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The US State of California has adopted the nation's first comprehensive regulation to reduce high-GWP refrigerant gas emissions from commercial and industrial refrigeration systems. Facilities using low-GWP ammonia refrigerant will not be subject to the regulation and the compliance costs it entails. 

The regulation, issued by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), focuses on large refrigeration systems using more than 50 pounds of CFC, HCFC or HFC refrigerant. The 50-pound refrigerant threshold means that the newly adopted rule will generally apply to facilities such as supermarket and grocery stores, food and beverage processors, cold storage warehouses and industrial process cooling plants. On the other hand, facilities using natural refrigerants such as ammonia, will not fall under the regulation and hence will not be subject to any restriction set out in it.

The provisions of the regulation

As of 2011, the new rule will require leak inspection, repairs, required service practices and record keeping. Refrigerant leaks will have to be repaired by a U.S. EPA certified technician within 14 days of leak detection, while in cases where systems cannot be repaired, a retrofit or retirement plan is required. Depending on the type and size of refrigeration system, leak inspection requirements will vary as follows:

• Facilities with large system(s) (≥ 2,000 lbs): Automatic leak detection system

• Facilities with medium system(s) (200 -<2,000 lbs): Quarterly inspection

• Facilities with small system(s) (>50 -<200 lbs): Annual inspection

Moreover, as of 2012, registration, reporting and fee requirements in the range of $170-370 per year will be phased in for facilities.

Environmental and economic impact of the regulation

The new rule implies compliance costs for facilities using refrigerants other than ammonia or CO₂. Nonetheless, CARB expects that the leak detection, monitoring and repair requirements will reduce the need to buy costly refrigerant to refill the system, thus leading to average savings of about two dollars a metric ton CO₂ equivalent reduced.

Moreover, the rule is estimated to lead to emission reductions of 8.1 million metric tons CO₂e in 2020, emissions equivalent to those associated with the energy used by 1.5 million homes per year.

Background

The tracking, reporting, recovery, and replacement of high-GWP refrigerants in stationary as well as mobile sources is the subject of several “early action measures” under the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32). The state-wide landmark law targets a cut in carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, in total around 170 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents.