USA: Enforcement of the US AIM Act regulations controlling the use, importation and production of HFCs has been identified as a priority by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Every four years, the EPA selects enforcement and compliance priorities so that the agency and its state partners can prioritise resources to address what it considers the most serious and widespread environmental problems facing the United States.
The National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives for 2024-2027 including for the first time initiatives to mitigate climate change, address exposure to PFAS contamination and protect communities from cancer-causing coal ash.
Tackling the climate crisis is seen by the EPA as an urgent priority. In a statement published today, the EPA said: “The initiative will focus on three separate and significant contributors to climate change: (1) methane emissions from oil and gas facilities; (2) methane emissions from landfills; and (3) the use, importation, and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).”
The EPA says it has documented widespread non-compliance in all three of these areas, resulting in potentially tens of thousands of tons of unlawful emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.
“This initiative will help achieve EPA’s goals to combat climate change while also addressing significant non-compliance in specific industry sectors,” the EPA said.