What is the AHMS?
The Australian Halon Management Strategy (AHMS) outlines principles and measures Australia has in place to manage its use of halon until suitable alternatives are available and halon is no longer required. The production and import of new halons has been phased out under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
The AHMS was first published in February 2000 in response to Decision X/7 of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, which requested countries to develop a national or regional strategy for the management of halons, including emissions reduction and ultimate elimination of their use. It has been updated following consultation and review, taking into account technological advances since 2000 and expected technology advances which have not happened at the pace anticipated.
What are halons and what are they used for?
Halons are chemicals primarily used as fire extinguishing agents. They were developed in the 1940s to replace toxic fire extinguishing agents. They quickly replaced many fire extinguishing products because of their fire extinguishing characteristics and ease of use. Halon 1211 was commonly used in portable fire extinguishers. Halon 1301 was commonly used in fixed fire protection systems, such as those which protect computer rooms and ship engine rooms.
In the late 1970s scientists discovered that halons were damaging the ozone layer. Halons were one of the early chemicals where production was phased out under the Montreal Protocol. The production and import of new halon has been prohibited under the Montreal Protocol since 1994 in developed countries including Australia, and since 2010 in developing countries.
Equipment that uses halon has not been phased out under the Montreal Protocol as the phase out applies only to new production of halon. However the phase out of new halon production has effectively limited its use in equipment.
In the 1990s Australian states and territories prohibited the use of halon in non-essential systems. Australia has banned the import of halon in equipment except where it is essential and there is no feasible alternative, such as in fire suppression systems on-board aircraft.
The effects of halon on the ozone layer
The ozone layer occurs in the upper atmosphere (the stratosphere) 15-30 kilometres above the earth’s surface, and protects life on earth by absorbing ultra-violet (UV) radiation from the sun. UV radiation is linked to skin cancer, eye cataracts, genetic damage and reduced productivity in agricultural crops and the food chain.
Halons are fully halogenated chemicals that have relatively long lifetimes in the atmosphere. For instance halon 1301 has an estimated atmospheric lifetime of 65 years. When halons break down in the stratosphere they release reactive bromine that is extremely damaging to ozone. Reactions involving bromine are estimated to have been responsible for 25 per cent of ozone destruction over Antarctica and 50 per cent over the Arctic.
A chemical’s Ozone Depleting Potential (ODP) gives a measure of its ability to destroy ozone. The ODP of halons is up to 10 times greater than that of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). The ODP of halon 1301 is 10 and halon 1211 is 3. One kilogram of halon 1211 can destroy 50 tonnes of ozone. Halons are therefore very potent ozone depleting chemicals.
Halon alternatives
A wide variety of alternatives are now available for the majority of traditional halon uses, although individually, none of the current alternatives covers the broad spectrum of applications that halon did.
Halon alternatives include halocarbon gases, inert gases and water mist systems. There is increasing industry awareness that a more sophisticated approach to fire protection engineering techniques for the given situation is required to provide the most effective fire protection.
Halon decisions under the Montreal Protocol
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Decision IV/25: Essential uses
The Fourth Meeting of the Parties decided in Dec. IV/25:
- to apply the following criteria and procedure in assessing an essential use for the purposes of control measures in Article 2 of the Protocol:
- that a use of a controlled substance should qualify as “essential” only if:
- it is necessary for the health, safety or is critical for the functioning of society (encompassing cultural and intellectual aspects); and
- there are no available technically and economically feasible alternatives or substitutes that are acceptable from the standpoint of environment and health;
- that production and consumption, if any, of a controlled substance for essential uses should be permitted only if:
- all economically feasible steps have been taken to minimize the essential use and any associated emission of the controlled substance; and
- the controlled substance is not available in sufficient quantity and quality from existing stocks of banked or recycled controlled substances, also bearing in mind the developing countries’ need for controlled substances;
- that production, if any, for essential use, will be in addition to production to supply the basic domestic needs of the Parties operating under paragraph 1 of Article 5 of the Protocol prior to the phase-out of the controlled substances in those countries;
- that a use of a controlled substance should qualify as “essential” only if:
- to request each of the Parties to nominate, in accordance with the criteria approved in paragraph 1 (a) of the present decision, any use it considers “essential”, to the Secretariat at least six months for halons and nine months for other substances prior to each Meeting of the Parties that is to decide on this issue;
- to request the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel and its Technical and Economic Options Committee to develop, in accordance with the criteria in paragraphs 1 (a) and 1 (b) of the present decision, recommendations on the nominations, after consultations with experts as necessary, regarding:
- the essential use (substance, quantity, quality, expected duration of essential use, duration of production or import necessary to meet such essential use);
- economically feasible use and emission controls for the proposed essential use;
- sources of already produced controlled substances for the proposed essential use (quantity, quality, timing); and
- steps necessary to ensure that alternatives and substitutes are available as soon as possible for the proposed essential use;
- to request the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel, while making its recommendations to take into account the environmental acceptability, health effects, economic feasibility, availability, and regulatory status of alternatives and substitutes;
- to request the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel to submit its report, through the Secretariat, at least three months before the Meeting of the Parties in which a decision is to be taken. The subsequent reports will also consider which previously qualified essential uses should no longer qualify as essential;
- to request the Open-ended Working Group of the Parties to consider the report of the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel and make its recommendations to the Fifth Meeting of the Parties for halons and at the Sixth Meeting for all other substances for which an essential use is proposed;
- that essential use controls will not be applicable to Parties operating under paragraph 1 of Article 5 of the Protocol until the phase-out dates applicable to those Parties.
