Honeywell issued the following statement about its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court of a decision that could constrain the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to phase out the use of outdated and harmful hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) through the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program
“Honeywell and The Chemours Company today asked the Supreme Court to review a 2017 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that upended SNAP, a successful 25-year-old EPA program that requires use of the safest available substitutes for ozone-depleting substances — these substitutes would reduce overall risk to human health and the environment.
“Despite agreeing with the EPA that replacement solutions such as hydrofluoro-olefins (HFOs) are safer than certain HFCs, the court ruled that ozone-depleting substances could only be replaced once, even if the replacements themselves are unsafe and new and safer substitutes are available. The decision ignores Congress’s intent in directing the EPA to replace ozone-depleting substances with the safest available alternatives.
“Supported by SNAP and other smart regulations, American companies have invested more than $1 billion to invent, commercialize and manufacture safer replacement alternatives to ozone-depleting substances, such as HFOs. The D.C. Circuit decision undermines the innovation and investments that American businesses have made to create and transition to safer alternatives.
