3587, May 17, 1986, U.S. District
Court
for the District of Columbia), EPA would propose additional
CFC
regulations by May 1, 1987, and would issue a final rule by Nov. 1,
1987.
(EPA could decide either that no further regulation is warranted or
that
further regulation is warranted, with a specific rule.)
Because
negotiations under the international Convention were promising, EPA
and
NRDC negotiated an extension to the current decree deadline for proposa
of additional regulations to December 1987. On December 1, EPA announ l
ced
its proposed rule; details appear in the Federal Register of Decembe
r 14.
The proposal would set up an allocation system based on 1986 produc
tion
and use levels.
International Concerns
There has been considerable involvement on an international scale
the ozone depletion problem. The Organization of Economic Cooperation in
Development (OECD), composed of 24 noncommunist nations, has served and
as a
major forum for science and policy debate and analysis of economi
c and
regulatory aspects since 1974.
OECD countries account for over 802 of
present world CFC production.
The World Meteorological Organization's Global Ozone Research and
Monitoring Project No. 16 published a major review of atmospheric science
issues related to ozone modification. One of the report's conclusions
is
that, unlike other global environmental concerns, such as acid rain,
which
are limited to certain areas, "ozone layer modification is a
global
phenomenon which affects the well-being of every country in the world."
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The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) through its
Coordinating Committee on the Ozone Layer has been coordinating,
reporting, and assessing the results of research by countries and
international organizations since 1977. It is this group which has been
largely responsible for providing the forum for developing the
international Convention ratified in 1986. Continuing negotiations within
the Convention have now resulted in a new agreement. Meetings were held
in December 1986, February 1987, April 1987, and September 1987.
At Montreal in September 1987, 47 countries reached agreement, which
24 immediately signed.
Called the Montreal Protocol on Substances that
Deplete the Ozone Layer, it calls for a freeze on consumption of specified
CFCs at 1986 levels within a year after it comes into effect. Thereafter,
consumption would be cut by 202 over a 3-year period and by an additional
302 by 1999.
The parties to the agreement can intervene to delay or
otherwise modify the provision which reduces the last 302 by 1999.
The agreement to cap and then reduce consumption covers CFCs 11, 12,
113, 114, and 115. The agreement also caps consumption of Halons 1211,
1301, and 2402, but does not specify subsequent reductions for these
latter three chemicals.
The agreement will take effect on Jan. 1, 1989, provided that at
least 11 nations representing at least two-thirds of the world's
consumption have deposited their instruments of ratification. Otherwise,
it will take effect 90 days after these two criteria have been satisfied,
in which case the freeze will take effect 6 months later.
Special provisions were included for developing countries, permitting
them to increase CFC usage for 10 years but limiting their total
consumption to 0.3 kilograms per capita per year (their current level is
about 0.2 kg per capita per year). The European Economic Community will
be treated as a single entity but only after all 12 member countries have
ratified the agreement.
And the Soviet Union was granted a special
provision allowing its base level to be increased about 252 from 1986
levels to take into account production from plants currently under
construction.
On Feb. 17, 1988, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, after a
brief hearing on the Montreal Protocol, voted to report the Treaty to the
Senate and recommended that the Senate give its consent.
On Mar. 14,
1988, the Senate voted, 83-0, to advise and consent to ratification of the
Treaty.
In the meantime, EPA's renegotiation of the consent decree
deadline, which requires that it propose domestic regulations by Dec. 1,
1987, and promulgate them by Aug. 1, 1988, means that the international
process of treaty ratification and the domestic process of regulatory
policy development will go forward concurrently.
Mexico was the first nation to ratify the Protocol.
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Economic Impacts of a CPC Production Limit
Should U.S. CFC production be capped, whether internationally as
result of ratification of the Montreal agreement or via a unilaterala
action by the U.S. Government, significant increases in the prices of the
capped CFCs can be expected. How much of an increase will be determined by
many factors: how quickly the cap is imposed, whether the cap
is
"weighted" (weighting means that the cap is applied to all three major
ozone depleting CFCs rather than to each; the Montreal Protocol "weights"
the cap), whether a subsequent phasedown will be required, how quickly
substitutes can come on line, and how user industries and consumers react
to the changes in price and product performance.
