CELEX: 51999PC0067
Language: en
Date: 1999-02-11
Title: Amended proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) on substances that deplete the ozone layer

C 83/4              EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                                25.3.1999
                Amended proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) on substances that deplete the ozone
                                                          layer (1)
                                                     (1999/C 83/02)
                                                 (Text with EEA relevance)
                                         COM(1999) 67 final Ð 98/0228 (SYN)
                   (Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2) of the EC-Treaty on
                                                   11 February 1999)
             (1) OJ C 286, 15.9.1998, p. 6.
                     ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                                AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                         Recital 3
whereas it is established that continued emissions of             whereas it is established that continued emissions of
ozone-depleting substances at current levels continue             ozone-depleting substances at current levels continue
to cause significant damage to the ozone layer;                   to cause significant damage to the ozone layer;
whereas it is therefore necessary to take further steps           whereas ozone depletion in the southern hemisphere
in order to ensure sufficient protection for human                reached unprecedented levels in 1998; whereas in
health and the environment;                                       three out of four recent springs severe ozone depletion
                                                                  has occurred in the Arctic region; whereas increased
                                                                  UV-B radiation resulting from ozone depletion poses a
                                                                  significant threat to health and environment; whereas
                                                                  it is therefore necessary to take further steps in order
                                                                  to ensure sufficient protection for human health and
                                                                  the environment;
                                                         Recital 9
whereas the growing availability of alternatives to               whereas the significant contribution of methyl
methyl bromide should be reflected in an accelerated              bromide to ozone depletion, its high toxicity and the
phaseout of methyl bromide compared to the                        growing availability of alternatives to methyl bromide
Montreal Protocol; whereas such an accelerated                    should be reflected in an accelerated phaseout of
phaseout is also provided for by other parties of the             methyl bromide compared to the Montreal Protocol;
Protocol; whereas there might be specific critical                whereas such an accelerated phaseout is also provided
agricultural uses and conditions for which the phasing            for by other parties of the Protocol; whereas there
out of methyl bromide would lead to severe technical              might be specific critical agricultural uses and
or economic difficulties; whereas exemptions should               conditions for which the phasing out of methyl
be foreseen for those cases for which the production              bromide would lead to severe technical or economic
and placing on the market of methyl bromide may be                difficulties; whereas exemptions should be foreseen for
permitted after phaseout;                                         those cases for which the production and placing on
                                                                  the market of methyl bromide may be permitted after
                                                                  phaseout; whereas, to ensure that exemptions are
                                                                  granted only for genuine critical uses, there should be
                                                                  a mechanism to enable the use of methyl bromide to
                                                                  be monitored on a Community-wide basis;
 ---pagebreak--- 25.3.1999            EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                                  C 83/5
                     ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                                  AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                     Recital 8a (new)
                                                                  whereas even after the phaseout of controlled
                                                                  substances the Commission may under certain
                                                                  conditions grant exemptions for essential uses;
                                                                  whereas care must be taken that exemptions are
                                                                  granted mainly for medical uses;
                                                     Recital 11a (new)
                                                                  whereas the phaseout of controlled substances requires
                                                                  conversions to new technologies or alternative
                                                                  products; whereas this could pose a burden to small
                                                                  and medium-sized undertakings (SMU) in particular;
                                                                  whereas Member States should therefore consider
                                                                  providing appropriate forms of assistance specifically
                                                                  to enable SMU to make the necessary changes;
                                                 Article 2 (new definition)
                                                                  Add after the definition of hydrochlorofluorocarbons',
                                                                  and preceding the definition of feedstock':
                                                                  Ð new substances' shall mean substances listed in
                                                                       Annex IA. This definition shall cover substances
                                                                       whether alone or in a mixture, and whether they
                                                                       are virgin, recovered, recycled or reclaimed. This
                                                                       definition shall not cover any substance which is in
                                                                       a manufactured product other than a container
                                                                       used for transportation or storage of that
                                                                       substance, or insignificant quantities of any new
                                                                       substance, originating from inadvertent or
                                                                       accidental production during a manufacturing
                                                                       process or from unreacted feedstock;
                                                      Article 5 (1) (d)
(iii) from the 1 January 2003, for the production                 (iii) from 1 January 2003, for the production of all
      of polyurethane foams for appliances, of                          foams;
      polyurethane flexible faced laminate foams and of
      polyurethane sandwich panels, except where these
      latter two are used for insulated transport;
(iv) from 1 January 2004, for the production of all
      foams;
 ---pagebreak--- C 83/6              EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                                    25.3.1999
                     ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                                  AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                         Article 5 (6)
The Commission may, following a request of a                       The Commission may, following a request of a
competent authority of a Member State and in                       competent authority of a Member State and in
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 17,             accordance with the procedure laid down in
authorise a temporary exemption to allow the use and               Article 17, authorise a time-limited exemption to
placing on the market of hydrochlorofluorocarbons in               allow the use and placing on the market of
derogation from paragraph 1 and Article 4 (3) where                hydrochlorofluorocarbons        in    derogation       from
it is demonstrated that, for a particular use,                     paragraph 1 and Article 4 (3) where it is demonstrated
technically and economically feasible alternative                  that, for a particular use, technically and economically
substances or technologies are not available or cannot             feasible alternative substances or technologies are not
be used.                                                           available or cannot be used.
