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January 27, 2014 

Drusilla Hufford

Director, Stratospheric Protection Division

Office of Atmospheric Programs

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Washington D.C.

Dear Drusilla:

Congratulations to you and the team from across the Federal government on the 2014 Climate 

Action Report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. I am writing with 

specific suggestions, grounded on the work that the U.S. EPA and the State Department are now doing 

on fluorocarbons, to help enable the Administration to meet its commitment of reducing U.S. 

greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by the year 2020. 

EOS Climate was founded in 2008 to reduce emissions of fluorocarbon refrigerants through 

market-based incentives. As you know, prior to co-founding EOS Climate, I was responsible for 

developing and managing a number of EPA’s programs highlighted in the 2014 Climate Action Report, 

including those discussed in this letter. EOS has since assembled a world-class organization at the

executive and Board levels. We originated the GHG protocol for destruction of ozone-depleting 

substances adopted by California for its cap-and-trade program (AB 32). As the largest provider of 

verified emission reductions for that market, to date, our projects around the U.S. have prevented 

emissions equal to more than 4 million tons of CO2 while accelerating the transition to more advanced 

refrigeration and air conditioning technologies. 

Building on this success, we are also working with leading companies across the country on 

management of hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants across 

their lifecycle, from production to use to end-of-life. Through a combination of technology and business 

model innovation, the system we have developed increases the use of existing inventories, which in turn, 

decreases the demand for additional virgin material. The end result is a reduction in aggregate GHG 

emissions from refrigerants with a positive return on investment for refrigeration and HVAC equipment 

owners.

Our experience is that monitoring and tracking refrigerants quickly transforms how these gases 

are managed. We estimate that if all fluorocarbon refrigerants in the U.S. were managed across their 

lifecycle, with 100% participation of system owners, facility managers, technicians, distributors, 

chemical producers and equipment manufacturers, reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases would 

exceed 154 Million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (MMTCO2eq) per year. Aggregated over six years, 

comprehensive refrigerant management alone, at its maximum potential, could achieve nearly the 

Administration’s entire 17 percent reduction goal in total GHG emissions.
 

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Action at the Federal level will continue to play a significant role in maximizing the potential 

benefits of refrigerant management in the private sector. In the context of refrigerants, the 2014 Climate 

Action Report focuses on HFCs and estimates that the U.S. can reduce emissions between 100 and 135 

MMTCO2eq by 2020 through a combination of efforts including a global HFC phasedown agreement, 

reducing HFC leakage from vehicle air conditioning, and promoting low-emission technologies and 

climate-friendly substitutes through EPA’s Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program and 

federal government acquisition policy. We think there are additional policy measures that the 

Administration can take in the near-term to incentivize the private sector and support and enhance these 

efforts for HFCs as well as HCFC refrigerants (in particular R-22). These additional measures, 

summarized in the following chart and described below, would nearly double the projected reductions 

estimated in the 2014 Climate Action Report. 

Policy Measure Potential U.S. GHG Reductions 

2014-2020 (MMTCO2eq)

Update/Expand Section 608 Leak Repair Requirements 66 

HCFC-22 Allocations 2015-2019: Accelerate Drawdown 31

SNAP Use Conditions for Reclaimed HFC 7

Support HFC Phasedown **

Total 104

**GHG reductions would be achieved outside the U.S. potentially from: 1) refrigerant management in 

developing countries as a pre-condition for HFC production allowances or to accelerate the phasedown 

schedules; and/or 2) offsets to HFC production from destruction of surplus ODS in developing 

countries.

Update and Expand Section 608 Leak Repair Requirements 

Under business as usual, all refrigerant is ultimately released to the atmosphere. Even when 

equipment is properly serviced and eventually disposed (not always the case), and even if refrigerant is 

properly recovered and recycled (not always the case), refrigerants will be re-used to recharge leaky 

equipment and eventually end up in the atmosphere.1 For example, EPA estimates that a typical 

supermarket system has 3,000 to 3,500 pounds of refrigerant that leaks approximately 25% of its charge 

every year. The normal cycle is for that type of system to be recharged (topped off) with more 

refrigerant, with or without a full repair, until the system is retrofitted (converted) or the facility retired. 

EPA’s Section 608 regulations, issued in 1993, established leak repair triggers when leak rates of 

ozone-depleting refrigerants exceed 15 percent on an annual basis for air conditioning equipment, and 

35 percent per year for commercial refrigeration and industrial process refrigeration. The regulations do 

not specify monitoring or reporting requirements, and do not address HFC refrigerants. 

 1 EOS created a market-based incentive for collection and destruction of CFC refrigerants collected from 

older equipment, but this type of incentive would not apply to HCFC and HFC refrigerants until these 

gases are no longer produced or imported. 
 

