Up in the Air

By Bill Polits

The “Chairman’s Mark” of S. 1733, the senate’s climate and energy bill, entitled the “Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act” was published on Friday, Oct. 23, and is the most recent version of this bill. The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works today began the first legislative hearings on the topic of this legislation with 3 consecutive days of hearings which are to include 54 witnesses on 9 separate panels.

In contrast to the House of Representatives’ Waxman-Markey (H.B. 2454) climate and energy bill, the current version of the senate bill (see page 808 of S. 1733) contains provisions for the EPA Administrator - pursuant to requirements for hearing of public comment and the advice of the appropriate regulatory or administrative bodies - to provide for exceptions to the restrictions placed on HFC production for the use in the following areas:

  • Medical Devices

  • Aviation
  • Fire Suppression
  • National Security

The Impact for Fire Safety

Such provisions were absent from H.B. 2454 and if included in a final version signed into law, would potentially provide for a freer access to HFCs for fire suppression. Stay tuned for the latest developments!