United States.
Some refrigerants, including R134a, R410A and R407C, will be banned for use in new chillers in the United States as of January 1, 2024.
The bans are one of several changes to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Meaningful Alternatives Policy Program (SNAP) regulations, published in the Federal Register. The gases affected are high GWP HFCs and high GWP mixtures, originally designed as temporary retrofit gases.
These changes also impose future restrictions on the use of high GWP HFC gases in new domestic and commercial refrigeration equipment and prohibit the use of class 3 flammable refrigerants as reconditioning.
The high GWP refrigerants R134a, R410A and R407C are among a list of more than 25 refrigerants that are considered unacceptable for use in centrifugal and positive displacement chillers as of January 1, 2024, but exceptions are made for R134a and R404A in certain military applications.
Carrier, Johnson Controls and the Air Conditioning, Heating and Cooling Institute (AHRI) had discussed a date no earlier than 2025.
Refrigerants R404A and R507A are also included in a list of 24 refrigerants that will be considered unacceptable for use in retail food refrigeration (refrigerated food processing and dispensing equipment) from 1 January 2021. Another 19 are listed as unacceptable in the new cold stores as of January 1, 2023.
The ban on R134a, along with 27 other refrigerants, in new domestic refrigerators and freezers from January 1, 2021, is expected to open the way for the use of hydrocarbon refrigerants.