The Alliance for Responsible CFC Policy has contracted with Putnam,
Hayes & Bartlett, Inc. (PHB), to make some estimates of impacts.
The
latest PHB study, dated Dec. 2, 1987, estimates that a domestic U.S.
freeze would lead to an almost immediate doubling of CFC prices and
continued increases over the next 7 or 8 years to levels about four times
those prevailing today.
The study projects that thereafter the prices
would rise sharply as the 1999 deadline for a 50% reduction in use takes
hold, and would subsequently moderate somewhat, as substitutes came on
line and began to penetrate the use markets (current thinking is that
substitutes for several CFC uses would be suppliable in bulk at prices
about two to four times current prices for CFC-11, -12, and -113).
PHB goes on to indicate some of the probable changes that would occur
in user markets
some uses would become priced out of the market (egg
cartons, for example), some products would perform less well (electronic
parts, for example), and some products would be redesigned to perform
either less well at about the same cost or as well at higher cost (air
conditioning and refrigeration, for example). These estimates assume that
substitutes will cost more and perform less well
reasonable assumptions
for at least the first generation of substitutes introduced not as a
result of market advantage but as a result of regulation.
There are also significant international trade issues, the exact
shape of which will depend on whether the United States acts unilaterally
beyond the Montreal agreement, on which nations ratify, and on how the
trade constraints are implemented. The Alliance claims that even the cap
(which it supports) will extract a higher price from the United States
than from other signatory countries (except those few which have followed
the U.S. lead in banning aerosol uses) because the other countries can
decrease aerosol uses for which substitutes already exist while the U.S.
must decrease uses for which reasonably effective substitutes are not yet
available; the reductions will affect U.S. industry more than the industry
in other countries in the next decade. On the other hand, the need for
rapid response from U.S. industry might lead to a future U.S.
technological and marketing advantage for substitutes when they are
developed and put on the market.
A 95% phasedown required within a few years, as S. 570 and 571 would
require, would create chaos, the PHB study predicts. One reason is that
somewhat more than a third of current CFC usage is to keep existin
equipment operating. The equipment is designed for the current CFCs andg
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will either not operate at all or would operate at much reduced
effectiveness and efficiency on substitutes.
Further, industries using
CFCs to produce other products worth some $250 billion per year would be
unable to maintain production, because they could not redesign and retool
within the time frame proposed in the bills.
The Office of Technology Assessment has concluded that the Protocol
will indeed curtail the use of CFC's compared to what would happen in its
absence but concludes further that the target of 50% reduction in use by
1999 and 2009 will probably be missed. OTA also pinpoints a number of
areas where future negotiated agreements and subsequent rule making will
affect use levels
noting particularly that which nations sign on to
the Protocol and how international trade rules are specified are major
unknowns at this time.
Latest Data From the Stratosphere
What happened in Antarctica this most recent winter/spring season
(August to October, 1987) was the object of an intense multi-agency
scientific expedition.
Although the data have not yet been fully
analyzed, they show that this year the ozone hole was the largest ever and
that ozone concentrations at the top of the Antarctic stratosphere were
reduced by more than 95% from base levels. Samples were taken from the
affected stratospheric areas that seem to show that the ozone-depleting
reactions are caused by chlorine from CFC decomposition adsorbing on ice
crystals in the winter stratospheric cloud layer and that the ice crystal
surfaces catalyze the reaction of chlorine with ozone to destroy the
latter.
In March 1988, an international group of more than 100 scientists
reported the results of an intensive review and re-analysis of data
gathered over the past 20 years.
This review shows that ozone
concentrations, adjusted for cyclic variations, have decreased several
percent over both northern and southern temperate zones, in addition to
the Antarctic effects.
The magnitude of the decrease was a surprise to
the scientists: "Things are worse than we thought," Robert Watson of NASA
told the Washington Post (Mar. 16, 1988: Al).
These dramatic findings have catalyzed new debate in Congress.
Senator Chafee has stated his conclusion that ozone depletion appears to
be proceeding so rapidly that the Montreal accord, so recently signed and
not yet ratified, does not reduce CFC emission rapidly enough to protect
the Earth.
