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 or individuals to implement the alternative refrigerants more quickly.
• Improve end-of-life recovery rates.

• Enhance leak monitoring and sequestration.

CLIMATE LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNITY PROTECTION ACT (CLCPA)

In our focus on New York State laws, we are currently watching the Climate Action Council as it compiles the scoping plan to implement the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

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.

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.

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.

LOCAL POLICY AND PRACTICE

• 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