Decision VII/12: Control measures for Parties not operating under Article 5 concerning halons and other agents used for fire-suppression and explosion-inertion purposes
The Seventh Meeting of the Parties decided in Dec. VII/12:
- To recommend that all Parties not operating under Article 5 should endeavour, on a voluntary basis, to limit the emissions of halon to a minimum by:
- Accepting as critical those applications meeting the essential-use criteria as defined in decision IV/25, paragraph 1 (a);
- Limiting the use of halons in new installations to critical applications;
- Accepting that existing installations for critical applications may continue to use halon in the future;
- Considering the decommissioning of halon systems in existing installations, which are not critical applications, as quickly as technically and economically feasible;
- Ensuring that halons are effectively recovered;
- Preventing, whenever feasible, the use of halon in equipment testing and for training of personnel;
- Evaluating and taking into account only those substitutes and replacements of halon, for which no other more environmentally suitable ones are available;
- Promoting the environmentally safe destruction of halons, when they are not needed in halon banks (existing or to be created);
- To request the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel and its Halons Technical Options Committee to prepare a report to the Eighth Meeting of the Parties to provide guidance on the above.
Decision X/7: Halon-management strategies
The Tenth Meeting of the Parties decided in Dec. X/7:
Noting that in the executive summary of its 1998 report, the Scientific Assessment Panel identifies complete elimination and destruction of halon-1211 and 1301 as the most environmentally beneficial option to enhance the recovery of the ozone layer,
Noting that the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel, in its 1998 report pursuant to decision IX/21, concludes that by definition all non-critical uses of halon-1211 and 1301 can be decommissioned, taking into account the costs and benefits of such operations.,
- To request all Parties to develop and submit to the Ozone Secretariat a national or regional strategy for the management of halons, including emissions reduction and ultimate elimination of their use;
- To request Parties not operating under Article 5 to submit their strategies to the Ozone Secretariat by the end of July 2000;
- In preparing such a strategy, Parties should consider issues such as:
- Discouraging the use of halons in new installations and equipment;
- Encouraging the use of halon substitutes and replacements acceptable from the standpoint of environment and health, taking into account their impact on the ozone layer, on climate change and any other global environmental issues;
- Considering a target date for the complete decommissioning of non-critical halon installations and equipment, taking into account an assessment of the availability of halons for critical uses;
- Promoting appropriate measures to ensure the environmentally safe and effective recovery, storage, management and destruction of halons;
- To request the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel to update its assessment of the future need for halon for critical uses, in light of these strategies;
- To request the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel to report on these matters to the Twelfth Meeting of the Parties.
Decision XXI/7: Management and reduction of remaining uses of halon
The Twenty first Meeting of the Parties decided in Nov. XXI/7:
Recognizing that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) General Assembly adopted a resolution A36-12 at its 36th Session encouraging ICAO to continue collaboration with the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) and its Halon Technical Options Committee (HTOC) and requesting its Secretary General to consider mandates to be effective: (1) in the 2011 timeframe, for the replacement of halon in lavatories, hand held extinguishers, engines and auxiliary power units in newly designed aircraft; (2) in the 2011 timeframe, for the replacement of halons in lavatories in new production aircraft; and (3) in the 2014 timeframe, for the replacement of halons in hand held extinguishers for new production aircraft;
Recalling that Parties must ensure that the movement of halon is consistent with their obligations under Article 4B and international agreements on waste;
Noting that the 2009 report by the Halon Technical Options Committee observed that legislative barriers preventing the free flow of recycled halon among Parties could result in halon not being available to meet future critical needs, including those of the aviation industry.
