Subject: PANUPS : Methyl Bromide Initiatives

From: Pesticide Action Network North America Reg Ctr <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 Jan 93 16:09:10 PST

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PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK NORTH AMERICA UPDATES 
SERVICE
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INITIATIVES TO PHASE OUT METHYL BROMIDE WORLDWIDE

January 19, 1993

Several actions to reduce and phase out production and use of the 
highly toxic, ozone-depleting pesticide methyl bromide have been 
taken recently by international, regional, national, and state 
government bodies.  

Worldwide usage of methyl bromide amounted to some 67,000 tons in 
1990, of which pesticidal applications accounted for 95%.  
Methyl bromide emissions are believed to have caused 5-10% of 
observed levels of ozone depletion, according to a United Nations 
Environment Programme (UNEP) assessment. This figure is projected 
to reach 15% by 2000 if global methyl bromide production continues to 
grow at the current rate of 5-6% per annum.

At their November 1992 meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, signatory 
countries to the UNEP Montreal Protocol added methyl bromide to  
their list of internationally recognized ozone-depleting substances, and 
agreed to freeze methyl bromide production and use at 1991 levels by 
January 1st 1995. 
The freeze, which exempts quarantine and pre-shipment uses, will 
become effective after ratification by at least 20 of the 90-plus Protocol 
member nations, a process that knowledgeable sources say takes about 
two years.  The Copenhagen meeting also passed a non-binding 
resolution calling for a 25% reduction in methyl bromide emissions, 
production, and consumption by year 2000.  

UNEP is currently convening a Technical Options Committee to study 
and recommend alternatives to methyl bromide use as a soil and 
commodity  fumigant, and in buildings to control structural pests. The 
Technical CommitteeUs report and recommendations will be presented 
to the 1994 Montreal Protocol meeting.  U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) officials involved in organizing the UNEP committee 
say they expect 25 to 30 people will be invited to serve on it, including 
two to five representatives citizens' organizations.

The European Community Environment Ministers are reported to 
favor increasing restrictions on methyl bromide use, and the fumigant 
has been added to a list of products covered by a proposed EC regulation 
placing more severe restrictions on ozone-depleting chemicals than the 
Montreal Protocol.   

The U.S. is the major user of methyl bromide, accounting for about 
42% of global sales.  To date, a draft rule to list methyl bromide under 
the U.S. Clean Air Act has been successfully opposed by the 
Department of Agriculture and the White House Office of 
Management and Budget, in spite of EPA support. The incoming 
Clinton administration is widely expected to support a methyl bromide 
phase out and approve the listing, however.  Listing under the Act 
would require a U.S. methyl bromide phase out by the year 2000. 

Approximately 35% of U.S. methyl bromide use occurs in California. In 
December 1992, citing the Montreal Protocol freeze and the Clean Air 
Act, the California Environmental Protection Agency and Department 
of Food and Agriculture announced the formation of a task force to 
explore development of alternative technologies and procedures to 
eliminate methyl bromide emissions from structural and agricultural 
uses in the state. Task force members, whose first meeting is scheduled 
on February 4, will include state regulatory officials, representatives of 
agriculture and commodity groups, representatives of the structural 
pest control industry, university extension specialists, and at least three 
citizens' organizations.

For more information, contact PAN North America Regional Center.

Sources:  Into the Sunlight: Exposing Methyl BromideUs Threat to the 
Ozone Layer, Friends of the Earth, November 1992; Pesticide and Toxic 
Chemical News, December 2, 1992; Agrow, December 4, 1992; Joint 
California Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Food 
and Agriculture News Report, and Panna staff conversations with Bill 
Thomas, U.S. EPA, January 1993.

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This information is provided by the Pesticide Action Network North 
America Updates Service (PANUPS), a pesticide-related news service 
from the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) North American 
Regional Center. Updates are posted weekly on EcoNet in 
"en.pesticides," "en.agriculture" and other appropriate electronic 
conferences, and distributed worldwide across the APC computer 
network. PANUPS is also posted in the Public Conference on RTK 
NET, on GeoNet in the PESTICIDES-BBS bulletin board, on FidoNet in 
The Ecology Network, on the Sustainable Agriculture Network 
(SANET) on BitNet, and on PENpages agriculture information service 
at Penn State Univ. Hard-copy compilations of these updates are also 
available. For more information about PAN activities and publications, 
contact: PAN NA RC, 965 Mission Street #514, San Francisco, CA 94103. 
Tel: (415) 541-9140. Fax: (415) 541-9253. Telex: 156283472 PANNA. E-mail 
address on EcoNet: [email-masked]
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