by Holly Gregory

Created on: March 24, 2009

The U.S. Clean Air Act is a congressional law that explains the EPA's task in protecting air quality and the ozone layer. This Act is maintained by the House of Representatives. Major amendments were passed in 1990 and several other changes were made after that with still more pending related to mandatory reporting of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

Refrigerant Gas Regulations for R-22 HCFCs: How the Government Mandates Monitoring and Tracking

The U.S. Clean Air Act is a regulation that spells out the EPA's role in air quality, especially in protecting the ozone layer and the tracking and reporting of Greenhouse Gases. The Act is maintained by the House of Representatives. The Clean Air Act has had changes made in the 1990s and again in 2008 that are more stringent than when it was first written over a decade ago.

Refrigerant gases are those used in climate control in commercial and business facilities such as warehouses, stores and office buildings. The refrigerants used in commercial heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) or regular air conditioning (AC) units include hydrofluorocarbons (HCFCs), chlorofluorocarbon (CFCs) and perfluorocarbon (PFCs).

Hydrofluorocarbons (HCFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are destructive Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) as well as harmful to the upper ozone layer. HCFCs do not have any of the organic chemicals chlorine or bromine, but they still do have a possibility of causing ozone depletion. These refrigerant gases are not only considered Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) but many of them also have very high Global Warming Potential ratios which results in their detailed tracking, monitoring, and reporting related to their Global Warming effects.

While perfluorocarbons do not contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer, scientists worry that PFCs can contribute to global warming since they have a very high global warming potential (GWP). GWP is a ratio developed to determine which chemical substances and refrigerant gases released into the atmosphere create more warming. The most common greenhouse gas (GHG) talked about the most often is carbon dioxide (CO2) or just carbon for short.

CFCs have been used since the early 1930s and were found to deplete ozone in the 1970s. A chemical reaction caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation breaks off the chlorine atom in CFCs. This chlorine atom binds with oxygen already in the atmosphere. The depletion of the ozone is the result of chemical reactions where chlorine

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