WASHINGTON - At a meeting with top White House officials, Air
Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) CEO Paul Stalknecht discussed the
HVACR industry’s concern with the lack of enforcement for EPA 608 licensing
provisions.
Stalknecht told officials, “Since the Clean Air Act legislation
was enacted 18 years ago, to the best of our knowledge, there has been
only one enforcement action taken by the EPA against a contractor for illegal
venting of refrigerants into the atmosphere. Furthermore, at best, less
than 5 percent of these ozone-depleting compounds are being recovered annually
in the field. That is a pitiful record. One can only suspect that the
95 percent not being recaptured somehow contributes to present-day global
warming and is a direct result of non-enforcement of the existing rules.”
Stalknecht warned the administration that new global warming and
security initiatives will merely layer another complicated regulatory burden
and additional costs on “good” businesspeople, while we have yet to reap any
benefit from rules imposed on the industry nearly two decades ago due to lack
of enforcement.
Before enacting new laws, Stalknecht said, the government should
try to enforce what already exists. If it were to do so, “it is highly probable
that compliance will increase, the contractor playing field will be
leveled, and we will see major reductions in an item that may contribute to
global warming,” Stalknecht said.
Publication date:05/12/2008
