The EPA recently issued a final rule establishing an emissions reduction and reclamation program for the management of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that includes:
- Requirements for leak repair and installation and the use of automatic leak detection (ALD) systems for certain equipment using refrigerants containing HFCs and certain substitutes;
- The servicing and/or repair of certain refrigerant-containing equipment to be done with reclaimed HFCs;
- The initial installation and servicing and/or repair of fire suppression equipment to be done with recycled HFCs, technician training, and recycling of HFCs before the disposal of fire suppression equipment containing HFCs;
- Removal of HFCs from disposable cylinders before discarding them;
- Certain recordkeeping, reporting, and labeling requirements; and
- The establishment of alternative Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) standards for certain ignitable spent refrigerants being recycled for reuse.
The regulation will impact a wide variety of industries, including those working in refrigeration, air conditioning, refrigerated transport, heat pumps, supermarkets, manufacturing, and cold storage warehouses. Many other industry types will also be impacted; the final rule lists more than 90 North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes of types of industries potentially impacted by this regulation.
“American companies are leading the world in developing and innovating clean solutions to reduce climate-damaging HFCs,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan in an Agency news release. “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.”
Specific requirements
Leak repair requirements. Appliances with a charge size of 15 pounds (lb) or more that contain HFCs or HFC substitutes with a global warming potential of more than 53 are required to comply with the rule’s leak repair requirements beginning January 26, 2026.
“This lower applicable charge size will increase the universe of regulated appliances subject to these requirements. Other than the change in charge size applicability, EPA assures entities in this final rule that the leak repair provisions are otherwise ‘identical or similar to’ requirements for ozone-depleting substances (ODS) refrigerants, including the methodology for determining the leak rate, repair timing, and verification tests,” notes law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP in Lexology.
Barring certain exceptions, entities are required to calculate leak rates each time appliances receive a refrigeration charge by using a rolling monthly average or an annualizing method of calculation.
Appliances are generally required to be repaired within 30 days of adding refrigerant if their leak rate is higher than the regulated threshold. Appliances requiring an industrial shutdown for repair are provided 120 days to make necessary repairs.
ALD systems. The regulation calls for the use of ALD systems in appliances with a charge size of 1,500 lb or more that contain HFCs or HFC substitutes with a global warming potential of more than 53. The compliance date begins January 26, 2026.
“When an ALD detects a leak in a system the owner or operator must calculate a leak rate or preemptively repair the leak. While preemptive repair isn’t required and you still need to calculate a leak rate when you add refrigerant, it does get you out of performing initial or follow-up verification tests if the calculated leak rate is below the applicable threshold,” the Womble Bond Dickinson article advises. “For existing appliances in those subsectors that were installed on or after January 1, 2017, and before January 1, 2026, an ALD must be installed by January 1, 2027.”
Service and repair
“Servicing and repair of refrigerant-containing appliances in certain subsectors must be done with reclaimed HFCs,” Womble Bond Dickinson continues. “Affected subsectors include supermarket systems, refrigerated transport and automatic commercial ice makers. Retrofits are considered a servicing and repair activity if the equipment is being retrofitted to use a substance that contains HFCs. In its final rule, EPA excluded stand-alone retail food refrigeration from these requirements and gave entities one more year than proposed for compliance. EPA did not finalize requirements to use reclaimed HFCs in initial charging of refrigerant-containing equipment.”
This compliance date is January 1, 2029.
Additional cumulative greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions of approximately 120 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent—an incremental net benefit of at least $6.9 billion—are estimated to result from this regulation, according to the EPA news release.
“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,” the release continues.
However, with a change in administration expected in 2025, many EPA priorities will shift, and it remains to be seen which regulations will remain intact as formulated by the current administration.