The California legislature recently voted to pass the California Cooling Act (Senate Bill 1013), which has a goal of reducing HFC emissions by 40 percent by 2030. Essentially, SB 1013 preserves the targets for reducing HFCs that were set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Obama Administration but voided by a federal court last year. The bill calls for the legislature to develop an incentive program that will speed the replacement of high GWP compounds used in refrigerators, chillers, and air conditioners with alternatives that have lower GWP.

Following the passage of SB 1013, several other states announced that they, too, were going to implement laws that would reduce the use of HFCs. New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo was up first, announcing that he was directing the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to create regulations that would phase out the use of HFCs. These regulations would prohibit specific substances for use in new consumer products, new equipment, and equipment that is retrofitted after the compliance dates, including commercial and residential food refrigeration equipment and commercial air conditioning equipment. The phaseout will be implemented from 2020 to 2024, and the DEC will seek input on this proposal prior to proceeding with a formal rulemaking, with the intent of finalizing a rule in 2019.