EPA recently proposed a pair of rules under the Significant New Alternatives Policy ("SNAP") program to substitute hydrofluorocarbon ("HFC") refrigerants that possess high global warming potential ("GWP") with low-GWP alternatives. These rules are pursuant to the Obama administration's efforts under the Climate Action Plan and the Montreal Protocol to phase out the production and use of chlorofluorocarbons and HFCs with high GWP.
The Clean Air Act's SNAP program (Section 612) mandates that EPA continuously review alternatives to ozone-depleting substances to find substitutes that pose less overall risk to human health and the environment. EPA then has the authority to update the published lists of "acceptable" and "unacceptable" substitutes.
On July 9, 2014, EPA proposed a rule under the SNAP program that would list certain hydrocarbons as acceptable substitutes for HFC refrigerants. Under this proposed rule, EPA would approve the use of low-GWP hydrocarbons (ethane, isobutane, and propane) and a hydrocarbon blend (R-441A) in stationary equipment such as household refrigerators and freezers, retail food refrigeration, vending machines, and air conditioners. In addition, the proposed rule would exempt these substitutes from the current venting prohibition for refrigerants under Section 608 of the Clean Air Act because EPA determined that the venting, release, or disposal of these hydrocarbons would not pose a threat to human health or the environment. According to EPA, these hydrocarbons are widely used as refrigerants in Europe and Asia and possess zero ozone depletion potential and very low GWP.
A few weeks later, on August 6, 2014, EPA proposed to modify the listing of certain common HFCs and HFC-containing blends to "unacceptable" for some uses under the SNAP program. Although the targeted HFCs initially were approved as acceptable substitutes to chlorofluorocarbons, EPA determined that other substitutes—including the hydrocarbon substitutes listed in the earlier proposed rule—are now available for the same uses that pose lower risk overall to human health and climate. Therefore, the change in status would make the targeted HFCs unacceptable for use in both new equipment and for retrofitting existing equipment. Under this proposal, the most abundant HFC (HFC-134a) could no longer be used in new light-duty vehicle air-conditioning systems beginning in model year 2021 or in new retail food refrigeration equipment and new vending machines beginning in 2016. Other products likely to be affected by the proposed rule include consumer aerosols and plastic foam products.
Taken together, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy stated that these proposed rules would significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions—between 31 million and 42 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2020—and would encourage companies to pursue environmentally friendly alternatives. The public comment periods for the proposed rules ended on September 8, 2014 and October 20, 2014, respectively.
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