Proposed Rule Lab Use Extension
On July 22, 2020, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler signed a proposed rule titled Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Ozone Extension of the Laboratory and Analytical Use Exemption for Essential Class I Ozone-Depleting Substances (Docket Number: EPA-HQ-OAR-2020-0084). The EPA is proposing to revise regulations governing the production and import of class I ozone-depleting substances in the United States to extend indefinitely the global essential laboratory and analytical use exemption. This exemption currently expires on December 31, 2021. This proposed change would allow for continued production and import of class I substances in the United States solely for laboratory and analytical uses that have not been identified by the EPA as nonessential. This action is proposed under the Clean Air Act and is consistent with a recent decision taken by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer to extend the global laboratory and analytical use exemption indefinitely beyond 2021.