He urges that deeper cuts than the accord's 20Z-50Z be
considered.
(His bill, S. 571, proposed a 95% cut.) EPA Administrator
Lee Thomas has indicated that he will ask UNEP to accelerate its schedule
for scientific reassessment.
And Du Pont has decided to phase out CFC
production as soon as alternatives become available.
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LEGISLATION
H.Con.Res. 47 (Richardson et al.), U.Con.Res. 50 (Dingell et
al.),
S.Con.Res. 19 (Wirth et al.)
All measures urge expeditious international negotiations to
reduce
and/or eliminate CPC use throughout the world. H.Con.Res. 47
introduced
Feb. 18, 1987; referred to more than one committee.
H.Con.Res. 50
introduced Feb. 19, 1987; referred to more than one committee.
S.Con.
19 introduced Feb. 19, 1987; referred to Committee on Foreign Affair Res.
s.
S. 570 (Baucus et al.), S. 571 (Chafee et al.), H.R. 2036 (Bates
et
All measures would cap and then phase down domestic produc
use of CFCs, the rate of phase down being related to ozone- tion and
depleting
potential.
S. 570 introduced Feb. 19, 1987; referred to Committee on
Environment and Public Works. S. 571 introduced Feb. 19, 1987;
to Committee on Environment and Public Works. H.R. 2036 introd referred
uced Apr.
9, 1987; referred to more than one committee.
al.)
S.Res. 226 (Baucus et al.)
Expresses sense of the Senate that the President endorse the origin
al
position of U.S. negotiators in ozone protection negotiations
that
CFC
production be first frozen and later reduced. Passed, 88-2, June
5, 1987.
CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS. REPORTS, AMD DOCUMENTS
U.S.
Congress. House. Committee on Energy and Commerce. Subcommittee
on Health and the Environment.
Ozone layer depletion.
Hearings,
100th Congress, 1st session. Mar. 9. 1987.
Serial no. 100-7
U.S.
Congress.
House.
Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Human Rights and International Organizations.
Congress, 1st session. Mar. 5, 1987.
U.S.
Congress.
House.
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Subcommittee on Natural Resources, Agricultural Research,
and
Environment. Hearings, 100th Congress, 1st session. Mar. 10 and
12,
1987.
Subcommittee on
Hearings, 100th
Results of Antarctic expedition to study ozone depletion.
100th Congress, 1st session. Oct. 29, 1987.
U.S.
Hearings,
Congress.
Senate.
Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Subcommittees on Environmental Protection and on Hazardous Wastes
and
Toxic Substances.
Ozone depletion, the greenhouse effect, and
climate change.
Hearings, 100th Congress, 1st session.
Part 2.
Jan. 28, 1987.
S.Hrg. 100-3
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——— Stratospheric ozone depletion and chlorofluorocarbons.
100th Congress, 1st session. May 12-14, 1987.
S.Hrg. 100-201
Hearings,
U.S.
Congress.
Senate.
Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Subcommittees on Hazardous Wastes and Toxic Substances and on
Environmental Protection.
Implications of the Findings of the
Expedition to Investigate the Ozone Hole over the Antarctic. Oct.
27, 1987.
S.Hrng. 100-385
U.S.
Congress.
Senate.
Committee on Foreign Relations.
Exec. Rept.
100-14 to accompany Treaty Doc. 100-10, Montreal Protocol on
Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Feb. 19, 1988.
CHROMOLOGY
03/24/88 —— Du Pont announced
production.
plans
for
a
total
phase
out
of
CFC
03/15/88 —— Comprehensive scientific review of data showed greater ozone
depletion than expected in temperate zones.
03/14/88 —— Senate gave its advise and consent to Treaty ratification.
02/17/88 —— Senate Committee on Foreign Relations recommended that the
Senate give its consent to the President for ratification of
the Montreal Protocol.
12/21/87 —— President Reagan transmitted the Montreal Protocol to the
Senate, asking for early, favorable consideration.
12/14/87 —— EPA proposed a rule to implement the Montreal Protocol,
allocating production quotas to domestic producers and
setting up rules for international trade.
10/27/87 —— Scientists from this year's Antarctic expedition reported
Antarctic ozone hole larger than ever.
