HFC regulation

United States 

 

The rule proposed by the EPA in early  May 2021 (see IIR news of May 31) was finalised in September. It aims at reducing the production and consumption of HFCs in the United States by 85% over the next 15 years, as mandated by the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act (AIM) signed by Donald Trump in December 2020. 

 

According to EPA, this final rule is expected to result in annual benefits of several thousand dollars. These benefits derive mostly from preventing the emissions of HFCs with high GWPs, thus reducing the damage from climate change that would have been induced by these emissions. 
 

Year	Net benefits
2022	USD 1.7
2024	USD 5.1
2029	USD 5.8
2034	USD 13.3
2036	USD 16.4
2045	USD 26.0
2050	USD 30.8

 

The EPA will partner with the Department of Homeland Security to prevent illegal HFC imports. In a press release on the subject, the White House indicates: 

 

“Illegal trade in HFCs poses a fundamental risk to America’s climate and economic goals. If the United States were to see rates of noncompliance similar to what has been observed in other countries, the result could be as much as 43-90 million metric tons of additional carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions in a single year, which is roughly equal to the annual emissions from 22 coal-fired power plants.  

This high level of non-compliance would put US businesses at a competitive disadvantage and discourage innovation in HFC alternatives. […] 

In partnership with the Departments of Justice, State, and Defense, these agencies will execute a strategy to detect, deter, and disrupt any attempt to illegally import or produce HFCs in the United States.” 

 

The EPA published a list of HFC import or production quotas allocated to various American companies. These allowances can be consulted following this link. 

 

Kigali ratification 

 

In the previous edition of the IIR newsletter, we announced that India was about to ratify the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.   

This was done on September 27.  

The largest consumers of HFCs in the world are China, India, the European Union and the United States. All of them have ratified the Kigali Amendment except the United States. But the actions taken by the EPA described in the first part of this article are encouraging and follow the provisions of the Amendment regarding the reduction rates of HFCs in the coming years. 
 

In recent weeks, El  Salvador and Serbia have also ratified the Kigali Amendment.