Category: Regulations

In an article written by, Andrew Williams, of R744.com 

The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on phasing down HFCs will enter into force on 1 January 2019 after surpassing the required ratification threshold.

The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, a landmark international agreement to phase down the production and use of HFCs, is poised to enter into force after it was ratified by Sweden and Trinidad & Tobago yesterday. That meets the threshold for the treaty to come into effect on the earliest possible date: 1 January 2019.

The Kigali deal stipulated that the treaty would enter into force on 1 January 2019 provided it had been ratified by at least 20 parties to the Montreal Protocol. Sweden and Trinidad & Tobago bring the deal over that threshold following formal ratification by six other countries earlier this week: Finland, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos), Luxembourg, the Maldives, Slovakia and the United Kingdom. Canada ratified the Kigali Amendment on 3 November.

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As seen in Bloomberg Politic’s, when China’s President Xi recently laid out his vision statement to the 19th Congress, he mentioned the word ‘environment’ 89 times compared to the word ‘economy’ only 70 times.

“Bloomberg Intelligence crunched the rhetoric in the Chinese-language version of the president’s speech to the 19th Communist Party congress. The results are emblematic of China’s bid to pivot away from the smokestack industries that delivered it double-digit growth as public dissatisfaction over pollution and food scandals mounts.”

This has also been driving the recent refrigerant production shutdowns in China as production facilities are required to meet new environmental standards.

See the article here.

In a recent post on R744.com they state:

In reaction to appeals court ruling, a public workshop on Oct. 24 will look at continuing EPA’s HFC delistings for stationary refrigeration and air conditioning end uses in California.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will hold a public workshop on October 24 to discuss beginning a rulemaking process to adopt into state regulations the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Rule prohibitions of HFCs in stationary refrigeration and air conditioning end uses.

The workshop will also further evaluate the proposed HFC mitigation strategies identified in CARB’s adopted Short-Lived Climate Pollutant (SLCP) Strategy for potential future rulemakings.

The rulemaking to adopt the SNAP program’s bans on HFCs is in response to a U.S. Court of Appeals 2-1 panel ruling on August 8 that the EPA cannot require companies to replace HFCs designated for HVAC&R equipment with low-GWP substances under the SNAP program.

“Although CARB is actively defending these [SNAP rules] in court, and believes that the federal program is the preferred path to achieve these reductions, it must consider state law alternatives as well in order to reach state [HFC] reduction targets,” said CARB

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States Support Appeal of Mexichem Decision. 11 states have submitted an amicus brief to the D.C. Circuit supporting the EPA and requesting a rehearing, arguing that the court’s interpretation of the rule and regulatory scheme will harm their ability to reach their GHG emission reduction goals and will expose residents to greater harm from climate change.

Click here to review the petition.