Cambridge, MA Protection of the Stratospheric Ozone Layer
Type: Ordinance
Status: Adopted
Source File: http://bpc.iserver.net/codes/cbridge/_DATA/Title_8/48/index.html
Text:
Chapter 8.48 PROTECTION OF THE STRATOSPHERIC OZONE LAYER
Section 8.48.010 Definitions.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following words are defined as follows:
A. "Chlorofluorocarbon" means a family of substances containing carbon, fluorine and chlorine, having no hydrogen atoms and no double bonds.
B. "CFC" is an abbreviation of the word "Chlorofluorocarbon."
C. "Commissioner of Health and Hospitals" means the Commissioner of Health and Hospitals for the City.
D. "Halon" means a family of substances containing carbon, fluorine and bromine, having no hydrogen atoms and no double bonds.
E. "Manufactured substances" means any organic or inorganic chemical substances of a particular molecular identity, or any mixture, that has been manufactured for commercial purposes.
F. "Ozone depleting substances" means those manufactured substances with a potential to destroy ozone in the stratosphere listed in Section 8.48.030 of this chapter.
G. "Person" means any individual, corporation, government agency, partnership, firm, joint stock company, trust, association or any other public or private entity engaged in business or in providing a service in the City.
H. "Recovery" means the process of employing available control technology designed to collect, capture, control and store manufactured substances, including CFCs, which may cause or contribute to stratospheric ozone depletion.
I. "Refrigerator" means any device using any ozone-depleting substances for the purpose of the refrigeration of goods.
Section 8.48.020 Periodic review of this chapter.
Many prevalent uses of ozone-depleting chemicals are not restricted by this chapter because workable substitutes and technologies are not currently available. However, emerging technologies are quickly changing this situation. Therefore, this chapter shall be reviewed by the City Council first at two years and then at four years after its passage with the intention of strengthening this chapter. Reviews shall include but not be limited to the following topics: strengthening current restrictions, identifying new restrictions, and developing a plan for the disposal of ozone-depleting substances.
Section 8.48.030 Reporting requirements.
A. Within ninety days after the passage of this chapter, any person producing, selling, offering for sale or using in manufacturing any of the substances listed in this section, shall file a report with the Commissioner of Health and Hospitals setting forth the amount, by weight, of any and all substances so listed, and any and all products containing said substances which were produced, used in manufacturing and sold by said person during the calendar year 1989. Not less than annually thereafter, said persons shall file a report with the Commissioner of Health and Hospitals setting forth the amount of any and all substances so listed, and any and all of said products, which were produced, used in manufacturing and sold by said person during the twelve-month period since the filing date of the previous report, until said person ceases production, use and sale of all substances so listed and all of said products. All such reports shall be signed and attested by a responsible corporate officer.
B. Substances subject to reporting requirements include: CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-113, CFC-114, CFC-115, HCFC-22, Halon-1211, Halon-1301, Halon-2402, carbon tetrachloride and methyl chloroform.
Section 8.48.040 Specific restrictions on uses of ozone-depleting substances.
A. Restrictions on the Use of CFCs in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Units.
1. Effective January 1, 1991, no person shall perform repair service on any air conditioner or on any refrigerator unless such person uses equipment for recovery and recycling of CFC coolant contained in said air conditioner or refrigerator.
2. Effective January 1, 1991, all persons retaining automobiles on their premises for the purpose of reselling said automobiles in parts shall use recovery and recycling equipment to recover CFC coolant from each automobile within three business days after said automobile arrives on the premises. Persons affected by this restriction shall not allow CFC coolant to be released into the atmosphere.
3. All equipment for recovery and recycling of CFC coolant required by this chapter shall be approved by Underwriters Laboratory or a similar institution.
B. Restrictions on the Sale and Use of CFC Refrigerants. Effective January 1, 1991, no person shall sell or offer for sale CFC coolant suitable for use in any air conditioner or refrigerator in quantities smaller than fifteen pounds or to persons not owning recycling or recovery equipment described in Section 8.48.040(A).
C. Restrictions on the Disposal of CFCs in Air Conditioners and Refrigerators.
1. Effective January 1, 1991, no person shall allow CFC coolants in air conditioners or refrigerators to be released into the atmosphere nor shall any person dispose of any air conditioner or refrigerator containing any CFC coolant unless said air conditioner or refrigerator has been recovered in the fashion described in Section 8.48.040(A).
2. Effective January 1, 1991, the Commissioner of Health and Hospitals shall publish a policy for recovery of CFC coolant in air conditioners and refrigerators intended to be disposed of by waste haulers.
D. Restrictions on the Use of CFCs in Miscellaneous Consumer Products. Effective at the passage of this chapter, no person shall sell, offer for sale or use CFC plastic party streamers, CFC propelled noise horns or CFC cleaning solutions for consumer electronics and photographic equipment.
