Refrigerator chemical ban may chill N.Y. economy, stakeholders say

timesunion.com ^ | May 2, 2024 | Raga Justin

[lowbridge]

Business groups are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration to delay regulations that would significantly restrict widely used coolant chemicals — a priority under the state’s sweeping climate law — that they say could wreak financial havoc on stakeholders ranging from grocery stores to hospitals.

The mandates have stoked concerns from trade groups ranging from the Business Council to the New York Farm Bureau. A broad coalition of business interests sent a letter to Hochul and the state Department of Environmental Conservation on Wednesday arguing that the state’s timeline is not feasible.

DEC’s proposed phaseout of chemical compounds known as “hydrofluorocarbons,” commonly found in cooling systems like refrigeration systems and  air conditioners, has dovetailed with similar federal policies meant to curtail their use. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency describes hydrofluorocarbons as extremely powerful greenhouse gases that can accelerate climate change, and has mandated a phaseout of the compounds by 2036. New York’s timeline for the same goal ranges from 2021 to 2034. 

They also say the state has not involved stakeholders in its decision-making, including operators of convenience and grocery stores and other business owners who will have to shell out millions to purchase new refrigeration and HVAC equipment.

-snip

“The proposed regulations would require large scale retail food chains to reduce (hydrofluorocarbons), which equates to 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, have no direct costs to consumers, and would not require consumers or businesses to replace existing products and equipment prior to the end of useful life,” Salka said. “According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, DEC’s proposal is estimated to help businesses reduce energy costs and will result in $288-to-$540 million in savings, while helping fight climate change.”

[PAR35]

And generous applications of asbestos might have saved the World Trade Center.

[Doc91678]

Strangely this was all codified by the Congress and the EPA in the 1990’s
See. 40CFR-82 and it’s sub parts.
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-40/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-82
See Also: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-09/documents/snap_status_change_rule_2_2060_as80.pdf

There are alternative substitutes

[Wuli]

The EPA and all the states climate czars need to quit making up rules about eliminating anything that is currently the most economically reasonable product to use, and all them need to switch to legislation seeking to assist in the development of alternatives and when the alternatives meet the engineering and economic tests for being reasoably equal to the current products THEN they can seek for those new products to be used.

[1Old Pro]

Hochul is sooo dumb she doesn’t know her policies are crushing NY as thousands leave the state

[bert]

Eliminating beer and carbonated soft drinks would have a greater carbon reduction.

Beer and Coke are CO2 emitters

[In_Iowa_not_from]

or sulfur dioxide - 1920/30s tech...

[AbolishCSEU]

What economy? There’s nothing left in NYS to “cool” except for government which is growing like crazy.

[AbolishCSEU]

The newer “more environmentally friendly” ™ refrigerants are highly compressed unlike R22 which causes many more leaks and the latest stuff is highly flammable. Talk about reinventing the wheel and creating problems where there were none.

[matt04]

I wonder how much refrigerants lost to leaks in the system, either from newer ones running at much higher pressure, or just other issues compared to tweakers stealing copper from the systems.

My friend did mostly small commercial work, like restaurants, however, his company also did places like supermarkets. They had one call assisted where Tweaker stole copper and dump like 700+ pounds of refrigerant to atmosphere.