09/14/87 —— Diplomatic conference in Montreal finalized a phasedown
agreement.
Representatives from 24 nations signed
immediately.
06/29/87 —— House passed H.Con.Res. 50, similar to S.Res. 226.
06/05/87 —— Senate passed S.Res. 226, urging President to hold the line
in international negotiations.
05/29/87 —— Washington Post reported Administration wavering in its
commitment in international negotiations to strong position
on CFC reductions.
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04/27/87 —— Third round of international negotiations convened in Geneva.
02/23/87 —— Second round of negotiations convened in Vienna.
12/01/87 —— First round of negotiations for CFC controls met in Geneva.
08/14/86 —— President Reagan signed the final instrument of ratification
of the Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer.
05/17/86 —— Consent decree between EPA and NRDC, under which EPA will
propose additional CFC controls by May 1, 1987, and issue
rule by Nov. 1, 1987.
03/18/86 —— Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearing on the
Convention for the Protection of the Ozone layer (Treaty Doc.
99-9).
01/10/86 —— EPA announced schedule for examining stratospheric
protection (51 FR 1257). Action expected in 1987.
ozone
05/23/83 —— H.R. 3087 introduced by Representative Luken. The bill would
have provided for additional assessments of ozone depletion
before further regulating CFCs.
03/10/83 —— S. 768 introduced by Senator Stafford, Section 109 of which
would have improved and expanded R&D of stratospheric ozone
programs.
S. 768 subsequently was reported from committee,
but received no floor action.
(1982)
—— EPA withdrew plans to regulate non-aerosol CFC uses, did not
follow through on 1980 ANPR.
07/23/81 —— Senate Subcommittee on Toxic
effects of CFC on ozone layer.
Substances
held
hearing
on
10/07/80 —— EPA issued Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR)
proposing a "cap" on CFC production for non-aerosol uses, to
include marketable production and use permit system. (45 FR
66726).
(1978)
—— EPA adopted regulations to eliminate all but essential uses
of CFC as an aerosol propellant, under the Toxic Substances
Control Act (TSCA).
08/07/77 —— Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977 (P.L. 95-95) enacted.
Section 150-159, Part B, Ozone Protection, included authority
for additional R&D regulation.
12/20/74 —— H.R. 17881 introduced by Representative Aspin (et al.) which
would have prohibited production and importation of CFC
except under license consistent with public health
protection.
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FOR ADDITIONAL READING
Brodeur, Paul. Annals of chemistry: In the face of doubt.
June 9, 1986: 70-87.
The new yorker,
Ember, Lois R., Patricia L. Layman, Wil Lepkowski, and Pamela S. Zurer.
Tending the global commons: The changing atmosphere:
Implications for mankind.
Chemical and engineering news, Nov.
24, 1986: 14-64.
Justus, John R.
Inadvertent weather and climate modification. In U.S.
Congress.
Senate.
Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation.
Weather modification:
Programs, problems, policy,
and potential. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1978: 145-191.
At head of title:
95th Congress, 2d session.
Senate.
Committee print.
Office of Technology Assessment. An analysis of the Montreal Protocol on
Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Dec. 10, 1987, revised Feb.
1, 1988.
Putnam, Hayes, & Bartlett, Inc.
Economic implications of potential
chlorofluorocarbon restrictions.
Dec. 2, 1987.
Available from
Alliance for Responsible CFC Policy.
Zurer, Pamela S.
Chemists solve key puzzle of Antarctic ozone hole.
Chemical and engineering news, Nov. 30, 1987: 25-27.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Ozone Trends Panel. March 15, 1988.
Executive Summary of the
Figure 1
Cleaning
Agents
20%
.5. CFCUsesI
1985
Blowing Agents
30%
Refrigerants
IB87084
(1 of 2)
Blowing Agents
25%
Refrigerants
30%
or Id CFC Uses
1985
Cleaning
Agents
20%
Aerosols
25%
imrcc Alllanca ttr RMpmifcla GFC Policy
2500
CFC-ll. 12, and 113
Figure 2
1975 1976
1981
ID87084 (2 of 2)
1984 1987 1990
Total World Production
Millions of Ibs
2000 -
1960 1963 1966 1969 1972
Source: CFC Alliance