E. Phase Out of CFC-113, Methyl Chloroform and Carbon Tetrachloride.
1. Effective January 1, 1992, no person shall produce, sell, offer for sale or use in manufacturing, CFC-113, methyl chloroform or carbon tetrachloride in annual quantities greater than fifty percent of the total amount of CFC-113, methyl chloroform and carbon tetrachloride used during the calendar year 1989.
2. Effective January 1, 1994, no person shall offer for sale or use in manufacturing, CFC-113, methyl chloroform or carbon tetrachloride.
3. Medical applications for which no safe non-ozone depleting alternatives are available shall be exempt from Section 8.48.040(E). When safe non-ozone depleting alternatives become available, all persons using CFC-113, methyl chloroform or carbon tetrachloride under this exemption shall show good faith in converting to safe non-ozone depleting substances and products.
F. Restrictions on the Use of Halons in Fire Extinguishers.
1. Effective January 1, 1991, no person shall sell or offer for sale, fire extinguishers for consumer applications which contain halons or other ozone-depleting substances.
2. Effective January 1, 1991, no person shall use fire extinguishers that contain halons or other ozone-depleting substances for the purpose of testing or training except where required by law.
G. Restriction on the Manufacture and Use of Plastic Foam Insulation Product. Effective January 1, 1992, no person shall manufacture or use in the repair or construction of buildings any plastic foam or foam insulation product that contains any ozone-depleting substance.
H. Restrictions on the Disposal of Foam Insulation Products. Effective January 1, 1992, no person shall erect, construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, improve, remove, convert, renovate or demolish any building or structure which requires the removal of existing insulation that contains any ozone-depleting substance without recovering or properly disposing of such insulation consistent with any procedures adopted by the Commissioner of Health and Hospitals, and all applicable state and federal statutes and regulations.
I. Ban on the Manufacture of Ozone-depleting Substances. Effective January 1, 1992, no person shall produce any ozone-depleting substance.
Section 8.48.050 Warning labels required.
A. Effective January 1, 1991, no container in which CFCs, halons or other ozone-depleting substances are stored or transported, no product containing such substances excepting products using CFCs as coolants, nor any product manufactured with a process that uses said substance shall be sold or offered for sale unless it bears a label stating the following:
Contains (or manufactured with) [name of substance], a substance which harms public health and the environment by destroying stratospheric ozone in the atmosphere.
B. Effective January 1, 1991, no product using CFCs as coolants shall be sold or offered for sale unless it bears a label stating the following:
The coolant system of this product contains (name of substance), a substance which, if released into the atmosphere, harms the public health by destroying stratospheric ozone. Please prevent the release of CFC coolant into the atmosphere by servicing this product with approved coolant recapture and recovery equipment.
C. Said labels should be affixed on the face of said container or product in the form of a removable sticker not smaller than three inches by five inches, with the lettering and background in contrasting colors. In addition, the consumer information packet with regard to each product offered for sale shall include warnings about the dangers of ozone-depleting substances in accordance with directives of the Commissioner of Health and Hospitals.
Section 8.48.060 Enforcement.
A. Criminal Penalty. Any person who violates Sections 8.48.030 or 8.48.040 of this chapter shall be subject to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, and each day's violation shall constitute a separate offense.
B. Noncriminal Disposition.
1. Whoever violates Sections 8.48.030 or 8.48.040 of this chapter may be penalized by a noncriminal disposition as provided in G.L., c. 40, § 21D. For purposes of this section, the Commissioner of Health and Hospitals shall be the enforcing officer, except that the Commissioner may delegate his enforcing authority to one or more designated Health Enforcement Officers. The penalty for each violation will be twenty-five dollars, and each day's violation shall constitute a separate offense.
2. Any citizen may file a written complaint with the Commissioner regarding an alleged violation of this chapter. The Commissioner shall investigate such complaint within thirty days of its receipt, and shall take necessary enforcement action.
Section 8.48.070 Technical assistance.
The Commissioner of Health and Hospitals will produce, or commission to be produced, a document, available to all persons, for the purpose of assisting any persons affected by this chapter. This document will be available within six months of the passage of the ordinance codified in this chapter and will include, but not be limited to, information describing commercially available alternatives to ozone-depleting substances and available technologies to assist in the implementation of safe alternatives.
Section 8.48.080 Safe substitutes.
To the extent that safer substitutes for particular uses have been designated by an authoritative body, substances listed or covered under M.G.L. c. 111F (the Massachusetts Right to Know Law) shall not be used as replacements for the substances prohibited by this chapter. For the purpose of this section an authoritative body shall include but not be limited to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or sub-bodies of such agencies.
Section 8.48.090 Severability.
If any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence or word of this chapter shall be held to be invalid, either on its face or as applied, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the other sections, subsections, paragraphs, sentences or words of this chapter, and the application thereof; and to that end the sections, subsections, paragraphs, sentences and words of this chapter shall be deemed severable.