Part 494 - Helpful Policies That Need Wider Understanding
In December 2024, DEC completed one of the actions it was assigned under the NYS Scoping Plan when it published its new regulations for refrigerants. It’s disappointing there is so little coverage of this positive work, so the essay below undertakes explaining what all is involved and why it’s so valuable.
Intro
The fundamental change needed to mitigate climate change is for actors to take more responsibility for their greenhouse gas emissions. From the largest companies to individual consumers, we all need to be more attentive to our climate impacts and swap harmful actions for sustainable alternatives. One of the most cost-effective actions we can take to protect the climate is to change the refrigerants we use and improve the way we manage them.
The synthetic chemicals we use as refrigerants are extraordinarily powerful greenhouse gases – many of them thousands of times more powerful at trapping heat in our atmosphere than carbon dioxide.
For example, R404A, which is widely used in supermarkets, has a 20-year global warming potential (GWP) 7,208 times greater than CO2. When a single pound of R404A leaks from equipment, its impact on global warming over a 20-year horizon is about the same as that of burning 368 gallons of gasoline.
Most of the existing refrigerants in use today are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and in New York State, HFCs account for 6% of our gross greenhouse gas emissions, a percentage that is growing.
Unlike fossil fuels, HFCs aren’t problematic as greenhouse gases while they’re being used in functioning equipment; they become problematic only when they escape to the atmosphere – either due to accidental leaks or intentional (illegal) venting during servicing or at the end of the equipment’s working life. Improved refrigerant management – the curtailment of leakage, the replacement of high global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants with climate-friendlier alternatives, and diligent end-of-life recovery – is essential to successful climate change mitigation.
The finalized Part 494 update that NYS DEC announced in December 2024, incorporates these sound refrigerant management practices into state law. The new rules “implement recommendations from the Climate Action Council Scoping Plan,” establishing clear responsibilities for refrigerant producers, equipment manufacturers and end users to play their roles in helping achieve New York’s climate goals. Given the extraordinarily high GWP of refrigerants, expenditures on improved refrigerant management is a relatively inexpensive way to purchase outsized climate benefits, which makes refrigerant management one of the most cost-effective climate solutions we can implement.
The following sections describe the new Part 494 expectations in general terms and discuss their feasibility, as well as how the Scoping Plan indicates NYS agencies and other stakeholders should further support the industries affected by the updated regulation.
Details of Part 494
Prohibitions on Regulated Substances in Specific Equipment and Product Types
The updated Part 494 regulations include prohibitions on 9 subsectors of air conditioning equipment (such as: chillers; residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pumps; and data centers), and 22 subsectors of refrigeration equipment (such as commercial ice makers, hockey rinks, household refrigerators and freezers, and supermarket systems). The prohibitions for each subsector have specific effectiveness dates and maximum GWP limits (see NY4Cool.org for a definition of GWP), each of which is either feasible based on current technology or is far enough in the future that it should be feasible by the stated effectiveness date.
Beyond their uses as refrigerants, HFCs are also used in aerosol and foam products. The recently adopted Part 494 includes prohibitions on certain aerosol and foam products that are identical to currently adopted federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. This provides an important backstop to those regulations, should they be rolled back or legally challenged at the federal level.
Many of the prohibitions on specific refrigerant uses similarly backstop federal regulations. The fact that New York and other states will continue to implement these prohibitions is a signal to industry that even if federal requirements may be uncertain, requirements remain at the state level, so industry needs to continue improving its environmental practices.
Prohibitions on Bulk Refrigerants
Bulk refrigerants are used to charge new appliances and to top off or charge systems during maintenance. DEC’s stated intent, with Part 494, is to exactly mirror similar regulations in California that restrict the use of high GWP refrigerants through a progressive lowering of maximum allowed GWP levels, with step-down dates in 2025, 2030 and 2033. The California law clearly prohibits virgin (or new) refrigerants that don’t meet new GWP standards but continues to allow the use of reclaimed refrigerants with GWPs above the new standards. By encouraging the use of reclaimed refrigerant, these new rules send strong market signals to the reclamation industry that demand for reclaimed refrigerant will be strong for years to come.