                                                          Article 15
Chlorofluorocarbons,       other     fully     halogenated         Chlorofluorocarbons,       other     fully     halogenated
chlorofluorocarbons, halons, carbon tetrachloride,                 chlorofluorocarbons, halons, carbon tetrachloride,
1,1,1-trichloroethane, hydrobromofluorocarbons and                 1,1,1-trichloroethane, hydrobromofluorocarbons and
hydrochlorofluorocarbons contained in:                             hydrochlorofluorocarbons contained in:
Ð    refrigeration    equipment    and     air-conditioning        Ð    refrigeration    equipment    and     air-conditioning
     equipment,                                                         equipment,
Ð    equipment containing solvents,                                Ð    equipment containing solvents,
Ð    fire-protection systems and fire extinguishers, and           Ð    fire-protection systems and fire extinguishers, and
Ð    rigid foams                                                   Ð    rigid foams
shall be recovered if practicable for destruction by               shall be recovered if practicable for destruction by
technologies approved by the parties or by any other               technologies approved by the parties or by any other
environmentally acceptable destruction technology, or              environmentally acceptable destruction technology, or
for recycling or reclamation during the servicing and              for recycling or reclamation during the servicing and
maintenance of equipment or before the dismantling                 maintenance of equipment or before the dismantling
or disposal of equipment.                                          or disposal of equipment.
                                                                   Controlled substances for use as refrigerants and for
                                                                   fire-protection may not be placed on the market in
                                                                   disposable containers.
Member States shall promote, as appropriate, the                   Member States shall promote, as appropriate, the
establishment      of    destruction,     recycling     and        establishment      of    destruction,     recycling     and
reclamation facilities. Member States shall define the             reclamation facilities. Member States shall define the
minimum qualification requirements for the servicing               minimum qualification requirements for the servicing
personnel involved.                                                personnel involved.
Member States shall report to the Commission by                    Member States shall report to the Commission by
31 December 2001 on the systems established to                     31 December 2001 on the systems established to
promote the recovery of used controlled substances,                promote the recovery of used controlled substances,
including the facilities available and the quantities of           including the facilities available and the quantities of
used controlled substances recovered, recycled,                    used controlled substances recovered, recycled,
reclaimed or destroyed.                                            reclaimed or destroyed.
 ---pagebreak--- 25.3.1999           EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                                 C 83/7
                     ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                               AMENDED PROPOSAL
This provision shall be without prejudice to Council            This provision shall be without prejudice to Council
Directive 75/442/EEC (1) or to measures adopted                 Directive 75/442/EEC (1) or to measures adopted
following Article 2 (2) of that Directive.                      following Article 2 (2) of that Directive.
                                                      Article 19 (2)
When requesting information from an undertaking the             When requesting information from an undertaking the
Commission shall at the same time forward a copy of             Commission shall at the same time forward a copy of
the request to the competent authority of the Member            the request to the competent authority of the Member
State within the territory of which the undertaking's           State within the territory of which the undertaking's
seat is situated, together with a statement of the              seat is situated.
reasons why that information is required.
                                                      Article 19 (3)
The competent authorities of the Member States shall            The competent authorities of the Member States shall
carry out the investigations which the Commission               carry out the investigations which the Commission
considers necessary under this Regulation.                      considers necessary under this Regulation. The
                                                                Member States shall also conduct random checks on
                                                                imports of controlled substances, and communicate
                                                                the schedules and results of those checks to the
                                                                Commission.
                                                      Article 19 (5)
The Commission shall take appropriate steps to                  The Commission shall take appropriate action to
protect the confidentiality of information obtained             promote adequate exchange of information and
under this Article.                                             cooperation between national authorities and between
                                                                national authorities and the Commission. The
                                                                Commission shall take appropriate steps to protect the
                                                                confidentiality of information obtained under this
                                                                Article.
                                                   Article 20 a (new)
                                                                                       CHAPTER Va
                                                                                    NEW SUBSTANCES
                                                                                       Article 20 a
                                                                                     New Substances
                                                                1.    The production, release for free circulation in the
                                                                Community and inward processing, placing on the
                                                                market and use of substances in Annex IA are
                                                                prohibited.
(1) OJ L 194, 25.7.1975, p. 39.                                 (1) OJ L 194, 25.7.1975, p. 39.
 ---pagebreak--- C 83/8 EN              Official Journal of the European Communities                             25.3.1999
       ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                              AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                  2.   The Commission shall, as appropriate, make
                                                  proposals to include in Annex IA any substances that
                                                  are not controlled substances but that are found by the
                                                  Scientific Assessment Panel under the Montreal
                                                  Protocol to have significant ozone-depleting potential,
                                                  including proposals on possible exemptions from
                                                  paragraph 1.
                                      Annex IA (new)
                                                                    NEW SUBSTANCES
                                                  Bromochloromethane