COMMERCIAL REFRIGERATION:
FINDING A REGULATORY PATH FORWARD
Final and proposed rulemaking accelerate refrigerant transition in U.S. commercial refrigeration BY JENNIFER BUTSCH, REGULATORY AFFAIRS DIRECTOR AT EMERSON
F
or the past several years, commercial refrigeration stakeholders in the United States have been closely monitoring regulatory efforts to phase down the use of high-global warming potential (GWP) hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants. The unsettled regulatory climate has made it difficult for food retail companies to plan for compliance and select next-generation refrigeration strategies. However, as we move into 2022, it appears that the regulatory
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HVACR BUSINESS APRIL 2022
Many companies have already begun their lower-GWP refrigerant transition and have been seeking regulatory guidance to help inform their long-term refrigerant choices to implement their sustainability goals. picture is coming into clearer focus. Many companies have already begun their lower-GWP refrigerant transition and have been seeking regulatory guidance
to help inform their long-term refrigerant choices to implement their sustainability goals. Others may be taking first steps on their sustainability journeys and monitoring these emerging regulations to better
understand the potential impacts on their organizations. Let’s take a closer look at the refrigerant rulemaking and proposals that are helping these companies to forge a path forward as they transition to lower-GWP refrigerant technologies.
AIM ACT ESTABLISHES FEDERAL HFC LEGISLATION The American Innovation & Manufacturing Act (AIM Act) was signed into law in 2020, granting the federal
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