- To express the Parties’ continued support for the implementation of mandatory dates by when halon alternatives will be used in previously agreed upon applications of newly designed aircraft;
- To request TEAP and its HTOC to continue to engage ICAO on this issue and to report progress on this issue to the twenty second Meeting of the Parties;
- To encourage Parties that have implemented import and/or export restrictions of recovered, recycled or reclaimed halons to consider reassessing their situation with a view towards removing barriers on the import and export of recovered, recycled or reclaimed halons to allow, wherever possible, their free movement between Parties to enable Parties to meet current and future needs, even as Parties continue to transition to available halon alternatives;
- To encourage Parties to refrain from destroying uncontaminated recovered, recycled, or reclaimed halons before they have considered their domestic, as well as the global long-term future needs for halons, and to consider retaining uncontaminated recovered, recycled, reclaimed halons for anticipated future needs in a manner that employs best practices for storage and maintenance, in order to minimize emissions;
- To encourage Parties to report their assessments of current and long-term future needs for halons to the Ozone Secretariat for use by the TEAP and its HTOC in their future assessments of management of halon banks.
- To continue to encourage Parties to inform, on a regular basis, their users of halons, including the maritime industries, the aviation sector and the military, of the need to prepare for reduced access to halons in the future and to take all actions necessary to reduce their reliance on halons.
Decision XXVI/7: Availability of recovered, recycled or reclaimed halons
The Twenty sixth Meeting of the Parties decided in Nov. XXVI/7:
Recognizing that the global production of halons for controlled uses was eliminated in 2009, but that some remaining uses, in particular for civil aviation, continue to rely on stocks of recovered, recycled or reclaimed halons for fire safety,
Noting that, despite efforts to evaluate the extent of accessible stocks of recovered, recycled or reclaimed halons, there is still uncertainty about the quantity of recovered, recycled or reclaimed halons that is accessible for continuing uses, such as in civil aviation,
Recalling the 1992 International Maritime Organization ban on the use of halons in new ships and noting that ships containing halons are now being decommissioned,
Recalling also the adoption by the Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization of resolutions A37-9 and A38-9, in which the Assembly expressed an urgent need to continue developing and implementing halon alternatives for civil aviation and called on manufacturers to use alternatives in lavatory fire extinguishing systems in newly designed and new production aircraft after 2011, in hand‑held fire extinguishers in such aircraft after 2016, in engine and auxiliary power unit fire‑extinguishing systems used in newly designed aircraft after 2014 and in the cargo compartments of new aircraft by a date to be determined by the Assembly in 2016,
Noting that the import and export of recovered, recycled or reclaimed halons is allowed under the Montreal Protocol and that the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel has found that the current distribution of recovered, recycled or reclaimed halon stocks potentially may not align with anticipated needs for such stocks,
Recalling paragraph 3 of decision XXI/7, concerning the import and export of recovered, recycled or reclaimed halons,
Taking note of the progress report of the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel provided to the parties before the thirty-fourth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group, including information on alternatives,
- To encourage parties, on a voluntary basis, to liaise, through their national ozone officers, with their national civil aviation authorities to gain an understanding of how halons are being recovered, recycled or reclaimed to meet purity standards for aviation use and supplied to air carriers to meet ongoing civil aviation needs and on any national actions being taken to expedite the replacement of halons in civil aviation uses as called for by the Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization in its resolutions A37-9 and A38-9;
- To also encourage parties, on a voluntary basis, to submit information provided in accordance with paragraph 1 of the present decision to the Ozone Secretariat by 1 September 2015;
- To invite parties, on a voluntary basis, to reassess any national import and export restrictions other than licensing requirements with a view to facilitating the import and export of recovered, recycled or reclaimed halons and the management of stocks of such halons with the aim of enabling all parties to meet remaining needs in accordance with domestic regulations even as they make the transition to halon alternatives;
- To request the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel, through its Halons Technical Options Committee:
- To continue to liaise with the International Civil Aviation Organization to facilitate the transition to halon alternatives, to approach the International Maritime Organization to estimate the amount and purity of halon 1211 and 1301 available from the breaking of ships and to report information on global stocks of recovered halons to the parties in its 2015 progress report;
- To report on existing and emerging alternatives for halons, including information on their characteristics and their rate of adoption, in particular for aviation uses;
- To request the Ozone Secretariat to report to the parties, prior to the thirty-seventh meeting of the Open-ended Working Group, any information provided by parties in accordance with paragraph 1 of the present decision;
Summary on essential uses
The Montreal Protocol provides for approval of new halon production and imports where an essential use exemption is approved by the parties to the Montreal Protocol. In Decision IV/25 the Montreal Protocol provides guidance on 'essential' use. A use should qualify as essential only if:
- it is necessary for the health, safety or is critical for the functioning of society (encompassing cultural and intellectual aspects); and
- there are no available technically and economically feasible alternatives or substitutes that are acceptable from the standpoint of environment and health.
