Irvine Plans Law to Restrict Materials That Destroy Ozone

Trying to do their small part to save Earth’s protective ozone layer, Irvine city officials today will propose a model ordinance that bans or severely restricts the use of chlorofluorocarbons in packaging, air conditioning, home insulation and solvents.

Irvine Mayor Larry Agran said the draft ordinance appears to be more comprehensive than any in the United States that aims to limit the use of chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs--synthetic chemicals that destroy ozone.

“I think we can make a dent in the problem and also set an example and inspire other localities--state and national governments to move more quickly” on this environmental issue, he said Monday.

Recycling CFCs

The proposed ordinance would require any business that repairs refrigerators or air-conditioning units containing CFCs to capture them for recycling.

It also would require builders to find a substitute for insulating materials made with CFCs and to dispose of any CFC-laden materials “properly.” And it would forbid supermarkets and fast-food restaurants from using any packaging material made with CFCs, such as plastic foam containers and cups.

Violators would face fines of $50 for the first offense, $100 for the next offense and possible civil litigation, according to draft language in the proposed ordinance.

Several cities, including Berkeley, already have imposed a ban on packaging materials made with CFCs. In early May, the Vermont legislature passed a bill banning automobile air conditioners that use CFCs. That legislation becomes effective for cars registered or sold in 1993.

Meanwhile, Irvine’s proposed ordinance includes provisions similar to the other laws but goes beyond them, Agran said.

June 29 Public Hearing

Although the proposal may be unprecedented, Agran said he doubted that it would be controversial. Business leaders may have questions about it, he said, but every business in Irvine will get a copy of the proposed ordinance before June 29 when a public hearing on the issue is scheduled.

If approved, the ordinance would become effective July 1, 1990, giving businesses time to adjust to the new restrictions, he said.

Still, a “Dear Irvine Business Owner” letter accompanying the proposal suggested that some businessmen might at least have reason to be concerned.

“Some limitations will occur for businesses that use CFCs or products containing CFCs,” the letter said. But, it added, “By participating enthusiastically, all residents of Irvine will garner the satisfaction

that comes from doing the right thing.”

In recent years, alarmed scientists have discovered a gaping hole in ozone over the antarctic as well as increasing losses of ozone around the world. Ozone shields the Earth from ultraviolet rays that can cause skin cancer.

As a result of measurable ozone losses and proof that CFCs were to blame, 31 nations including the United States, pledged in 1987 to reduce consumption of CFCs by 50% by the end of the century. Last year, American CFC manufacturers, including the Du Pont Co. of Wilmington, Del., promised to phase out production of the compound.

Agran said a newly created city of Irvine Science Advisory Task Force spent 4 months studying ways to regulate CFCs.

“In most cases there are suitable substitutes” to materials made with CFCs, he said. “I think we’ve been careful not to require the impossible.”

Interested in Irvine’s approach was UC Irvine chemistry professor F. Sherwood Rowland, who, with researcher Mario Molina, discovered in 1974 that CFCs were destroying ozone.

That research was accepted by the National Academy of Sciences, and in 1978 it led to a ban on nearly all aerosol sprays containing CFCs.

Until recently, however, CFC manufacturers disparaged Rowland and Molina’s findings, claiming that they were theoretical and that there was no proof that CFCs were destroying atmospheric ozone. However, with the discovery of the growing hole in ozone above the antarctic and other ozone losses, even CFC manufacturers now concede there is a problem.