(AGENPARL) - Roma, 23 Settembre 2024 - (AGENPARL) – lun 23 settembre 2024 Issued: Sep 23, 2024 (11:15am EDT)
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EPA Finalizes Rule to Accelerate American Leadership in Cutting
Climate-Damaging Hydrofluorocarbons Used in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
Equipment
WASHINGTON – Today, Sept. 23, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
announced a final rule to establish a new program to better manage, recycle,
and reuse climate-damaging hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) under the American
Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act. The final rule includes provisions
that will reduce wasteful leaks from large refrigeration and air conditioning
equipment and will support American leadership and innovation in the
development of clean solutions to tackle these dangerous heat-trapping
emissions. 
Today’s final rule, establishing the Emissions Reduction and Reclamation
(ER&R) program, addresses the third part of the bipartisan AIM Act, and comes
less than two years after President Biden signed the U.S. ratification of the
Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to phase
down climate-damaging HFCs and help avoid up to 0.5 degrees Celsius of global
warming by 2100. By reducing leaks and promoting innovative reuse of existing
HFCs, this final rule will help the nation achieve an 85% HFC phasedown by
2036 while boosting American leadership and competitiveness. 
“American companies are leading the world in developing and innovating clean
solutions to reduce climate-damaging HFCs,” said EPA Administration Michael
S. Regan. “This rule is the final foundational step in our strategy to
address HFCs, building on programs to reduce HFC production and imports, and
to guide technologies to safer alternatives. Our HFC programs embody the
Biden-Harris Administration’s strong belief that climate action opens up new
opportunities for American technology and innovation.” 
“The Biden-Harris Administration has moved with urgency and ambition since
Day One to implement the bipartisan AIM Act and deliver the massive climate
benefits and American manufacturing opportunities of a rapid HFC phasedown,”
said White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi. “Today’s final rule
will support a growing American industry for HFC recycling and reclamation,
building on the Administration’s successful implementation of a 10% HFC
reduction step on production and imports in 2022 and 2023 and ongoing
implementation of the 40% reduction step that started this year – major
results that we have delivered while working in partnership with industry to
create good-paying jobs and strengthen American leadership on innovative HFC
alternatives.”
“Alliance members welcome the completion of the Refrigerant Management and
Reclaim rule,” said Kevin Fay, Executive Director of the Alliance for
Atmospheric Policy. “We look forward to reviewing the details of the final
rule, which establishes a formal baseline for a unified Federal approach to
refrigerant management.  We recognize that much work remains to fulfill the
implementation requirements and to grow the program to achieve refrigerant
emission controls that are environmentally and economically effective.”
“In AHRI’s view, this Final Rule, which is an important part of the
ongoing transition from hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) to next-generation
refrigerants, is the first, but important, step in refrigerant management
policy for the HFC transition,” said Air-Conditioning, Heating, and
Refrigeration Institute President & CEO Stephen Yurek.  
“EPA has taken an important step today in setting up the third leg of the
American Innovation and Manufacturing Act. There are many measures necessary
to effectively manage super pollutant hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and EPA will
now require several of the most impactful. With this rule, EPA has laid the
foundation for reducing leaks and increasing recovery and reuse of HFCs from
equipment,” said Richie Kaur, Senior Advocate, Natural Resources Defense
Council.
“This landmark rule solidifies a strong regulatory foundation to drastically
cut emissions – curbing demand for new super pollutant HFCs by incentivizing
the reuse of HFCs already in circulation and penalizing their leaks. In
addition to real emissions reductions at home, this provides a powerful
example for other countries looking to regulate climate pollution from the
cooling sector, especially as we push for robust refrigerant management
globally, including at the Montreal Protocol,” said Avipsa Mahapatra,
Climate Campaign Director, Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA US).
The ER&R program will help minimize releases of HFCs from equipment by
addressing leaks across the lifespan of refrigerant-containing equipment, such
as air conditioners and refrigeration systems, while also maximizing the reuse
of existing HFCs — supporting a growing American industry for recovering
HFCs from existing equipment and reclaiming them to be used again, all while
reducing lifecycle emissions. Earlier this year, EPA announced grant
recipients for funding from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to
support American innovation on HFC reclamation.  
The final ER&R program includes requirements for repairing leaking equipment,
the installation and use of automatic leak detection systems on large
refrigeration systems, using reclaimed HFCs to service certain existing
equipment, minimizing HFC releases from fire suppression equipment, fire
suppression technician training, and removal of HFCs from disposable cylinders
before they are discarded. The regulations also establish a standard that
limits the amount of new, or virgin, HFCs that can be contained in reclaimed
HFC refrigerants. Additionally, the EPA is establishing alternative standards
under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act for ignitable spent
refrigerants when recycled for reuse. 
EPA estimates that in addition to the benefits from prior HFC actions, from
2026 through 2050, this rule will provide additional cumulative greenhouse gas
emissions reductions of approximately 120 million metric tons of carbon
dioxide equivalent, an incremental net benefit of at least $6.9 billion. 
Earlier this month, EPA also published another action regarding HFCs. The
proposed rulemaking concerns the eligibility of the six applications listed in
the AIM Act to continue to receive priority access to HFC allowances beyond
2025, and, among other things, includes targeted revisions to the methodology
for allocating these application-specific allowances. This proposal builds on
extensive EPA engagement with stakeholders, including manufacturers of
semiconductors and metered dose inhalers, which can be used to deliver
potentially life-saving medications, to support continued availability of
critical devices. EPA will accept comments on the proposed rulemaking,
“Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Review and Renewal of Eligibility for
Application-specific Allowances,” through October 31. 
The AIM Act authorizes EPA to address HFCs in three main ways, and EPA has now
issued final rules to implement all three of these pillars: phasing down their
production and consumption through an allowance allocation program – through
which EPA is implementing a 40% reduction of HFCs that started this year;
facilitating the transition to next-generation technologies through
sector-based restrictions; and promulgating regulations for purposes of
maximizing reclaiming and minimizing releases of HFCs from equipment and
ensuring the safety of technicians and consumers. 
More information on the rule and HFCs.
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