Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine March 2019

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the federal government create an HFC phase down schedule would ensure the phase down schedules are not done on a state-by-state basis (i.e. 50 different timelines), which could create a logistical nightmare for the industry, like contractors who work across state lines. To re-iterate, it’s unlikely like that the Kigali Amendment, or legislation granting the EPA the authority to phase out HFC refrigerants, is a priority for the Trump Administration or the Republican-led Senate. When the federal government doesn’t take action, state government fill the void, and when it’s related to climate issues, California takes the lead. Indeed, California did just that. In August 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown signed the California Cooling Act which sets California on a course to cut HFC emissions by 40 percent by 2030. Shortly after California enacted the California

Refrigerant Round-Up By Todd Washam,

Director of Industry & External Relations, Air Conditioning Contractors of America

For the past few months there has been significant action from state governments to address greenhouse gas emissions, and there is more action coming from the states and the Democrat-led House of Representatives. Environmental groups, climate activists, and the elected officials who support their causes are working to reduce/phase down/eliminate greenhouse gases and one of their top targets are hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants, like R410a. R-22 is being eliminated because it is an ozone- depleting substance and, since the U.S. Senate ratified the Montreal Protocol on Substance that Deplete the Ozone Layer , the U.S. is obligated to follow an international phaseout schedule. The R-22 phaseout began in 2010, and although it is still being phased-out of the market, there are efforts underway to eliminate the use of R410a, which has a high global warming potential (GWP). The phaseout of high GWP refrigerants began as an Obama Administration effort but was not (and is not likely) a priority for the Trump Administration. The Obama Administration’s goal was to adopt the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty that set the phasedown schedule of HFC refrigerants. While the Kigali Amendment was a priority for former-President Obama, it was not a priority for the Republican-led Senate, which, constitutionally, ratifies treaties. In the current political environment, there is little appetite in the Trump Administration and the Senate to consider the Kigali Amendment, which is widely viewed as a climate change treaty. While it is widely viewed, in political terms, as a climate change issue, there is some support from policy makers because of the positive economic impact a national phase down schedule would have. Having

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Cooling Act, New York, Connecticut, and Maryland followed with similar commitments. A number of other states, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and others are following suit. What’s next in the refrigerant market? As we transition from HFCs, the next generation of refrigerants will include flammable or mildly- flammable products (ASHRAE Standard 34 designated A2L and A3 refrigerants). ACCA is