< Previous20 NOVEMBER 2020HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY ants the industry has asked Congress to authorize the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to write new regulations allowing for the phase down. On October 30, 2019, Senator John Ken- nedy introduced the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act (AIM Act), S. 2754, to phase down the production and use of HFC products, including refrigerants, through 2036. The legislation is supported by trade associ- ations representing producers, manufacturers, distributors, and contractors across the HVACR industry. This broad support highlights the im- portant role a structured phasedown plays in en- suring an orderly transition to the next genera- tion of refrigerants. The AIM Act provides a limited grant of au- thority to the EPA to regulate the production and consumption of HFCs, which paves the way for new technologies and further innovation. Furthermore, it protects U.S. jobs across the HVACR industry. S. 2754 would phase down the production and import of HFCs over 16 years to gradually reduce the availability of older refrig- erants until a 15% baseline remains. This baseline will provide time to find ac- ceptable alternatives to current HFCs and pre- vent consumers from being forced into changing equipment before the end of its useful life. While phasing down HFC production, the EPA would authorize the use of new refrigerants in air-conditioning and refrigeration applications. The bill would also call for training programs to be available for the safe handling and use of any new refrigerants. The AIM Act quickly received support with more than one-third of the Senate becoming co-spon- sors. To move the bill towards becoming law, Sen- ator Kennedy submitted the AIM Act as an amend- ment to the American Energy Innovation Act while it was on the floor on March 4, 2020. C OVID-19 has impacted virtually every sector of the economy through chang- es in consumer spending, a global recession, and in some states, full eco- nomic lockdowns. Add in an election year full of presidential pol- itics, the unexpected passing of a Supreme Court Justice, plus a divided Congress, and it is easy to see why the federal government hasn’t moved for- ward with important issues to the HVACR indus- try such as the phasedown of HFC refrigerants. But the industry is still hopeful for a resolution this year. More than 100 nations have agreed to phase down the production of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) products, including many common air-condition- ing and refrigeration refrigerants in the coming years. To ensure the next generation of products is available, the HVACR industry has invested heavily in the development of new refrigerants. Unfortunately, current federal regulations have not kept pace with this level of investment and in- novation. This means the United States is at risk of innovating first and regulating last – and being left behind as a result. INTRODUCTION OF THE SENATE BILL 2754 To make sure the U.S. market has a smooth transition from current HFCs to future refriger- 2020 Legislation and the HVAC Distribution Industry By Alex Ayers MANAGEMENTNOVEMBER 2020 21HVACTODAY.COM tributors, and manufacturers will be forced to follow different sets of guide- lines in some states and no guidelines in others. Several states have pledged to reg- ulate HFCs due to the lack of federal regulations. In that effort, most states attempting to regulate HFCs are de- veloping their own laws and regula- tions based on EPA’s SNAP Rule 20 and Rule 21. So far California, Colorado, Con- necticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jer- sey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington have announced or start- ed to regulate HFCs. California is the only state to look beyond adopting SNAP Rules 20 and 21. Their overall goal is a 40% reduc- tion in HFC emissions by 2030. This more ambitious commitment has led California to start drafting rules which will impact commercial refrigeration and air conditioning. The California Air Resources Board plans to evaluate and possibly adopt proposed rules in December 2020. Current proposals would affect com- mercial refrigeration on January 1, 2022, and stationary air-conditioning on January 1, 2023. HARDI is supporting an industry proposal to delay the air-conditioning effective date to 2025, however federal action is the best solution to continu- ing regulations of HFCs by states. POTENTIAL FEDERAL SOLUTION But there is some good news. Re- cent movement in the House and Sen- ate bring hope to a federal solution. In September the House of Representa- tives passed a large energy bill con- taining the AIM