EPA Interference With ODS Project Could Be Pragmatic, Not Political: Sources
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s reasons for halting a voluntary carbon market project’s activity this summer may be due to future supply concerns, sources told OPIS Tuesday.
In July, the EPA took the unusual step of stopping a shipment of halon-1301 supplied by Wesco for destruction in France this summer as part of an ozone-depleting substance mitigation project carried out by Chicago-based Tradewater, according to a Sept. 23 news release.
The compound is used for extinguishing fires in aviation, oil and gas infrastructure and certain military functions.
“EPA is deeply concerned that companies are destroying critical lifesaving fire suppression products for carbon credits,” EPA Assistant Administrator Aaron Szabo said in the release. “This is yet another example of companies prioritizing short term financial gains over real, lifesaving products.”
The EPA’s decision was likely motivated by future halon shortages, said Eric Ripley, director of environmental services at A-Gas, which also develops ODS destruction projects.
“The EPA typically doesn’t do this,” Ripley said. “They don’t come after companies in this way. I can’t opine on their motivations, but at the end of the day, I think what they are saying is, ‘We need to ensure a long-term supply of halon availability.'”
An EPA spokesperson echoed that viewpoint.
“The United States has a longstanding policy approach that supports recycling of halons and minimizing unnecessary releases, as well as avoiding destruction when the halons can be recycled,” the spokesperson said. “We consider the successful recovery, recycling, and redeployment of used halons to be critical to the safe and sustained phaseout of halon production.”
Halons are considered indispensable for their ability to very quickly and efficiently extinguish fires. Aircraft are still manufactured with halon-based systems today, and developing a replacement that meets minimum performance standards has proven challenging, according to a working paper presented to the International Civil Aviation Organization in August.
Production of halons was banned under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1994. Besides depleting ozone, halon-1301 has a global warming potential that is over 7,000 times that of CO2, according to the EPA.
Because production was stopped, end users need to source halons from reclaimed sources. It’s unclear how long that supply of reclaimed halon will last.
Dwindling domestic stocks “could also make the United States dependent on other countries like China,” Szabo said in the September release.
If stocks fall low enough, there is a chance production could be restarted via an essential use nomination with the Montreal Protocol, Ripley said.
“That’s really the crux of this issue,” he continued. “We don’t want to start producing halon again. It’s not something that is happening now, it’s just a possibility on the horizon.”
But reclaiming halon and selling it to aircraft manufacturers can be challenging for businesses because it can be difficult to predict demand, said Ripley, who previously served as the industrial programs director for American Carbon Registry, which had registered Tradewater’s project that was disrupted by the EPA.
“People want the supply available, but they don’t want to continuously buy it. You can’t really fault groups like Wesco,” Ripley said. “You’re doing this work that everybody says is highly valued, but you can’t find a buyer. So, then you go, ‘OK, this stuff is going to emit when it’s in a fire prevention situation, let’s just use a carbon project to get rid of it.'”
Ozone-depleting substance projects “offer a highly additional and impactful climate benefit,” according to a technical brief from the Rocky Mountain Institute. “But despite their high integrity, ODS projects face hurdles to scale due to the logistical and legal challenges of ODS recovery and transport. The VCM has the potential to help ODS crediting projects overcome these hurdles, unlocking a pathway to eliminating some of the world’s most dangerous atmospheric pollutants.”
In blocking Tradewater’s project, the EPA acted on the authority of the Clean Air Act, it said in its September news release. It also issued letters to Tradewater, Wesco and ACR requesting further information.
ACR confirmed it had received the request for information.
“We are developing our response to the EPA request including detailing ACR’s methodological requirements for adherence to applicable domestic and international laws and regulations for halon destruction,” a spokesperson said.
Tradewater and Wesco did not respond to a request for comment.
Asked if the EPA plans to look at other voluntary carbon projects, an agency spokesperson said, “EPA considers the destruction of chemicals that are still being used as unnecessary especially if they can be recycled, and their destruction could result in additional production.”
–Reporting by Henry Kronk, hkronk@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeremy Rakes, jrakes@opisnet.com and Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com
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