Newport Beach Takes a First Step Toward Considering CFC Ban

The Newport Beach City Council will discuss forming an ad hoc committee tonight to study banning the use of chemicals and compounds that erode Earth’s ozone layer.

Council members say it is unlikely, however, that they would adopt an ordinance as comprehensive as the one Irvine approved last week, restricting the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), among other substances.

The Newport Beach council will also consider adopting a resolution urging state, national and international leaders to work toward a ban on CFCs, which are used in cleaning solvents, aerosol cans and refrigerator and air-conditioning coolants.

Scientists have said that CFCs and other chlorinated solvents are destroying the earth’s ozone layer, which protects the planet from ultraviolet radiation, which can cause skin cancer and other diseases. The compounds are also associated with an effect called global warming, which scientists predict could eventually cause catastrophic changes in Earth’s climate.

In June, the Newport Beach Environmental Quality Affairs Citizens Advisory Committee recommended a ban on plastic foam food packaging made with CFCs. It also asked the city to create a task force to study going further and, as Irvine did, regulating all CFCs.

Irvine’s ordinance affects a wide range of products and services, including air conditioning repair firms and companies that make computer components, building insulation and fast-food packaging. The ordinance bans the use of several compounds altogether and requires recycling of certain compounds used in air conditioning and refrigeration. It allows exemptions when no alternative compound is available or, in the case of small emissions, when recycling or replacement would be too costly.

“It’s not real likely that we will take as strong a step,” Newport Beach Councilwoman Jean Watt said, but “hopefully, this will be at least a step forward.”

Newport Beach Mayor Donald A. Strauss said that most council members want to learn more about the such a ban would have before taking action. An ad hoc committee could take several months to study the issue and make recommendations, he said.

“I know it’s a big problem,” Strauss said. “I wouldn’t want to just go away and say, ‘Someone else will solve it.’ ”

The council is divided over whether Newport Beach could have any significant influence in solving the problem. Some say a local ban would have a minute effect and that therefore the issue should be left to regional, state or national officials so that many cities would be operating under a uniform law.

“This is the kind of problem that needs to be addressed on a regional basis,” said Councilman Clarence J. Turner. “The proper way may be an all-encompassing strategy.

“For the city of Newport Beach to pass some sort of ordinance, the ultimate effect of the problem might be like emptying the ocean with a teaspoon.”

But Irvine Mayor Larry Agran said that his city, which has a heavy concentration of high-tech industries, makes a relatively substantial contribution to the emission problem.

“The fact of the matter is, in the case of Irvine, we are a very disproportionate part of a national problem,” he said.

Agran said that in the absence of state and federal legislation, local governments have had to take the lead. Irvine’s ordinance has attracted the attention of several major cities, including Newark, Minneapolis and Albuquerque, that are considering similar laws.

“We think it’s suitable for replication in city after city across the country,” he said.

So far, outside of Newport Beach, San Clemente is the only Orange County city to have asked Irvine officials about their ordinance, said Jim Jenal, an Irvine council aide. He has also, Jenal said, received inquiries from San Diego, San Jose, Santa Monica, Berkley and Davis.

Some Newport Beach council members also fear that a ban would either be unenforceable or so stringent that it would prompt some industries to leave town. “I want to know, if we are going to pass a law, can we enforce it?” said Councilwoman Evelyn R. Hart.

Interest of 3 Firms

Richard Luehrs, president of the Newport Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce, said that three manufacturing companies that have divisions in Newport--Rockwell International Corp., Hughes Aircraft Co. and Ford Aerospace Corp.--have been most concerned about any such action on the part of the council.

“They’re kind of upset about the Irvine ordinance,” Luehrs said. “They’d rather have a lot of discussion (with the council) first . . . and then pass an ordinance accordingly.”

Luehrs said that the chamber, as do some council members, favors leaving it to state and federal authorities to legislate such a ban.

“Local ordinances would vary from community to community, and we don’t think that makes a lot of sense,” he said.

Ralph Bond, a spokesman for the Rockwell Semiconductor Products Division in Newport Beach, said a ban would have little impact on the company beit only uses CFCs in very small amounts for degreasing. Most often, the company uses water soluble fluxes in product production, such as in the cleaning of circuit boards.

“For us, it would be a negligible problem,” he said.