Leadership Act. After months of Senate negotiations, Senators Barrasso, Kennedy, and Carp- er have announced they have reached an agreement to advance the AIM Act as an amendment to the American En- ergy Innovation Act. However, additional hurdles with other sections of the energy bill must be resolved before the Senate can con- sider the legislation. Complicating this process is a fight to confirm a new jus- tice to the Supreme Court and several Senators testing positive for COVID-19. These complications will force the bill to be considered during the lame- duck period, the session taking place after the November election. If both chambers can pass bills con- taining their respective HFC phase downs, Congress could negotiate a final package through a conference commit- tee to resolve differences between the respective bills. If Congress passes this negotiated conference report and it is signed by President Trump before Congress ad- journs, the AIM Act would become law. Unfortunately, the lame-duck ses- sion of Congress will move quickly and it’s difficult to predict what will and won’t be finished before it is forced to adjourn and a new Congress begins. OTHER ISSUES While there remains a lot of uncer- tainty as to when Congress will pass legislation phasing down the use of HFCs in 2020, the industry is making progress to ensure a smooth transition occurs in the future. HARDI is currently participating in AHRI’s Safe Refrigerant Transition Task Force which is organized to find issues relating to existing regulations However, a disagreement by Senator John Barrasso, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Com- mittee over specific sections of the bill stalled progress on the amendment and the bill. Chairman Barrasso, Sen- ator Kennedy, and lead co-sponsor Senator Tom Carper began working together to resolve the issues shortly after the bill failed to move forward. INTRODUCTION OF HOUSE BILL 5544 Simultaneously to the Senate’s AIM Act, the industry also supported intro- duction of the American Innova- tion and Manufacturing Leader- ship Act (AIM Leadership Act), H.R. 5544, in the House of Representatives. The Aim Leadership Act was intro- duced by Congressman Paul Tonko on January 7, 2020. The bill is func- tionally the same, but slightly different from its Senate companion. The AIM Leadership Act went through a subcommittee hearing on March 12, 2020, just before the im- pact of COVID-19 became evident and Congress shifted gears towards slow- ing the spread of the virus. Senate negotiations and the House Subcommittee hearing showed prom- ise of passage early in 2020, however, the onset of COVID-19 and the sub- sequent legislating of relief bills left a policy void on the HFC issue. The lack of a finalized policy allowed states to continue their efforts to regu- late HFCs. HARDI does not support a patchwork of state-by-state regulations on HFCs because this makes it harder – if not impossible – for distributors to conduct business across state lines. If the AIM Act is not passed, con- sumers, contractors, wholesale dis-22 NOVEMBER 2020HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY tions around the globe, was updated to include new categories of flammabili- ty, but these changes need to be adopt- ed into the fire code used by states and localities. A working group of fire code ex- perts is developing a proposed update to the code to include these new clas- sifications. HARDI has been assist- ing this working group to determine how much storage of lower-flamma- bility gases, including A2L refriger- ants, should be allowed. The group is expected to provide a proposal to the International Code Council this win- ter for adoption next year. HVACR distributors have been su- perb in working through the uncer- tainty of operating a business during a global pandemic and HARDI has been working hard to ensure the uncertain- ty of this year’s policy process does not add to the worries of distributors. HARDI will continue to work on these issues in 2021 and member com- panies are encouraged to participate in the policy process. and prevent issues surrounding lower flammability refrigerants. One of the largest concerns the Task Force has identified is limits on storage of refrigerant cylinders containing low- er flammability gases. Under the cur- rent fire codes, which are adopted by states and localities individually, the maximum amount of flammable gas- es allowed to be stored is significantly lower than current storage practices. Part of this issue comes from the sin- gle definition of flammable gases used in the code that does not differentiate lower-flammability gases like A2L re- frigerants from high-flammability gas- es the public is more familiar with. Recently, the Global Harmo- nized System for Classification of Chemicals, which is used by na- MANAGEMENT Alex Ayers is Director of Government Affairs at HARDI, a trade association comprised of nearly 1,000 member companies, nearly 500 of which are U.S.