Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
In anticipation of international adoption of an amendment to the Montreal Protocol and also in fulfillment of parts of President Obama’s June 2013 Climate Action Plan (CAP), the EPA has issued two final rules that will reduce releases of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) to the atmosphere.
Consistent with President Obama’s June 2013 Climate Action Plan, the EPA is using its Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) to propose restrictions on the end uses of certain hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), approve new alternatives to substances with high global warming potential (GWP), and change the status of other substances already on the SNAP list.
Cathodic Protection Cathodic protection uses direct electrical current to mitigate corrosion. There are two types of systems for cathodic protection: Sacrificial anodes, which can be attached to a coated steel UST for corrosion protection. Sacrificial anodes are pieces of metal more electrically active than the steel UST. Because these anodes are more active, the corrosive current […]
A refrigerant formulator was recently fined $300,000 by the EPA and the Department of Justice for violations of SNAP regulations. First, let’s look at what the pertinent regulations say, then at what the company allegedly did, and finally what the fix will be. Note: Under SNAP, a “producer” is any person who manufactures, formulates, or […]
Many refrigerants have been determined to be ozone-depleting substances (ODS) and have been targeted for phaseout under the Montreal Protocol. Chemicals used in the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning industrial sector is one group for which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reviewed and identified substitutes under the Clean Air Act’s (CAA) Significant New Alternatives Policy […]
EPA Issues Refrigerant Warning EPA’s Significant New Alternatives Program (SNAP), evaluates and regulates refrigerants proposed as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) that are being phased out. Unless a new refrigerant is reviewed and approved by the EPA, it cannot be marketed legally in the United States. Unfortunately, at least one unapproved and potentially dangerous refrigerant […]
