Another state has moved forward with phasing down HFC refrigerants such as R-404A, R-134a, and R-410A. Last week the Washington State House Bill 1112 passed the Legislature with a large majority vote. This was widely expected to pass and now all it needs is a signature from Governor Jay Inslee which is expected to happen soon.
Washington is part of what’s known as the United States Climate Alliance. This alliance is a mixture of various States that came together when the Trump Administration announced that they were pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord. These twenty-two states include New York, Washington, New Jersey, Oregon, and California. In fact, Governor Inslee of Washington was one of the co-founders of this alliance.
The Washington Bill 1112 is modeled and built off of the Environmental Protection Agency’s former SNAP Rules 20 and 21. It aims at phasing down HFCs across the state and to make certain HFCs no longer acceptable in newly built applications. I won’t report on the exact specifics on the bill until it is fully signed as there is always a chance that there will be further amendments or changes before it is fully passed.
But, from what I have read the Washington bill is very similar to the California bill that was passed last year. Let’s take a look at what California did:
California
The California bill adopts the rules laid out on the Environmental Protection Agency’s SNAP Rules 20 and 21. The only exception here is for automobiles. (In the SNAP Rule 20 R-134a was deemed as no longer acceptable in 2021 model years.) These prohibitions and regulations in California took effect on January 1st, of this year (source).
Under the new California law manufacturers can no longer produce machines that use the prohibited HFC refrigerants. Now, just like with the EPA’s SNAP, this California plan is a staggered approach. So, not all applications were phased out all at once.
California did the carrot and stick approach. Obviously, the stick is not being compliant with the new regulations and facing fines and other repercussions. The carrot though is that the government is offering incentives to businesses that begin adopting new climate friendly equipment today.
All of these changes and regulations from the Senate Bill 1013 aim at cutting California’s HFC emissions to forty percent below 2013 levels by the time we reach the year 2030. This goal is mandated by the Senate Bill 1383.
The important thing to remember here folks is that this isn’t just an on or off switch. Like I mentioned earlier, this is a staggered approach that goes by application to application. That being said, one big change that has already occurred as of January of this year is that R-404A is no longer acceptable in supermarket systems in California. Along with that 404A is no longer accepted in vending machines, cold storage facilities, and many other applications.
While R-134a and R-410A were mentioned in their table, it was only briefly and not in their primary applications. For example, automobiles were not mentioned and home/commercial air conditioners were not mentioned. So, for the foreseeable future your air conditioner for your home and car will still be using HFCs in California without issue. All of that may change though folks as you never know what new law will come down the pipeline.
Conclusion
California was the first but there will be many more to follow. Washington will be next. Who knows who will come after that?
One thing is for certain, the United States Climate Alliance is a large collection of states and it is only getting larger as time goes on. As the dominoes began to fall we will eventually see manufacturers be forced to move away from HFC machines if they want to continue selling in Climate Alliance states.