There’s a historical precedent for this kind of measure. In 2010, because of the ozone-depleting impact of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), prohibitions were enacted that stopped the use of HCFC refrigerant R22 in new equipment, and in 2020 regulations took effect that prohibited the manufacture or import of new R22. Since that time, reclaimed R22 has been available for ongoing maintenance of legacy equipment that runs on R22, but owners of that equipment have known that when those systems are replaced, they must be replaced with a refrigerant that doesn’t deplete the ozone layer.
One of the refrigerants affected by the 2025 prohibition is R404A, which is commonly used in supermarket rack systems. A large supermarket might have a total charge of 2,000 pounds of refrigerant, and most sources say these systems leak, on average, 25% of their refrigerant each year – that is, for a store of this size, 500 pounds each year, or about 1.4 pounds/day. Given that each pound of R404A has the equivalent greenhouse gas impact of 7,208 pounds of CO2, a daily leak of 1.4 pounds of R404A is equivalent to the CO2 emissions from burning 500 gallons of gasoline. Imagine a grocery store that sets fire to a big pool of 500 gallons of gasoline in the parking lot every day – gasoline that’s not used for any productive use, simply wasted in a blaze. Clearly we’d find that behavior shocking. Allowing 1.4 pounds of a chemical with R404A’s GWP to leak every day is equally shocking, and given our climate predicament, we need all businesses that use R404A to prioritize curtailing these harmful emissions.
The loudest complaints from industry groups about the newly enacted Part 494 have been that the wording of Part 494 does not clearly indicate reclaimed versions of refrigerants with GWPs above restricted levels will continue to be allowed. These concerns are valid. Since in most cases, legacy equipment designed for a certain refrigerant cannot operate using other refrigerants, if all bulk refrigerants with GWPs above the new limits were prohibited, it would become impossible to maintain and continue using legacy equipment that relies on them – something that DEC has from the beginning clearly indicated is not the intent of these new regulations.
On January 31, 2025, DEC published a fact sheet that clarifies the new “prohibitions do not apply to the use of reclaimed substances or to service repairs” (pg. 4). DEC also published a Frequently Asked Questions document that addresses additional questions and an enforcement discretion letter, which announced the prohibitions on virgin bulk refrigerants with GWP100 > 2,200 would be moved back to 90 days after January 9th, 2025. Furthermore, prohibitions on two of the refrigerants affected, namely R404A and R507, would be moved back to the end of 2025. These changes will give stakeholders more time to prepare for the switch to reclaimed refrigerants and are reasonable adjustments for DEC to make while keeping most of the Part 494 regulations in effect.
Refrigerant Management Program
Part 494 establishes a major new refrigerant management program meant to track refrigerant use and dramatically reduce emissions from leaks. Beginning in June 2025, owners and operators of equipment that uses 1,500 or more pounds of any refrigerant with a GWP20 greater than 10 will need to register their equipment, label it, monitor for leaks, and begin annually reporting critical data from these systems. One year later (June 2026), owners and operators of equipment that uses 200 to 1,499 pounds of refrigerant will be required to do the same. Two years after that (June 2028), owners and operators of equipment with charge sizes from 50 to 199 pounds will also need to register and label their equipment, but annual reporting will not be required for this last group.
Previously, federal EPA regulations mandated recordkeeping for all of these users, who were essentially on the honor system to self-report and make repairs when leak rates exceeded allowed levels. Leak rates, though, have demonstrated the honor system approach is not satisfactory. In the current digital age, the transition from recordkeeping requirements to reporting requirements is a sensible change that will encourage users to manage their refrigerants with more care. For any users whose previous “recordkeeping systems” amounted to scribbling notes on scratch paper and throwing them in a drawer, compliance with the new reporting requirements may take a good bit of administrative work. But for most users who already follow best practices for record keeping, the administrative burden will not be so large. The requirement for integrity in reporting, in and of itself, may improve some refrigerant management practices. Moreover, the data collected will help more clearly define the best refrigerant management policies going forward.
