Arlington, Virginia, United States: The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) has issued a statement expressing disappointment at the decision of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to decline to extend the proposed effective date of the status change of certain refrigerants used in liquid chillers under the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) programme. In a joint letter issued in February, AHRI and the Natural Resources Defense Council, the statement said, had requested that the EPA change the proposed effective date to January 1, 2025, to ensure the safety of alternatives, the continued improvement of system efficiency, reasonable product development timelines, and the avoidance of market migration.

“We are extremely disappointed that the EPA failed to take into account the impact on industry and consumers in making this decision,” said Stephen Yurek , President and CEO of AHRI. “We are very concerned that this decision will have an adverse effect on our industry and the 1.2 million Americans we employ,” he added, noting that “making compliance a year sooner has a negligible benefit for the environment, but it does create an economic burden for the industry that provides comfort cooling and heating, commercial refrigeration technologies, and hot water for every American”.