[Senate Treaty Document 117-1]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



117th Congress}                                          { Treaty Doc.
SENATE
 1st Session  }                                          { 117-1

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       AMENDMENT TO MONTREAL PROTOCOL (``KIGALI AMENDMENT'')

                               __________

                                MESSAGE

                                  from

                     THEPRESIDENTOFTHEUNITEDSTATES

                              transmitting
 
AMENDMENT TO THE MONTREAL PROTOCOL ON SUBSTANCES THAT DEPLETE THE OZONE 
  LAYER (THE ``MONTREAL PROTOCOL''), ADOPTED AT KIGALI ON OCTOBER 15, 
   2016, BY THE TWENTY-EIGHTH MEETING OF THE PARTIES TO THE MONTREAL 
                  PROTOCOL (THE ``KIGALI AMENDMENT'')

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 November 16, 2021.--Treaty was read the first time, and together with 
the accompanying papers, referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 
          and ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate
                         
                         LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

                              ----------                              

                                The White House, November 16, 2021.
To the Senate of the United States:
    With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the 
Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith the Amendment to 
the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone 
Layer (the ``Montreal Protocol''), adopted at Kigali on October 
15, 2016, by the Twenty-Eighth Meeting of the Parties to the 
Montreal Protocol (the ``Kigali Amendment''). The report of the 
Department of State is also enclosed for the information of the 
Senate.
    The principal features of the Kigali Amendment provide for 
a gradual phasedown in the production and consumption of 
hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are alternatives to ozone-
depleting substances being phased out under the Montreal 
Protocol, as well as related provisions concerning reporting, 
licensing, control of trade with non-Parties, and control of 
certain byproduct emissions.
    The United States has sufficient domestic authority to 
implement obligations under the Kigali Amendment, including 
through the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020 
(the ``AIM Act'') and the Clean Air Act. The Environmental 
Protection Agency's recent rulemakings under the AIM Act 
establish a domestic HFC allocation system and other provisions 
that would enable the United States to begin implementation of 
the provisions of the Kigali Amendment.
    The Kigali Amendment has strong support from the U.S. 
business community and nongovernmental organizations. 
Ratification by the United States would advance U.S. interests 
in remaining a leader in the development and deployment of HFC 
alternatives, ensuring access to rapidly growing refrigeration 
and cooling markets overseas and stimulating U.S. investment, 
exports, and job growth in this sector. Ratification will also 
ensure the United States continues to have a full voice to 
represent U.S. economic and environmental interests as 
implementation of the Kigali Amendment moves forward in coming 
years.
    The Kigali Amendment entered into force on January 1, 2019, 
and there are currently 124 Parties to the Amendment. The 
Senate has given its advice and consent to ratification of all 
four previous amendments to the Montreal Protocol, with 
bipartisan support. I recommend that the Senate give favorable 
consideration to the Kigali Amendment and give its advice and 
consent to ratification at the earliest date.

                                               Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
                          LETTER OF SUBMITTAL

