Company Accused of Greenhouse Gas Smuggling Hit with Record Fine
A penalty leveled against a company accused of smuggling greenhouse gases is part of the EPA’s crackdown on the planet-warming hydrofluorocarbons used in refrigeration and air-conditioning
EPA has fined a chemical manufacturer for the illegal import of hydrofluorocarbons, potent greenhouse gases used in refrigeration systems.
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CLIMATEWIRE | EPA has reached a settlement with a company accused of importing greenhouse gases into the Port of Los Angeles, resulting in the largest-ever penalty for illegally bringing hydrofluorocarbons into the country.
Under the agreement — announced Thursday — Resonac America will pay a $416,003 penalty and destroy 1,693 pounds of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) for illegally importing the planet-warming chemicals on four occasions in 2023 and 2024.
“EPA continues to prioritize enforcement against companies that illegally import refrigerants that damage our climate and imperil future generations,” said David Uhlmann, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
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He noted that the case marks the largest penalty imposed to date as part of EPA’s National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative on Mitigating Climate Change — and the first to require the company to destroy the HFCs.
Resonac America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Resonac, did not immediately return a message left at the chemical manufacturer’s San Jose office.
The settlement comes weeks after a San Diego man became the first person prosecuted under a 2020 law that aims to slow climate change by prohibiting importation of HFCs without EPA permission….
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