Methyl Bromide and Stratospheric Ozone Depletion

Publication Date: December 2006

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Environment

Type:

Abstract:

Methyl Bromide (MeBr), a widely used pesticide in agriculture, is regulated for its potential ozone-depleting effects in the Earth's stratosphere. Controls on production, emissions, and trade are mandated internationally under the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (the Protocol) and domestically under Title VI of the U.S. Clean Air Act. A ban on production for nonessential uses occurred on December 31, 2004, but the Protocol still regulates post-2004 production for critical uses. U.S. agribusinesses have sought exemptions from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to produce MeBr for certain critical uses after the ban.

Exemptions are resisted by some Protocol parties and environmental advocates who seek a rapid, definitive ban on production and use. Chemical companies maintain that they cannot foresee development of effective chemical substitutes for all uses of MeBr in the near term, and agricultural producers indicate they may have to rely on less economical and less effective treatments. Production allowances for MeBr for 2005-2008 have since been approved under the Protocol, and the EPA has approved allocations for registered U.S. users. Due to declining production of manufactured MeBr, the EPA would permit commercial trade of pre-2005 inventories. This report will be updated as warranted.