[Senate Treaty Document 117-1]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
117th Congress} { Treaty Doc.
SENATE
1st Session } { 117-1
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AMENDMENT TO MONTREAL PROTOCOL (``KIGALI AMENDMENT'')
__________
MESSAGE
from
THEPRESIDENTOFTHEUNITEDSTATES
transmitting
AMENDMENT TO THE MONTREAL PROTOCOL ON SUBSTANCES THAT DEPLETE THE OZONE
LAYER (THE ``MONTREAL PROTOCOL''), ADOPTED AT KIGALI ON OCTOBER 15,
2016, BY THE TWENTY-EIGHTH MEETING OF THE PARTIES TO THE MONTREAL
PROTOCOL (THE ``KIGALI AMENDMENT'')
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November 16, 2021.--Treaty was read the first time, and together with
the accompanying papers, referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
and ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
----------
The White House, November 16, 2021.
To the Senate of the United States:
With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the
Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith the Amendment to
the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone
Layer (the ``Montreal Protocol''), adopted at Kigali on October
15, 2016, by the Twenty-Eighth Meeting of the Parties to the
Montreal Protocol (the ``Kigali Amendment''). The report of the
Department of State is also enclosed for the information of the
Senate.
The principal features of the Kigali Amendment provide for
a gradual phasedown in the production and consumption of
hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are alternatives to ozone-
depleting substances being phased out under the Montreal
Protocol, as well as related provisions concerning reporting,
licensing, control of trade with non-Parties, and control of
certain byproduct emissions.
The United States has sufficient domestic authority to
implement obligations under the Kigali Amendment, including
through the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020
(the ``AIM Act'') and the Clean Air Act. The Environmental
Protection Agency's recent rulemakings under the AIM Act
establish a domestic HFC allocation system and other provisions
that would enable the United States to begin implementation of
the provisions of the Kigali Amendment.
The Kigali Amendment has strong support from the U.S.
business community and nongovernmental organizations.
Ratification by the United States would advance U.S. interests
in remaining a leader in the development and deployment of HFC
alternatives, ensuring access to rapidly growing refrigeration
and cooling markets overseas and stimulating U.S. investment,
exports, and job growth in this sector. Ratification will also
ensure the United States continues to have a full voice to
represent U.S. economic and environmental interests as
implementation of the Kigali Amendment moves forward in coming
years.
The Kigali Amendment entered into force on January 1, 2019,
and there are currently 124 Parties to the Amendment. The
Senate has given its advice and consent to ratification of all
four previous amendments to the Montreal Protocol, with
bipartisan support. I recommend that the Senate give favorable
consideration to the Kigali Amendment and give its advice and
consent to ratification at the earliest date.
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
LETTER OF SUBMITTAL
----------
Department of State,
Washington, March 25, 2021.
The President,
The White House.
Mr. President: I have the honor to submit to you the
Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete
the Ozone Layer (``Montreal Protocol'') adopted at Kigali on
October 15, 2016, by the Twenty-eighth Meeting of the Parties
to the Montreal Protocol (the ``Kigali Amendment'' or ``the
Amendment''). I recommend that the Amendment be transmitted to
the Senate for its advice and consent to ratification.
Ratification of the Amendment would significantly further U.S.
interests and is strongly supported by a wide range of U.S.
stakeholders.
The Montreal Protocol, which the United States ratified in
1988, is one of the most successful international environmental
agreements. It is responsible for the global phaseout of nearly
100 ozone-depleting substances and is expected to restore the
stratospheric ozone layer by 2065. The Kigali Amendment
addresses an issue that arose from the implementation of the
Montreal Protocol relating to the rise in the usage of
hydrofluorocarbons (``HFCs'') as replacements for many of the
phased-out ozone-depleting substances. HFCs do not harm the
ozone layer but. are potent greenhouse gases, often having
thousands of times the global warming potential of carbon
dioxide (CO2). Global implementation of the Amendment has the
potential for significant avoidance of greenhouse gas
emissions, equivalent to the avoidance of as much as half a
degree Celsius of warming by the end of the century. The global
transition away from HFCs will also support U.S. manufacturing
and job growth because of our comparative advantage in the
development of HFC alternatives.