                              ----------                              

                                       Department of State,
                                        Washington, March 25, 2021.
The President,
The White House.
    Mr. President: I have the honor to submit to you the 
Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete 
the Ozone Layer (``Montreal Protocol'') adopted at Kigali on 
October 15, 2016, by the Twenty-eighth Meeting of the Parties 
to the Montreal Protocol (the ``Kigali Amendment'' or ``the 
Amendment''). I recommend that the Amendment be transmitted to 
the Senate for its advice and consent to ratification. 
Ratification of the Amendment would significantly further U.S. 
interests and is strongly supported by a wide range of U.S. 
stakeholders.
    The Montreal Protocol, which the United States ratified in 
1988, is one of the most successful international environmental 
agreements. It is responsible for the global phaseout of nearly 
100 ozone-depleting substances and is expected to restore the 
stratospheric ozone layer by 2065. The Kigali Amendment 
addresses an issue that arose from the implementation of the 
Montreal Protocol relating to the rise in the usage of 
hydrofluorocarbons (``HFCs'') as replacements for many of the 
phased-out ozone-depleting substances. HFCs do not harm the 
ozone layer but. are potent greenhouse gases, often having 
thousands of times the global warming potential of carbon 
dioxide (CO2). Global implementation of the Amendment has the 
potential for significant avoidance of greenhouse gas 
emissions, equivalent to the avoidance of as much as half a 
degree Celsius of warming by the end of the century. The global 
transition away from HFCs will also support U.S. manufacturing 
and job growth because of our comparative advantage in the 
development of HFC alternatives.
    The principal features of the Kigali Amendment closely 
parallel control measures for other controlled substances under 
the Montreal Protocol. The Amendment provides for the gradual 
phasedown of the production and consumption of 18 listed HFCs 
between 2019 and 2036, subject to certain exemptions. Unlike 
the total phaseout for other controlled substances under the 
Montreal Protocol, the Amendment would allow the United States 
to continue long-term production and consumption of HFCs at 15 
percent of its baseline levels, stopping short of their 
complete elimination. The Amendment contains a stepwise 
phasedown schedule that would require a 10 percent reduction 
upon entry into force for the United States, a 40 percent 
reduction by 2024, a 70 percent reduction by 2029, and an 80 
percent reduction by 2034. The last step of the phasedown would 
be an 85 percent reduction by 2036.
    The trade provisions in Article 4 of the Montreal Protocol 
are amended to treat HFCs like other controlled substances, 
that is, Parties to the Amendment are banned from trading in 
HFCs with a non-Party; beginning in 2033. The Montreal 
Protocol's licensing provisions under Article 4B are similarly 
amended to treat HFCs like other controlled substances by 
requiring each Party to establish a system for licensing the 
import and export of new, used, recycled reclaimed HFCs. The 
Amendment extends the Article 7 reporting regime to HFCs by 
requiring Parties to report annually on their production and 
consumption of HFCs. The Amendment also requires Parties to 
destroy, to the extent practicable, byproduct emissions of HFC-
23, a highly potent greenhouse gas generated from the 
production of some substances listed in Annexes C and F of the 
Montreal Protocol, and to report on these efforts. Provisions 
related to the financial mechanism in Article 10 extend the 
scope of the financial mechanism to support implementation of 
the Amendment.
    This is the fifth amendment to the Montreal Protocol; the 
first amendment (the ``London Amendment'') entered into force 
on August 10, 1992. The second amendment (the ``Copenhagen 
Amendment'') entered into force on June 14, 1994. The third 
amendment (the ``Montreal Amendment'') entered into force on 
November 10, 1999. The fourth amendment (the ``Beijing 
Amendment'') entered into force on February 25, 2002. The 
United States is a Party to all four previous amendments to the 
Montreal Protocol, all of which received the Senate's advice 
and consent to ratification.
    The United States has sufficient domestic authority to 
implement its obligations under the Kigali Amendment, including 
through the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020 
and the Clean Air Act. Additional regulations would need to be 
promulgated under these authorities for the United States to be 
able to carry out its obligations under the Amendment.
    The Kigali Amendment entered into force on January 1, 2019, 
and currently there are 115 Parties to the Amendment. 
Ratification by the United States is important to ensure that 
U.S. interests are fully represented in international 
discussions relating to the Amendment's implementation. U.S. 
ratification would also further encourage the wide 
participation among governments necessary for the Amendment to 
be fully effective in transitioning global markets toward HFC 
alternatives, which will advantage the U.S. industry that has 
led development of these new technologies and ensure long-term 
U.S. access to global markets in the affected sectors.
    Ratification would significantly benefit U.S. industry 
efforts to remain global leaders in the development, 
manufacturing, production, and deployment of alternatives, and 
stimulate U.S. investment and jobs in this sector. U.S. 
businesses have been at the forefront of innovation in the 
development of alternatives to ozone-depleting substances and 
HFCs. These alternatives, many of which are the result of 
research and development in the United States, are used in 
applications like air conditioning, refrigeration, aerosols, 
foams, solvents, and fire suppression--sectors with U.S. annual 
manufacturing and services of more than $178 billion. A study 
conducted in 2018 by Inforum, the University of Maryland's 
Interindustry Forecasting Project, on behalf of the Air-
conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute and the 
Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy, estimated that 
fluorocarbon manufacturing, producing, and servicing industries 
would benefit from joining the Kigali Amendment and from its 
global implementation through the creation of 33,000 new 
domestic manufacturing jobs, $4.8 billion annually of increased 
exports, and $12.5 billion of increased economic output per 
year.
    The Amendment provides significant benefits, market 
predictability, and regulatory certainty, and opens large and 
growing international markets to new technology developed and 
manufactured in the United States.
    I recommend, therefore, that you transmit the Kigali 
Amendment to the Montreal Protocol to the Senate for advice and 
consent to ratification.
    Respectfully submitted,
                                                 Antony J. Blinken.
    Enclosure: As stated.
    
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