The federal AIM Act is phasing down HFCs by limiting the production of virgin refrigerants. The way the phase down works, companies are allowed a certain number of production credits, a number that declines over time, and the higher the GWP of the refrigerant, the more production credits a company needs to produce it. The policy is steadily pushing companies to shift their production lines to lower-GWP products and is also driving up the price of high GWP refrigerants, such as R404A. Given rising costs for high GWP refrigerants, reducing leak rates makes financial sense for store owners and environmental sense for everyone.
Supermarket Refrigerant Program
Another broad new program established in Part 494 is the Supermarket Refrigerant Program, which applies to supermarket chains, such as Walmart, Whole Foods, and Tops Friendly Markets. The definition of a “supermarket chain” in Part 494 is a business entity that owns or operates 20 or more retail food facilities in New York, or has 100 or more stores in the United States, including some stores in New York. When counting facilities, each store must have 200 pounds or more of refrigerant charge capacity.
The new responsibility for these supermarket chains is that by 2035, all of their stores need to either use refrigerants with ultra-low GWPs (a GWP20 that’s less than 10) or have an annual leak rate below 5%. It’s extremely challenging for large supermarket rack systems to achieve a leak rate below 5%, so focusing on use of ultra-low GWP refrigerants is not only the straight-forward way to come into compliance with these new regulations, but also the best option for the climate.
The regulations do not specifically require the use of natural refrigerants, like carbon dioxide (R744) or propane (R290). As of 2025, the only refrigerants that meet the standard for ultra-low GWP are natural refrigerants, and their use is growing quickly. It is possible that hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) refrigerants with a GWP20 less than 10 may be invented, but a growing concern with HFOs is they quickly degrade into trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), a short-chain PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance). It is possible that the growing adoption of PFAS regulations, such as those in Maine, Minnesota and the European Union, will impact access to these TFA-producing HFOs.
Any supermarket chain not meeting this new standard by 2035 must have in place a transition plan that provides for meeting the new standard by 2040. Food establishment rack systems generally have a working life of 15 to 20 years, so supermarket chains are now on notice that from this year forward, any new stores they build or any systems that are replaced need to meet this new standard. Well capitalized supermarket chains will be able to meet these new responsibilities by prioritizing investments in climate friendly refrigeration equipment. This part of the regulation does not apply to independent food establishments.
Exceptions
The Part 494 regulations also include provisions for allowing variances. Applicants must actively apply for a variance and document the reasons for their lack of compliance – options include force majeure, economic hardship, or impossibility. These provisions enable flexibility in working with individual situations as supermarket chains make this transition.
Additional Action Needed: Funding and Support for Workforce Development
The new Part 494 is grounded in New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Law) and implements recommendations found in the Scoping Plan. While some commenters on the draft Part 494 regulations called for New York to lighten its requirements and align with the less ambitious federal EPA regulations, DEC has been clear that the federal EPA regulations don’t go far enough to meet NY’s climate mandates, and that Part 494 must go beyond what is required federally to comply with New York’s Climate Law.
That said, Part 494 will work best when accompanied by funding mechanisms recommended in the Scoping Plan for helping businesses fund this transition. The Scoping Plan called for incentives to help food stores adopt natural refrigerants:
NYSERDA, DPS, and DEC should coordinate to develop incentives such as utility rebates and grant programs to support the adoption of natural refrigerants in food stores. Incentives are particularly needed to fund a substantial portion of the installation of new equipment in existing stores in Disadvantaged Communities or stores operated by independent companies or small chains, to enable food stores to phase out HFCs without impacting LMI consumers or negatively affecting food security.
