EPA Proposes NEW Rules Change

I am a little late getting this out. On October 1, 2018, the EPA proposed a rules change that would effectively wipe out all regulations on non-ozone depleting refrigerants.

Really, the only ozone depleting refrigerant that is widely in service now is R-22, which will be pretty much extinct in a few years. For all of today’s refrigerants, such as HFCs and HFOs, this rule change would mean anyone could purchase refrigerant, no certification would be required to handle refrigerant, no refrigerant recovery would be required, no mandatory leak checks, pretty much no regulations. This would put technicians following best industry practices at an economic disadvantage compared to folks who don’t both purchasing things like recovery machines. It would open up the path for Home Depot and Lowes to sell systems to the public, since purchasers would no longer be required to be certified. I believe it would lead to more mangled equipment, as well as mangled DIY folks who watched a You-Tube video on how to change their own compressor. I urge you to write in to the EPA and tell them that you want to keep the current regulations, passed on November 18, 2016. All comments must be received by November 15, 2018.

Here is a link to the full text of the proposed rule changes

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/10/01/2018-21084/protection-of-stratospheric-ozone-revisions-to-the-refrigerant-management-programs-extension-to#addresses

Here are the instructions for submitting a comment

Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2017-0629, at www.regulations.gov. You will need to copy and paste the Docket ID 

Court Rules Against EPA SNAP Ruling

Two refrigerant manufacturers, Mexichem and Arkema, have successfully sued the EPA over their decision to start phasing out HFC refrigerants because of their global warming effect. The gist of the argument is that the law which established the EPA’s right to regulate refrigerants is specifically about ozone depletion, not global warming. The EPA’s legal right to regulate replacement refrigerants is limited to their effect on ozone depletion. The court ordered the EPA to redo their ruling with this in mind. Below are a couple of direct quotes from the ruling.

“The fundamental problem for EPA is that HFCs are not ozone-depleting substances, as all parties agree. Because HFCs are not ozone-depleting substances, Section 612 would not seem to grant EPA authority to require replacement of HFCs. Indeed, before 2015, EPA itself maintained that Section 612 did not grant authority to require replacement of nonozone-depleting substances such as HFCs.”

“EPA’s novel reading of Section 612 is inconsistent with the statute as written. Section 612 does not require (or give EPA authority to require) manufacturers to replace non-ozone depleting substances such as HFCs. We therefore vacate the 2015 Rule to the extent it requires manufacturers to replace HFCs, and we remand to EPA for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”

The EPA still has to do their rewrite, and of course it is possible that they might choose to appeal to the supreme court. But for now, the HFC phase down has been phased out.

You can download the ruling and read it for yourself here:

https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/3EDC3D4817D618CF8525817600508EF4/$file/15-1328-1687707.pdf

Below are two links to other articles about this ruling.

http://r744.com/articles/7787/u_s_court_rules_hfcs_cannot_be_limited_by_current_epa_rules?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Bi-weekly+Newsletter

http://cen.acs.org/articles/95/web/2017/08/Court-strikes-down-US-restrictions-on-HFCs.html

Deja Vieux

We have been here before. An outgoing administration is promulgating lots of final rulings in their last gasp and an incoming administration is working hard to undo those rulings. We the regulated, are caught in the middle.

SEER 13 SEER 12 SEER 13
Just before January 20, 2001 when Bill Clinton left office, the Department of Energy upped the minimum SEER from 10 to 13. The change was to take effect in 2006. ARI objected and the Bush administration agreed to drop the minimum from 13 to 12. The DOE published the new 12 SEER standard in May 2002. Several states as well as national environmental and consumer groups successfully sued.  On Jan. 13, 2004, the U.S. Appeals Court for the 2nd Circuit, based in New York, ruled that the DOE did not follow "proper procedures" when it adopted its 12 SEER standard in May 2002. The more stringent 13 SEER standard was reinstated.

This is an oversimplification of the actors and events, but tell the basic story. Instead of having from 2001 until 2006 to reinvent their product line, manufacturers had only from May of 2004 until January of 2006 because of the regulation wars. In retrospect, it would have been far easier to shoot for the 13 SEER target from the beginning and have several more years to accomplish it.

HFC Phasedown
Like a case of deja vieux, the outgoing Obama administration just signed a Global Warming amendment to the Montreal Protocol this past October and the incoming Trump administration wants to scrap all Global Warming initiatives. However, AHRI is not beating the drums to slow down or scrap the HFC reductions. Instead they are saying that what they really want is regulatory consistency and certainty. In other words, they don’t want to relive the 2001 – 2006 SEER wars.

Nothing is Constant but Change
There are mid-term elections in two years, and the ruling party almost always take a beating, meaning the senate may change hands in two years. If this election has taught us anything, it is that we cannot know for certain who will be heading up the government in four years. In eight years we are guaranteed to have a change at the top. It takes years to develop and test new products, and the last thing any manufacturer wants is to have the design parameters altered drastically and capriciously based on the latest election. Even if the challenges are steep, they can be met with a reasonable time for development if you don’t keep moving the goal posts.

To read more about the history of the SEER wars read this excellent article in the NEWS.
http://www.achrnews.com/articles/97373-how-we-got-to-13-seer

To read more about AHRIs position on the HFC phasedown, read this NEWS article
http://www.achrnews.com/articles/134252-kigali-agreement-creates-orderly-phasedown-of-hfcs

HFC Agreement

Recently on June 7, 2013, President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping met for talks in Rancho Mirage, California. One of the agreements to come out of the talks was an agreement for both countries to work together to reduce HFC production. The statement reads

"Regarding HFCs, the United States and China agreed to work together and with other countries through multilateral approaches that include using the expertise and institutions of the Montreal Protocol to phase down the production and consumption of HFCs, while continuing to include HFCs within the scope of UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol provisions for accounting and reporting of emissions."

Basically, the big news is that the two biggest producers and users of HFCs agreed with each other to work on reducing their use. Europe has already started their reduction of HFC use and their regulation of F-gasses. F-gasses are their catchy phrase for all fluorinated refrigerants. I believe the F part tells us what they think of them.  There is no need for immediate panic. Notice that the agreement basically says they believe that reducing HFC production and use is something good to do. There are not yet any targets, timetables, or details. However, it clearly lays out that HFC refrigerants will be with us for a far shorter period of time than the CFCs and HCFCs they replaced. You can read more details and background in this White House Press Realease.