ASA supports AHRI petition for technology transition under The American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020
Proposal would require residential and light commercial air conditioners to use refrigerants with global warming potentials of 750 or less.
ASA is part of a coalition of organizations that support Air-Conditioning Heating & Refrigeration Institute’s petition, pursuant to the American Innovation in Manufacturing Act of 2020 (AIM Act), that respectively requests the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to require residential and light commercial air conditioners (stationary AC) to use refrigerants with global warming potentials of 750 or less, with such requirement applying to new stationary AC equipment, manufactured after Jan. 1 2025, excluding variable refrigerant flow (VRF) equipment.
AHRI outlined the coalition’s proposal in a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan.
For VRF equipment, the petitioners request that refrigerants be limited to 750 GWP for equipment manufactured after Jan. 1, 2026. If promulgated, these standards will result in an additional half-billion tons of CO2 reduction over and above what already is projected to be achieved by implementation of the AIM Act.
The coalition urgently seeks promulgation of this regulation to ensure sufficient time to prepare for this transition and to comply with the requirements of the AIM Act.
Under paragraph (2) of subsection (i) of the AIM Act, AHRI is required to request as part of the petition that EPA “negotiate with stakeholders in accordance with paragraph (2) (A)…”