The Post & Email by David Wojick 7/20/2021
It is immensely ironic that EPA’s ham-handed implementation of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act stifles innovation in manufacturing. They do it with a single rule that has no legal basis, tucked away in a 276 page regulatory proposal.
To make the point I am going to look at a single case, although I am sure there are many others, since HFCs are crucial to many different industries, from semiconductors to medical inhalers. In this case the industry is one I had never heard of — structural foam — where HFCs are what are called the “blowing agent”. That is, it is the gas that makes the foam.
The AIM Act specifically recognizes the crucial nature of HFCs and it exempts six entire industries from the phaseout, for five years with provision for extension. Structural foam for marine and trailer use is one of the six. The reason is that energy saving lightweight boats and trailers are climate friendly and HFCs are the only known way to make them.
Instead, EPA has arbitrarily limited the HFC allocations to past need, for all six exempt industries. Company allocation requests are limited to their best of the last three years. This obviously rules out any expansion, much less the dramatic growth of a takeoff.
More:
https://www.thepostemail.com/2021/07/20/epas-illegal-hfc-phaseout-rules-are-innovation-killers/
