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Sunday, January 08, 2006
LTO starts phasing out vehicles with ‘ozone-depleting’ aircons
The Land Transportation Office (LTO) will no longer renew the registration of vehicles manufactured and initially registered from 1999 onwards if their air conditioning units emit ozone-depleting chemicals.
LTO 7 Director Alex Leyson said the move is part of the phase out plan of vehicles with air conditioners using chlorofluorocarbons (CFC R12), a substance that depletes the ozone layer.
In a memorandum, Assistant Secretary Anneli Lontoc reminded LTO directors, district heads and motor vehicle inspectors of
the memorandum of agreement (MOA) entered into by LTO with other government agencies in relation to the National Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) Phase Out Plan.
The plan, signed by officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Transportation and Communications, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Trade and Industry and Department of Health, aims to eliminate the remaining CFC consumption in the Philippines.
The Philippines is also among the signatories of the Montreal Protocol who pledged to completely stop the use of CFCs by year 2010.
Banned
By then, importation of vehicles that use chemicals that can deplete the ozone layer will be banned by the Bureau of Customs (BOC), said Conrado Abarintos, BOC Port of Cebu chief cashier.
Lontoc also ordered all LTO offices to maintain a logbook for manual recording of all Mobile Air Conditioning System inspected for easy capturing of data and monitoring.
Leyson said vehicles using CFC R12 in their air conditioners must change the compressor using water-based and environment-friendly substances, such as R134a, before these can be registered with the LTO.
Leyson said a vehicle owner may spend at least P8,000 in changing the compressor of the air conditioner so it can use water-based substances. If the compressor can accept R134a, then a vehicle owner will spend less.
“The rule is simple. If the vehicle with model 1999 onwards is still using CFC R12, the LTO will not register it. But if a model 1999 vehicle is already using water-based substance, then its registration will be renewed,” Leyson said. (EOB)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (January 8, 2006 issue)
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