ASHRAE Journal - June 2021 - 27

ROUNDTABLE
Andrea Voigt, Director
General, European
Partnership for Energy and
the Environment, Brussels,
Belgium
was published for public comment
on April 30, 2021. (See
" U.S. EPA Ruling to Reduce HFC
Production and Consumption. "
Kevin Fay: After public comment,
fi nal rules creating the
HFC baseline and allocation for
the fi rst years of the AIM Act are
expected by October 1, 2021.
Additionally, EPA is expected to
initiate the process for additional
rules on refrigerant management
and reclamation during 2021, but
these rules are not expected to
be completed until 2022. User
sector rules are also expected to be promulgated in 2022.
Will it be different than the previously proposed rules in 2015?
Doniger and Theodoridi: EPA's priority is the allocation
rule, which will formalize the phasedown schedule
set forth in the AIM Act and determine the volume and
recipients of HFC allowances. According to the AIM Act,
EPA must determine a baseline based on the average
supply of HFCs between 2011 and 2013, and then allocate
percentages of that baseline to producers and importers.
The allocation rule is different from the rules the EPA
issued in 2015 and 2016. Those rules, issued under the
Signifi cant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program,
established under Section 612 of the Clean Air Act (SNAP
Rules 20 and 21), prohibited the use of specifi c HFCs in a
number of end uses.
A federal court held in 2017 that Section 612 did not
provide the EPA the authority to require current users
of HFCs to switch to alternatives. The AIM Act now
expressly provides that authority in the " transitions "
provision in Subsection (i).
On April 13, 2021, Natural Resources Defense Council
(NRDC) and other organizations, including the
Environmental Investigation Agency, Air-Conditioning,
Heating, and Refrigeration institute (AHRI) and
Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, submitted
fi ve petitions asking EPA for a range of restrictions on end
uses such as air conditioning, commercial refrigeration
and white goods (e.g., refrigerators, air conditioners and
dehumidifi ers) . A short description of how these petitions
work together can be found on NRDC's website.1
One of the petitions2-fi led by NRDC, the state of Colorado
and the Institute for Governance and Sustainable
U.S. EPA Ruling to Reduce HFC
Production and Consumption
On April 30, in accordance with the American
Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) legislation passed
in December 2020, the U.S. EPA issued a proposed rule
to reduce HFC production and consumption.4
The rule establishes the HFC supply baselines (based
on the average supply of HFCs between 2011 and 2013 )
and the phasedown schedule to ensure compliance
with the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.
The rule-making process began at publication, and
the EPA must fi nalize it by Oct. 1, 2021.
The rule establishes an initial methodology for issuing
10% reduced allowances beginning Jan. 1, 2022,
for companies that produced and/or imported HFCs
in 2020. It provides refrigerants suppliers with GWPbased
allocations, which allows the supplier to decide
what refrigerant to produce. This proposed rule
aligns with the eight states that have already implemented
the commercial refrigeration phasedown.
The rule also seeks input into the next phasedown
step in 2024 of 40% from the baseline.
It also establishes administrative consequences
(e.g., revocation or retirement of allowances) for
noncompliance that would be in addition to any civil
and criminal enforcement action and establishes
record keeping and reporting, third-party auditing
and data transparency requirements.
Development-asks for the reinstatement of SNAP Rules
20 and 21. If implemented, these rules would be almost
identical to the 2015 and 2016 rules, with adjustments to
some deadlines to refl ect the passage of time.
The AIM Act requires EPA to reply to the petitions
within 180 days from the date of receipt. All petitions
will be uploaded on EPA's website,3 and a docket will be
created to host all fi les related to the petitions (Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0289).
Steve Yurek and Helen Walter-Terrinoni: The additional
petitions will incorporate transitions for stationary
cooling and heating, variable refrigerant fl ow (VRF)
and commercial refrigeration in line with California Air
Resource Board regulations.
Will there be a delay to the timing of implementation dates of
previous/future rules given the delay?
Fay: Yes, the AIM Act requires at least a one-year delay
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ASHRAE Journal - June 2021

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