States Lead the Way on Climate Initiatives and HFC Emissions Reductions

The United States Climate Alliance is a bipartisan coalition of 17 states that have committed themselves to taking strong action through executive orders, legislation and other local and regional efforts to make an impact on the global climate challenge. The alliance is focused on state-to-state cooperation to accelerate the deployment of climate solutions needed to help each achieve their climate goals. The states involved represent 40 percent of the U.S. population and $9 trillion of the U.S. economy. The alliance commits to implementing policies that advance the goals of the Paris Agreement, with a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to at least 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. 

Alliance states recently taking action on HFCs include:

• California – California has long led the way on climate and sustainability policy. 2016 Super Pollutant Reduction Act spearheaded by state Senator Ricardo Lara committed the state to a goal of 40% reduction in state HFC emissions by 2030.
  
  The California Cooling Act, California Senate Bill 1013, passed in September 2018, went further by incorporating the vacated EPA SNAP rules regulating HFCs into state law, with some modifications to the dates. It also empowered the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to incentivize the development of replacement technologies and prohibit risky substitutes.

During a single week in early September 2018, Connecticut, Maryland and New York all also announced their plans to phase down HFCs:

• Connecticut – Then Governor Dannel Malloy asked Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to begin developing regulations to phase down HFCs. According to the governor’s office, “the transition to [HFC] alternatives is vital in meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and Connecticut’s own Global Warming Solution Act, as well as limiting global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius.”
• Maryland – Following up on a 2016 law committing the state to a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, Governor Larry Hogan announced that the Maryland Department of the Environment would be developing a plan for an HFC phase down in refrigerants and foam products.
• New York –Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a draft regulation for phasing down HFCs in new and retrofitted consumer products in New York between 2020-2024, including refrigeration, air conditioning, aerosol and other applications. The state also committed to funding alternative solutions with as much as $10 million for retrofitting equipment, encouraging alternative chemicals and other projects.