State and Local Policy
We’re working at the state and local levels to strengthen New York’s efforts on refrigerants. On the local level we help communities learn how to purchase, maintain and dispose of appliances, research local policies, talk to experts and develop public education campaigns, templates, and presentations. We advocate for State policies as strong as California’s to quickly phase in safer refrigerants and make polluters responsible for preventing emissions.
Key areas for policy:
Adopt a stricter phase down schedule, such as the European F-Gas law or the regulations California recently adopted
Provide incentives to companies and individuals to implement alternative refrigerants more quickly
Improve end-of-life recovery rates, especially through an extended producer responsibility program
Enhance leak monitoring and sequestration
We frequently submit comments to state officials on matters regarding refrigerant management. Here are some of our most recent letters.
In November 2024 we posted a new blog on the need for an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program for refrigerants.
In September 2024 we submitted comments to DEC and NYSERDA on how to invest funds in the Climate Investment Account, which will be raised by selling allowances under the Cap and Invest program. We believe providing grants and low-cost loans to promote early adoption of natural refrigerants, broader adoption of automatic leak detection systems in food establishments, and other HFC emission reduction measures are among the most low-cost ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In July 2024 we emailed comments on the Environmental Bond Act to the DEC to encourage spending part of the $200,000,000 earmarked for Disadvantaged Communities to assist with installing refrigeration systems that use refrigerants with ultra-low global warming potentials in food establishments, and particularly to help fund a refrigerant engineering study that would allow New York’s joint utilities to calculate energy efficiency rebates for those systems, which would benefit all stores throughout the state as they adopted natural refrigerants.
NYSERDA runs New York’s Clean Heating campaign in conjunction with the Joint Utilities. Unfortunately, it’s widely known that contractors in the HVAC trade frequently vent refrigerants when they should be recovering them and taking them for reclamation. In July 2024 we submitted a letter to program administrators asking them to develop requirements for Participating Contractors in the Clean Heat program to regularly file reports on how much recovered refrigerant their company has taken for reclamation. The refrigerant distributors and reclaimers have to track this information, so it would be fairly easy for the contractors to gather and provide. As of October 2024, there has been no response.
In March 2024 we submitted written comments on the proposed Part 494 regulations and also made oral comments at a public hearing. These regulations in part backstop federal regulations on refrigerants, but they also go beyond those requirements because of the need for state policy to achieve New York’s climate targets.
NEW YORK STATE POLICY
CLIMATE LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNITY PROTECTION ACT (CLCPA)
Our focus is on New York State laws, and we are pleased with how HFCs are treated in the Climate Action Council’s final Scoping Plan, which was approved on December 19, 2022. The final plan shows a good deal of responsiveness to the many public comments on the draft plan. Our suggested priority actions for implementing the Scoping Plan in regards to HFCs include:
Providing incentives to install automatic leak detection equipment in grocery stores, especially for disadvantaged communities
Establishing utility incentives and other grants for promoting natural refrigerants in food stores, especially for disadvantaged communities
Prioritizing programs for appliances with HFCs among the other Extended Producer Responsibility programs called for by the Climate Action Council
Hiring more DEC staff to focus on refrigerants and implement a statewide refrigerant management program
The letter we circulated to our supporters spells out these priorities in more detail.
In May and June 2022 we submitted letters to New York’s Climate Action Council with comments on the Draft Scoping Plan. One letter explained how for every 100 tons of HFC emissions counted in the current greenhouse gas inventory, New York was probably emitting an additional 67 tons of HCFC emissions and 13 tons of CFC emissions that are not included in the inventory. The calculations are available in this spreadsheet. We believe policymakers should be aware of these emissions.
In October 2020 we submitted a sign-on letter to the Climate Action Council to express our concern that none of the advisory panels was charged with comprehensively addressing HFCs. We specifically referenced the goal of reducing refrigerant emissions 40% from 2018 levels by 2030, in accordance with the United States Climate Alliance Short-Lived Climate Pollutants Road Map, which calls for action following the three pillars of refrigerant management: transitioning to new refrigerants and doing it quickly with incentives; capturing refrigerants at end of life; and improving leak detection and sequestration practices. Read our sign-on letter. As of January 2023, New York still has not established a target for HFC emissions.
O&R UTILITY RATE CASE
Reducing refrigerant leak rates can contribute to energy savings. In May of 2021, New Yorkers for Cool Refrigerant Management became an intervenor in the Orange & Rockland Rate Case. As part of the rate case, we filed the Direct Expert Testimony of Ali White Regarding Refrigerant Management Programs. The testimony provides broad recommendations for policies that promote energy efficiency in grocery stores, including energy savings through converting to systems that run on natural refrigerants and from reducing refrigerant leaks. It points out how enhanced refrigerant management practices in grocery stores reduce emissions of super greenhouse gases while improving energy efficiency.
On April 14, 2022, the final order was approved by the Public Service Commission. During 2022, O&R will:
Investigate the cost effectiveness of the refrigerant management issues suggested by our expert testimony
Confer with representatives of the Public Service Commission, New Yorkers for Cool Refrigerant Management and other interested parties
Implement any measures found to be cost effective in 2023 and 2024.
DEC REGULATIONS
We submitted a letter in support of Part 494 to New York’s DEC. Part 494 phases out HFCs in specific applications and mandates the use of lower-GWP refrigerants. While this is a good step to take, our letter pointed out the great need to focus on capturing refrigerants at end of life and improving refrigerant monitoring standards. Read our Part 494 letter.
We submitted a letter in support of Part 496 to New York’s DEC. As adopted, Part 496 explains how the DEC calculated the greenhouse gas inventory to establish the baseline for implementing the CLCPA. Our letter asked the DEC to consider including supplementary information on the remaining banks of CFCs and HCFCs and their potential greenhouse gas emissions (which we believe would be substantial) and also reiterated the need to focus on capturing refrigerants at end of life and improving refrigerant monitoring standards. Read our Part 496 letter.
LOCAL POLICY & PRACTICE
RAISING AWARENESS AMONG HOMEOWNERS AND MUNICIPAL LEADERS
Our outreach and education efforts help municipal leaders and the general public address the problems and opportunities in appliance recycling, air conditioning and heating system installation and monitoring. See our resources page for shareable articles and templates.
Campaigns and Pilot Projects. We helped to develop a pilot project on monitoring cooling systems at Bard College and a recycling drive model for old refrigerators in Warwick.
Including Refrigerants in Resource Recovery Plans. We are helping to develop recommendations on refrigerant capture, reuse and destruction for Ulster County’s Zero Waste Plan that may be a model for other communities.
Climate Smart Communities