Help for The Ozone Layer

After more than a dozen years of rising concern and controversy, governments are finally taking steps to protect the earth's delicate ozone layer. Last week it was the U.S.'s turn. In line with an international accord drafted last September and signed by 37 nations, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered production limits on chemicals that are depleting the ozone in the upper atmosphere. Decreased levels of ozone, scientists have warned, would allow more ultraviolet radiation to reach the earth's surface and increase the incidence of skin cancer and other diseases. Under the new ruling, U.S. producers of halon, an ingredient in fire-extinguishing foam, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are widely used as coolants in refrigerators and air-conditioners, must halve their output within ten years. Nearly a dozen other countries, including Canada and Norway, have adopted similar measures.

While the regulation will be a blow to the users of halon and CFCs, it could, ironically, produce a windfall for producers. Until substitutes that do not harm the ozone become available, the prices of the chemicals may surge because of limited supplies. Recognizing that possibility, the EPA has asked for public comment on two ways of preventing producers from making excessive profits. One proposal calls for a special tax on earnings from CFC and halon sales, the other for the Government to auction off manufacturing rights, making a company pay for the privilege of producing the chemicals.

Several promising replacements are already being tested. One group, called HCFCs, or CFCs with an extra hydrogen atom, is already used in some home air- conditioners.