-based wholesale distribution companies. More than 80% of HARDI’s distributor members are classified as small businesses that collectively employ over 35,000 U.S. manufacturing workers. They represent more than $35 billion in annual sales and an estimated 80% of the U.S. wholesale distribution market of HVACR equipment, supplies, and controls. He can be reached at ncilink.com/ContactMe . NOVEMBER 2020 23HVACTODAY.COM PHOTO OF THE MONTH “Airflow Relief” — Joshua Hoffman, Hoffman Heating, Swartz Creek, MI “We discovered a drastically oversized system where zoning was installed after the fact to try to solve comfort complaints. The issue at heart was airflow, or lack thereof, and oversized equipment. After testing and measuring, we designed and installed this replacement. The customer is finally comfortable. Joshua Hoffman from Hoffman Heating is the November 2020 winner of our Photo-of-the-Month contest, as voted on by the subscribers to the High Performance HVAC Today and visitors to the website (hvactoday.com). He will receive a $25 gift card. You can too – submissions are always welcome. If you’d like to submit a photo for consideration in our Photo-of-the-Month contest, go to ncilink.com/POMSubmit and fill out the information as requested. THE DECEMBER CONTEST OPENS ON NOVEMBER 9, 2020 That gives you plenty of time to submit something in any of our three categories: The Good, The Bad, and WTH (What the heck).NOVEMBER 2020 25HVACTODAY.COM HVAC SMART MART Advertiser Index HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYHVAC TODAY TM AD INDEX To Subscribe to High-Performance HVAC Today: ONLINE: Visit HVACToday.com/subscribe for a FREE digital subscription. PRINT: 1 year/$72; single copy $7. Canada: 1 year/$92; single copy $9. Payable in advance with U.S. funds. Prepaid subscriptions may be sent to: High-Performance HVAC Today, PO Box 147, Avon Lake, OH 44012. Phone: 440-949-1850; toll free 800-633-7058; Fax: 440-949-1851, or visit HVACToday.com/subscribe to order online. Publisher Dominick Guarino Editor-in-Chief and Associate Publisher Mike Weil Art Director Connie Conklin Online Development Director Brian Roseman Circulation Manager Andrea Begany-Garsed Go to ncilink.com/ContactMe with your comments and questions. Arzel Zoning Technology, Inc. | www.ArzelZoning.com ...................................................... 5 Baker Distributing Company | www.BakerDist.com ............................................................. 9 Duct Saddles | www.DuctSaddles.com ....................................................................................... 8 Dwyer Instruments, Inc. | www.dwyer-inst.com .................................................................... 2 Goodman Manufacturing | www.GoodmanMfg.com ....................................................... 28 Lazco Corp. | www.LazcoCorp.com ............................................................................................ 22 R.E. 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Be sure to share them with your team during the month of November. Please Note: Some of the tools includ- ed in the PowerPack each month may not be normally accessible with your membership subscription package. However, you will be able to access these tools through this PowerPack por- tal during the current month. So without further ado, here is what the November 2020 PowerPack includes: n Performance Tune-Ups That Really Perform ( Recorded Webinar ) n Two Minute Duct Performance Test ( Download ) n Not Warm Enough Postcard ( Download) n How Do I Choose the Right Contractor? Brochure (Download) n Downloading the AirMaxx™ App (Download). Go to ncilink.com/PwrPak to access it today. If you have any questions, or if you are unable to access any of the tools in this program, please contact us at 800-633-7058. We think you’ll find these tools and training materials very helpful as you continue to grow your High-Perfor- mance HVAC business. Did You Miss Summit 2020? No Problem! National Comfort Institute’s 2020 Summit is in the books, but that doesn’t mean members who couldn’t attend have to miss out on all the great content presented there. The COVID-19 pandemic forced al- most all live meeting events to go virtual and Summit is no different. But that cre- ated an opportunity to record and cap- ture much of the proceedings, breakout sessions, and workshops. For the very first time, we are pleased to announce that members can access NCI MEMBER UPDATENext >