Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee Chairman Paul Tonko (D-NY) announced today that the Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee will hold a legislative hearing on Tuesday, Jan. 14, at 10:30 am in 2322 of the Rayburn House Office Building on H.R. 5544, the American Innovation and Manufacturing Leadership Act of 2020. The hearing is entitled, “Promoting American Innovation and Jobs: Legislation to Phase Down Hydrofluorocarbons."
“This bipartisan legislation is a win-win for Americans: it creates manufacturing jobs, positions American companies to lead a global transition to next-generation technologies and protects consumers by ensuring an orderly transition away from HFCs," said Pallone and Tonko. “There is a broad and powerful consensus among industry and environmental groups alike that America should lead that transition, and we look forward to examining this bipartisan legislation that would achieve exactly that."
H.R. 5544, the American Innovation and Manufacturing Leadership Act, introduced in the House today by Tonko and Reps. Pete Olson (R-TX), Scott Peters (D-CA) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY), would phase down the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by 85 percent over 15 years. The legislation directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement an allowance allocation and trading program to do so, and to establish standards governing the management of HFCs used as refrigerants, including to recover and reclaim used HFCs. It further authorizes EPA to establish schedules for specific sectors to transition to next-generation technologies.
Information for this hearing, including the Committee Memorandum, witness list, testimony and a live webcast will be posted HERE as they become available.
