California Adopts New Regulation on Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) Refrigerants - Video

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted a new regulation on hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants. This after a federal court decision vacated EPA SNAP Rule 20. California had been relying on EPA SNAP Rule 20 to help meet the state's HFC emission reduction goals. You see, HFCs are short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) and have a high global warming potential (high-GWP). For example, R-404A, one of the most popular HFC refrigerants, has a GWP of 3922, which means it is 3,922 more warming than carbon (which has a GWP of 1). The fact that HFCs have such characteristics also explains why the Kigali Amendment, which sets an HFC phase-down in place, was adopted by countries around the world in October 2016. While the Kigali Amendment has not been ratified in the United States, California has went ahead with this new regulation to focus on limiting the emissions of HFCs. Property, sustainability, and maintenance managers take note: CARB's proposed regulation mainly impacts retail food refrigeration equipment that relies on high-GWP HFC refrigerants, like R-404A and R-507A.