The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cannot require HVACR manufacturers to replace so-called high-global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants with lower GWP replacements. That was the opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit judge, Brett Kavanaugh, on Jan. 27. Kavanaugh’s decision established that the court will not reconsider an Aug. 8, 2017, opinion that signified the EPA cannot ban hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) under Section 612 of the Clean Air Act.
The ruling conceptually overturns a 2015 EPA proposal by former President Barack Obama’s administration to phase out the use of HFCs in retail food refrigeration HVACR applications.