“Utility rebates” refers to a program where electricity utilities give financial rebates to customers who install energy efficient equipment. An upgrade to natural refrigerant-based refrigeration equipment in grocery stores and cold-storage warehouses will often yield significant energy savings over legacy equipment. A refrigeration engineering study is needed to gather realistic data on how much energy is saved with these technologies and which configurations optimize energy savings. With that data in hand, guidelines for calculating the value of energy savings for these types of upgrades could be added to New York’s Technical Resource Manual, providing utilities a way to structure incentives. These utility rebates might total as much as 5% to 15% of the cost of installing natural refrigerant-based systems and would help cover the incremental cost of adopting climate-friendly systems.
Allocations from the Environmental Bond Act of 2022, the Environmental Protection Fund, and the upcoming New York Cap & Invest Climate Action Fund are additional, important ways to support this transition to natural refrigerants. After completing two demonstration projects that highlighted the value of transitioning to natural refrigerants in grocery stores that service disadvantaged communities, DEC issued draft guidelines in June 2024 to direct $200M of the $4.2B available through the Environmental Bond Act towards helping businesses in disadvantaged communities, including for adoption of climate-friendly refrigerants. Funds could also be made available from the Environmental Protection Fund, Governor Hochul’s new Sustainable Future Program, and from the New York Cap & Invest Climate Action Fund. Small investments in refrigerant management yield high returns in emissions reductions, so these expenditures should be prioritized.
The Scoping Plan also instructs DEC to:
promulgate regulations requiring reclamation or destruction of refrigerants from appliances at end-of-life, with verification and reporting, and require leak detection for certain commercial refrigeration. In addition to education and training, the State should provide economic support (such as, incentives to purchase leak detection and reclamation equipment, or compensation for refrigerant reclamation) to aid local industry with this transition.
Part 494 checked the box for requiring “leak detection for certain commercial refrigeration,” but the State has not yet fully funded economic support to help local industry meet these new responsibilities.
Whether a strong and steady stream of funding comes from the Climate Action Fund or from other sources, funding is needed both for stores in disadvantaged communities and for small- and medium-sized food establishments outside the bounds of those communities. With profit margins for supermarkets hovering around 1.6%, many independent stores are already squeezed by high refrigerant prices and at some point will need financial assistance to upgrade their refrigeration systems.
Beyond grants, the NY Green Bank, which provides low-interest loans to help New York residents and businesses invest in climate solutions like solar panels and heat pumps, should expand its loan offerings to businesses to include investments in automatic leak detection systems and climate-friendly commercial refrigeration systems. The climate benefits of curtailing leaks of high GWP refrigerants are so extraordinarily significant that New York should use all means available to incentivize speedy installation of natural refrigerant-based systems, along with automatic leak detection on all systems not yet upgraded.
Beyond funding, insufficient numbers of refrigeration technicians are versed in the installation and maintenance of natural refrigerant-based systems. This shortage is another factor slowing the important transition to climate-friendly refrigerants. There is great need for technicians who are trained in the newest refrigeration technologies and can also maintain legacy systems. NYSERDA’s workforce development program should expand to include this job title.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs can also make an important difference. As the Scoping Plan (p. 331) suggests:
An EPR program has the potential to be cost-effective and its impact easily quantified with reporting requirements. There are a wide range of manufacturers, products, and types of refrigerants used in new and existing appliances. Enforcement may be challenging due to the large number of facilities managing these end-of-life appliances, and there is currently a lack of comprehensive disposal data.
EPR programs are currently used effectively to increase refrigerant recovery rates in many countries around the world, including Canada, Australia and several European countries, and will be valuable in New York State, as well. To ensure a successful adoption of Part 494 regulations, though, it is advisable to give adequate time and space for industry participants and New York State to successfully implement these new responsibilities before moving to adopt a refrigerant EPR in New York.
Conclusion
The new Part 494 regulations make New York one of the leaders among states developing refrigerant regulations. The extraordinarily high GWP of refrigerants makes refrigerant management one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce emissions. It is vitally important for stakeholders – including NYS agencies, the Governor and Legislature, and citizens supporting climate action – to actively support the successful implementation of the new Part 494 standards.