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In 2010, EPA proposed lowering these triggers to 10 percent (A/C) and 20 percent (refrigeration)

per year.2 The proposal (which was not finalized) also included a number of important documentation 

and verification requirements to help insure effective implementation of the regulations.3 The Agency 

estimated that over the period 2010 to 2019, the proposed revisions would result in avoided emissions of 

ODS refrigerant (primarily HCFC-22) each year equivalent to 2.8 million metric tons of CO2,or 28 

MMTCO2eq over the 10-year period.

The case to update the 608 regulations and to expand its coverage to HFC refrigerants has since 

been strengthened, with increasing reports of high leak rates, inadequate monitoring, and increasing use 

of HFC refrigerants in large stationary systems. In 2009, California adopted leak monitoring, reporting, 

and repair requirements for facilities with stationary refrigeration and air conditioning equipment in 

commercial and industrial facilities, and for the technicians and engineers who service the equipment. 

The California regulations cover all fluorocarbon refrigerants, including HFCs, and are projected to 

reduce GHG emissions by 8 MMTCO2eq by the year 2020. Extrapolating to the entire U.S., if EPA 

were to adopt similar regulations to California, the nationwide reductions would be approximately 66 

MMTCO2eq by 2020.

EPA’s HCFC Production and Consumption Allowances for 2015-2019

Although not included in the President’s Climate Action Plan, EPA’s production and 

consumption allowances for the final five years of the HCFC-22 (R-22) phasedown (2015-2019) is an 

immediate opportunity for the Administration to significantly reduce GHG emissions before 2020 and 

beyond.

Our experience is that most, if not all, owners/operators of large, pre-2010 R-22 systems have 

stockpiles either on-site at facilities or have access to off-site inventories. The Agency in fact 

acknowledges that existing inventories of R-22 around the U.S. have increased since 2011 and now 

exceed 100 million pounds. After taking into account the allowances that EPA set for 2013 and 2014, 

the stockpile will continue to grow and will exceed three years of total aftermarket demand going into 

2015. 

EPA’s preferred option in the December 24, 2013 proposal does not account for these existing R22 inventories and would add to an already over-supplied market, dampening incentives for leak 

detection and repair, and recovery and reclamation.4 The preferred option would allow 90 million 

 2 Leak repair requirements apply to appliances that hold more than 50 pounds of ozone-depleting 

refrigerant.

3 The December 24, 2013 proposed rulemaking on HCFC allocations also included proposed changes to 

the Section 608 reporting requirements for refrigerant reclaimers; we agree with the proposed changes 

and believe there could be significant economic and environmental benefits if the reporting requirements 

were expanded further. We will provide more detailed comments in our formal comments on the 

proposed rulemaking.

4 Option 3 (“Estimation approach”) in the proposed rule does account for existing inventories and 

projected refrigerant recovery rates. However, the starting point for 2015 under Option 3 is based on the 

Vintaging Model estimate of R-22 needed for servicing pre-2010 equipment that: 1) assumes 

excessively high leak rates for commercial refrigeration that do not reflect progress in the supermarket 
 

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pounds of new R-22 production and import over the 5-year period, resulting in eventual emissions 

equivalent to 74 MMTCO2eq. 

Unless existing inventories are accounted for, any allocation would result, or further contribute, 

to an over-supply of R-22, resulting in unnecessary production of tens of millions of pounds of R-22 and 

unnecessary emissions equivalent to tens of millions of tons of CO2. A more aggressive allocation 

drawdown in R-22 allocations would not only prevent these GHG emissions but would also meet the 

Agency’s goals of incentivizing more diligent management of refrigerants among service technicians 

and system owners, and boosting refrigerant recovery and reclamation rates. Both of these goals will be 

critical to successful implementation of a possible, future HFC phasedown.

We plan on submitting more detailed input on the proposal as part of the public comment 

process. In the meantime, we encourage EPA to consider a broader set of options that would include reassessment of allocations in future years (e.g., 2016-2019) based on better market data, rather than 

relying solely on modeled projections of R-22 demand and incomplete estimates of existing inventories. 

At minimum, the Agency should adopt Option 2 in the proposal which, although not explicitly, partially 

accounts for existing stockpiles. This Option would prevent emissions equivalent to 31 MMTCO2 that 

would otherwise be associated with the excessive allocations proposed under Option 1. While this 

approach would still result in excess production of virgin R-22, it would provide significant 

environmental benefits compared to EPA’s preferred option, at no additional cost. It will also help 

ensure the United States has a robust reclamation industry that can meet aftermarket demand for R-22 

demand beyond 2020, and put the United States in a stronger position as the Administration pursues a 

global agreement to phasedown HFCs.

Reduce Emissions and Increase Reclamation of HFCs Through EPA SNAP Program 

The President’s Climate Action Plan and the 2014 Climate Action Report refer to GHG 

emissions that can be achieved through EPA’s SNAP program. One pathway that has been proposed by 

the Natural Resources Defense Council (in formal petitions submitted in 2010 and 2012) is “de-listing” 

the use of specific HFCs from specific applications, e.g., the use of HFC-134a in motor vehicle air 

conditioning in new cars and in household and retail refrigerator-freezers. 