The principal features of the Kigali Amendment closely
parallel control measures for other controlled substances under
the Montreal Protocol. The Amendment provides for the gradual
phasedown of the production and consumption of 18 listed HFCs
between 2019 and 2036, subject to certain exemptions. Unlike
the total phaseout for other controlled substances under the
Montreal Protocol, the Amendment would allow the United States
to continue long-term production and consumption of HFCs at 15
percent of its baseline levels, stopping short of their
complete elimination. The Amendment contains a stepwise
phasedown schedule that would require a 10 percent reduction
upon entry into force for the United States, a 40 percent
reduction by 2024, a 70 percent reduction by 2029, and an 80
percent reduction by 2034. The last step of the phasedown would
be an 85 percent reduction by 2036.
The trade provisions in Article 4 of the Montreal Protocol
are amended to treat HFCs like other controlled substances,
that is, Parties to the Amendment are banned from trading in
HFCs with a non-Party; beginning in 2033. The Montreal
Protocol's licensing provisions under Article 4B are similarly
amended to treat HFCs like other controlled substances by
requiring each Party to establish a system for licensing the
import and export of new, used, recycled reclaimed HFCs. The
Amendment extends the Article 7 reporting regime to HFCs by
requiring Parties to report annually on their production and
consumption of HFCs. The Amendment also requires Parties to
destroy, to the extent practicable, byproduct emissions of HFC-
23, a highly potent greenhouse gas generated from the
production of some substances listed in Annexes C and F of the
Montreal Protocol, and to report on these efforts. Provisions
related to the financial mechanism in Article 10 extend the
scope of the financial mechanism to support implementation of
the Amendment.
This is the fifth amendment to the Montreal Protocol; the
first amendment (the ``London Amendment'') entered into force
on August 10, 1992. The second amendment (the ``Copenhagen
Amendment'') entered into force on June 14, 1994. The third
amendment (the ``Montreal Amendment'') entered into force on
November 10, 1999. The fourth amendment (the ``Beijing
Amendment'') entered into force on February 25, 2002. The
United States is a Party to all four previous amendments to the
Montreal Protocol, all of which received the Senate's advice
and consent to ratification.
The United States has sufficient domestic authority to
implement its obligations under the Kigali Amendment, including
through the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020
and the Clean Air Act. Additional regulations would need to be
promulgated under these authorities for the United States to be
able to carry out its obligations under the Amendment.
The Kigali Amendment entered into force on January 1, 2019,
and currently there are 115 Parties to the Amendment.
Ratification by the United States is important to ensure that
U.S. interests are fully represented in international
discussions relating to the Amendment's implementation. U.S.
ratification would also further encourage the wide
participation among governments necessary for the Amendment to
be fully effective in transitioning global markets toward HFC
alternatives, which will advantage the U.S. industry that has
led development of these new technologies and ensure long-term
U.S. access to global markets in the affected sectors.
Ratification would significantly benefit U.S. industry
efforts to remain global leaders in the development,
manufacturing, production, and deployment of alternatives, and
stimulate U.S. investment and jobs in this sector. U.S.
businesses have been at the forefront of innovation in the
development of alternatives to ozone-depleting substances and
HFCs. These alternatives, many of which are the result of
research and development in the United States, are used in
applications like air conditioning, refrigeration, aerosols,
foams, solvents, and fire suppression--sectors with U.S. annual
manufacturing and services of more than $178 billion. A study
conducted in 2018 by Inforum, the University of Maryland's
Interindustry Forecasting Project, on behalf of the Air-
conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute and the
Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy, estimated that
fluorocarbon manufacturing, producing, and servicing industries
would benefit from joining the Kigali Amendment and from its
global implementation through the creation of 33,000 new
domestic manufacturing jobs, $4.8 billion annually of increased
exports, and $12.5 billion of increased economic output per
year.
The Amendment provides significant benefits, market
predictability, and regulatory certainty, and opens large and
growing international markets to new technology developed and
manufactured in the United States.
I recommend, therefore, that you transmit the Kigali
Amendment to the Montreal Protocol to the Senate for advice and
consent to ratification.
Respectfully submitted,
Antony J. Blinken.
Enclosure: As stated.
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