Fact Sheet: Extension of the Laboratory and Analytical Use Exemption for Essential Class I Ozone-Depleting Substances

On December 23, 2005, EPA issued a final rule to extend the exemption that allows continued production and import of essential controlled Class I ozone-depleting substances (ODS) for laboratory and analytical uses until December 31, 2007.
This exemption is necessary because some federal and state laws, including regulations issued under the Clean Air Act, require laboratory testing of water, air, or soil to ensure compliance with environmental standards. A pure sample of an ODS may be necessary to properly calibrate the testing equipment and effectively monitor the presence of chemicals in the environment.
Extension of the Laboratory and Analytical Use Exemption for Essential Class I Ozone-Depleting Substances

Decision X/19, made by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in 1998, allowed a general exemption for essential laboratory and analytical uses through December 31, 2005. This decision also asked the Protocol’s Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP), a group of technical experts from member countries, to report annually on procedures that could be performed without the use of controlled substances.
Later, based on the TEAP’s recommendation, the Parties took Decision XI/15 in 1999, which eliminated the exemption’s application to the following uses: testing of oil and grease, testing petroleum hydrocarbons in water, testing of tar in road-paving materials, and forensic finger-printing. EPA incorporated this exclusion in a rulemaking issued on February 11, 2002 (67 FR 6352).
In a subsequent progress report issued in May 2003, the TEAP noted that no new testing methods were forthcoming. At their Fifteenth Meeting in November 2003, the Parties to the Montreal Protocol adopted Decision XV/8, which extended the global exemption for laboratory and analytical uses to December 31, 2007.
On May 13, 2005, EPA issued a proposed rule seeking comment on the extension of the exemption (70 FR 25725) but received minimal comments. Therefore, EPA is finalizing the extension of the exemption for analytical and laboratory uses until December 31, 2007.

Additional information on regulation of ozone-depleting substances can be found at the following address: http://www.epa.gov/ozone.
For further information about this final rulemaking, contact Hodayah Finman (Finman.Hodayah@epa.gov) of EPA’s Office of Atmospheric Programs at (202) 343-9246.