In the same decision the Montreal Protocol also provides guidance for consideration of new production:
- that production and consumption, if any, of a controlled substance for essential uses should be permitted only if:
- all economically feasible steps have been taken to minimize the essential use and any associated emission of the controlled substance; and
- the controlled substance is not available in sufficient quantity and quality from existing stocks of banked or recycled controlled substances, also bearing in mind the developing countries’ need for controlled substances
The Montreal Protocol provides further guidance on halon essential uses and how this might limit halon emissions, in Decision VII/12:
- To recommend that all Parties not operating under Article 5 should endeavour, on a voluntary basis, to limit the emissions of halon to a minimum by:
- Accepting as critical those applications meeting the essential-use criteria as defined in decision IV/25, paragraph 1 (a);
- Limiting the use of halons in new installations to critical applications;
- Accepting that existing installations for critical applications may continue to use halon in the future;
- Considering the decommissioning of halon systems in existing installations, which are not critical applications, as quickly as technically and economically feasible;
- Ensuring that halons are effectively recovered;
- Preventing, whenever feasible, the use of halon in equipment testing and for training of personnel;
- Evaluating and taking into account only those substitutes and replacements of halon, for which no other more environmentally suitable ones are available;
- Promoting the environmentally safe destruction of halons, when they are not needed in halon banks (existing or to be created);
As at 2018 no applications had been made to the Montreal Protocol for a halon essential use exemption, highlighting the success of halon banking arrangements (i.e. recovery and re-use of used halon). If essential use applications are made to the Montreal Protocol the process is likely to be similar for essential and critical uses of other ozone depleting chemicals. Applications for exemptions are made annually and approved for one year at a time, based in part on technical advice from the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel, the Montreal Protocol’s independent technical experts.
International Civil Aviation Organization Assembly Resolution
International Civil Aviation Organization Doc 10075 Assembly Resolutions in Force (as of 6 October 2016)
A39-13: Halon replacement
Recognizing the importance of aircraft fire extinguishing systems to the safety of flight;
Recognizing that halogenated hydrocarbons (halon) have been the main fire extinguishing agent used in civil aircraft fire extinguishing systems for over fifty years;
Whereas halons are no longer being produced by international agreement because their release contributes to ozone depletion and climate change;
Recognizing that more needs to be done because the available halon supplies are decreasing and unsure and that the environmental community continues to be concerned that halon alternatives have not been developed for all fire extinguishing systems in civil aircraft;
Recognizing that the Minimum Performance Standard for each application of halon has been developed already by the International Aircraft Systems Fire Protection Working Group with participation by industry and regulatory authorities;
Recognizing that there are stringent aircraft-specific requirements for each application of halon that must be met before a replacement can be implemented;
Recognizing that the aircraft manufacturing industry has established mechanisms for stakeholder engagement in the development of common solutions for halon replacement in a realistic timeframe for cargo compartment applications;
Recognizing that the production is prohibited by international agreement, halon is now exclusively obtained from
recovery, reclaiming and recycling. Therefore, recycling of halon gas needs to be rigorously controlled to prevent the possibility of contaminated halon being supplied to the civil aviation industry; and
Recognizing that any strategy must depend on alternatives that do not pose an unacceptable environmental or health risk as compared to the halons they are replacing;
The Assembly:
- Urges States and their aviation industries to intensify development and implementation of acceptable halon alternatives for fire extinguishing and suppression systems in aircraft cargo compartments;
- Urges States to determine and monitor their halon reserve and quality of halon;
- Encourages ICAO to continue collaboration with the International Aircraft Systems Fire Protection Working Group and the United Nations Environment Programme’s Ozone Secretariat through its Technology and Economic Assessment Panel’s Halons Technical Options Committee on the topic of halon alternatives for civil aviation;
- Encourages States to collaborate with the Industry Consortium for engine/APU applications and the Cargo Compartment Halon Replacement Working Group established by the International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations;
- Encourages States to support measures to minimize unnecessary halon emissions that occur when there is an absence of any safety threatening fire event and to ensure the better management and preservation of existing halon reserves;
- Directs the Council to mandate the replacement of halon in cargo compartment fire suppression systems used in aircraft for which application for type certification will be submitted after a specified date in the 2024 timeframe; and
- Declares that this resolution supersedes Resolution A38-9.