Many in the HVACR industry seemed a little surprised when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently denied a petition that asked the court to revisit its August 2017 decision, in which it was mandated that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cannot ban hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants under Section 612 of the Clean Air Act. The court ruled that the provision was designed only to address ozone-depleting substances, and while HFCs are among the greenhouse gases suspected of contributing to climate change, they do not deplete the ozone layer.
Manufacturers of air conditioning and refrigeration equipment have been preparing for the phasedown of HFCs since the creation of the 2016 Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which calls for a global phasedown of HFCs by more than 80 percent over the next 30 years. So far, 25 countries have ratified the Kigali Amendment, pushing it over the threshold of 20 countries needed for the treaty to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2019, in developed countries. However, it has not been ratified by the U.S., and the Trump administration is currently deciding whether or not to send it to the Senate for ratification.