As the Agency reviews these petitions and other proposals, we encourage EPA and the 

Administration to consider a modified option: For those sectors and applications where viable 

alternatives to HFCs are available and practical, prohibit the use of “virgin” HFC while allowing 

continued use of reclaimed HFC refrigerant. The reclaimed HFC refrigerant would have to meet all 

relevant government and industry safety and performance standards, with chain-of-custody 

documentation to verify that it was recovered and reclaimed in the U.S. according to EPA regulations. 

 

industry as reported by GreenChill partners; 2) assumes growth rates in all categories of R-22 equipment 

despite the fact that newly produced/imported R-22 can only be used for pre-2010 equipment and that 

import of “dry-shipped” condensing units are decreasing, as noted in the preamble; and 3) fails to 

account for the widespread availability of HFC alternative refrigerants which now account for more than 

20 percent of aftermarket demand.
 

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This simple modification would allow the industry a smooth transition for specific products and 

sectors where new technologies may have significant cost implications or performance uncertainties. 

Since no additional HFCs would be produced, there would be no additional GHG emissions. This would 

also “soak up” available inventories of used HFCs and incentivizes better management and greater 

reclamation of HFC refrigerants5, instead of the current model of produce/use/emit. 

If the Agency were to de-list use of virgin HFCs from specific applications sooner than it would 

otherwise, and allow reclaimed HFCs for those applications, potential GHG reductions can be calculated 

since reclaimed refrigerant would be displacing new production of refrigerant, thereby eliminating a 

source of additional emissions. As an example, if over a 3-year period all newly manufactured 

refrigerator-freezers in the U.S. were charged with reclaimed HFC-134a instead of virgin gas, emissions 

equivalent to 6.6 Million metric tons of CO2 would be avoided. Applying a similar use condition to 

other applications (e.g., automotive A/C) would achieve additional GHG reductions.

Support Global HFC Phasedown

The phasedown/phaseout schedules imposed by the Montreal Protocol created a new industry in 

reclaiming CFCs and HCFCs. As noted above, the industry would benefit from domestic policies around 

both HFC refrigerants and R-22, outlined above. In turn, the reclamation infrastructure in the U.S. 

combined with technologies and tracking systems for refrigerant lifecycle management, will be needed 

for an effective and safe implementation of a future HFC phasedown. 

The benefits of comprehensive refrigerant management capabilities in the U.S. can extend to 

creating flexibility, reducing costs, and potentially increasing the pace of an HFC phasedown both in the 

U.S. and in other countries. If refrigerant management/recycling systems are in place and displacing new 

virgin production, thereby preventing GHG emissions, it would be possible to incorporate the following 

elements into any negotiated HFC phasedown: 

• Accelerated phasedown timetables

• Additional production allocation credits

These elements could potentially apply to an individual country or a group of countries, or 

particular economic sectors. Any such enhancements to a potential HFC phasedown agreement would 

be based on a technical evaluation by the Montreal Protocol Technology and Economic Assessment 

Panel (TEAP) or equivalent organization validating that the refrigerant management systems are 

established, with verified emission reductions based on established protocols. 

In addition, the U.S. and other countries could increase flexibility where appropriate by allowing 

HFC production credits from destruction of unwanted CFCs and other eligible ODS. The Parties could 

adopt a standardized GHG protocol with monitoring, operational, and verification requirements similar 

to one already established for carbon markets (e.g., the Climate Action Reserve ODS Destruction 

Protocol for Article V Countries). This is a proven and highly verifiable GHG emission reduction that 

would support longstanding efforts by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol to leverage “carbon finance” 

 5 According to EPA, in 2012, only 16.6% of the total R-22 consumed in the U.S. was reclaimed. 

Although EPA refrigerant reclamation reporting does not include HFCs, reclaim rates for HFCs would 

likely be even lower given the lower economic incentive for recovery and re-use relative to R-22.
 

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to safely dispose of CFC stockpiles and other unwanted inventories still in use or storage that would 

otherwise be released to the atmosphere. 

In sum, maximum adoption in the private sector of comprehensive refrigerant management 

systems alone can achieve the Administration’s climate goals for 2020. There are multiple opportunities 

for the Administration to issue new policies that would support these actions and achieve additional, 

GHG emission reductions from HFCs and HCFCs, potentially doubling the projections in the 2014 

Climate Action Report. We appreciate this opportunity and would be happy to provide additional 

information. 

Sincerely, 

Jeff Cohen

Senior VP, Science & Policy

cc. Sarah Dunham, EPA

Bob Perciasepe, EPA

Dan Reifsnyder, State Department

John Thompson, State Department

Richard Corey, California Air Resources Board