The regulatory landscape for refrigerants used in chillers has become more complicated, thanks to the court decision that declared the EPA is not authorized to regulate HFC refrigerants under the Clean Air Act.

According to a summary from AHRI, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a decision to vacate the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA’s) Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Rule 21 last month in response to a lawsuit brought by Mexichem Fluor and Arkema, with Chemours and Honeywell joining the case on the side of the EPA.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is experiencing a bit of an existential crisis, doubting how much agency it really has to protect the environment when it comes to regulating refrigerants.

Rheem announced that it joined the SmartWay® Transport Partnership, an innovative collaboration between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the HVAC industry that provides a framework to assess the environmental and energy efficiency of goods movement supply chains.

The U.S. HVAC industry considered (and largely still considers) an HFC phasedown to be inevitable.

When taxpayer dollars are spent to create regulations based on information the public isn’t allowed to access, some in the HVAC industry call foul.

Will Gresham, executive vice president, Dynatemp Intl., said the company plans to focus on its revamped reclamation program, partner wholesalers, and education this year.

In Aspen Refrigerant’s booth, the message to the industry was quite clear: R-22 is readily available and will be legal to use, buy, and sell for years to come.

Bacharach has been in acquisition mode lately, and the company was showing off the new products and relationships that resulted from that at this year’s AHR Expo in Atlanta.

Basically, the proposed rule would roll back parts of Section 608 of its Refrigerant Management Regulations as it applies to HFCs.