An Act To Ensure That Building Codes Allow the Installation and Use of Products and Equipment That Use Certain Federally Regulated Refrigerants
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1940
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: TIMBERLAKE, HANLEY, BENNETT, GREENWOOD
Amends: 10 MRSA §9722, 10 MRSA §9724, 38 MRSA §1613, 38 MRSA §1615

Legislative Document
No. 1940
S.P. 680
In Senate, January 26, 2022
An Act To Ensure That Building Codes Allow the Installation and 
Use of Products and Equipment That Use Certain Federally 
Regulated Refrigerants
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203.
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator TIMBERLAKE of Androscoggin.
Cosponsored by Representative HANLEY of Pittston and
Senator: BENNETT of Oxford, Representative: GREENWOOD of Wales.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  10 MRSA §9722, sub-§6, ¶I, as amended by PL 2021, c. 293, Pt. A, §18, 
is further amended to read:
I.  Approve methods of energy performance rating for use in generating any consumer 
information labels that may be required in the marketing and sale of residential and 
commercial buildings or units within buildings; and
Sec. 2.  10 MRSA §9722, sub-§6, ¶O, as enacted by PL 2019, c. 392, §3, is 
amended to read:
O.  No later than July 1, 2020, adopt, amend and maintain an appendix to the Maine 
Uniform Building and Energy Code as an optional part of the code that contains energy 
conservation and efficiency requirements that are based on established national 
voluntary efficiency standards that exceed the energy code requirements established in 
the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code.  As the code is updated, the board shall 
ensure that the energy conservation and efficiency requirements in the appendix 
continue to exceed the requirements established in the Maine Uniform Building and 
Energy Code.  The appendix must be made available for voluntary adoption by any 
municipality.  The board shall maintain a list of municipalities that have voluntarily 
adopted the appendix to the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code on its publicly 
accessible website.; and
Sec. 3.  10 MRSA §9722, sub-§6, ¶P is enacted to read:
P.  Ensure, through the adoption of necessary amendments, that the Maine Uniform 
Building and Energy Code expressly allows the installation or use of a product or 
equipment the end use of which is regulated pursuant to Title 38, section 1615 and that:
(1)  Uses a refrigerant that is listed by the United States Environmental Protection 
Agency in regulations adopted pursuant to 42 United States Code, Section 7671k 
as acceptable, acceptable subject to use conditions or acceptable subject to 
narrowed use limits; and
(2)  Is installed in accordance with any applicable conditions or limitations 
imposed by those regulations.
As used in this paragraph, “end use” has the same meaning as in Title 38, section 1615, 
subsection 1, paragraph I; “refrigerant” has the same meaning as in Title 38, section 
1615, subsection 1, paragraph Y; and “use” has the same meaning as in Title 38, section 
1615, subsection 1, paragraph TT.
Sec. 4.  10 MRSA §9724, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2011, c. 582, §1, is further 
amended to read:
5.  Exception.  This Except as provided in subsection 7, this section does not prohibit 
the adoption or enforcement of an ordinance of any political subdivision that sets forth 
provisions for local enforcement of building codes.  If such an ordinance does not provide 
for a process to appeal decisions made by building officials administering and enforcing 
the Maine Uniform Building Code, the Maine Uniform Energy Code or the Maine Uniform 
Building and Energy Code, an appeal may be taken in the same manner as provided under 
Title 30‑A, section 4103, subsection 5.  This section does not prohibit the adoption or 
enforcement of an ordinance of any political subdivision that sets forth the swimming pool 
fencing standards, without amendment, contained in Appendix G of the 2nd edition of the 
2009 International Residential Code.
A.  The requirements of the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code do not apply 
to:
(1)  Log homes or manufactured housing as defined in chapter 951;
(2)  Post and beam or timber frame construction; or
(3)  Warehouses or silos used to store harvested crops.
Sec. 5.  10 MRSA §9724, sub-§7 is enacted to read:
7.  Installation or use of certain products or equipment using certain refrigerants.  
Notwithstanding subsection 5, paragraph A or any other provision of this chapter to the 
contrary, a municipality may not adopt or enforce any provision of a building code, 
including the Maine Uniform Building Code, the Maine Uniform Energy Code or the 
Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, that prohibits the installation or use of a product 
or equipment the end use of which is regulated pursuant to Title 38, section 1615 and that 
uses a refrigerant listed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 
regulations adopted pursuant to 42 United States Code, Section 7671k as acceptable, 
acceptable subject to use conditions or acceptable subject to narrowed use limits and that 
is installed in accordance with any applicable conditions or limitations imposed by those 
regulations.
As used in this subsection, “end use” has the same meaning as in Title 38, section 1615, 
subsection 1, paragraph I; “refrigerant” has the same meaning as in Title 38, section 1615, 
subsection 1, paragraph Y; and “use” has the same meaning as in Title 38, section 1615, 
subsection 1, paragraph TT.
Sec. 6.  38 MRSA §1613, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 192, §1 and reallocated by RR 
2021, c. 1, Pt. A, §53, is reallocated to 38 MRSA §1615.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the law regarding building codes to ensure that building codes, 
including the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, may not prohibit the installation 
or use of any product or equipment regulated under the State’s hydrofluorocarbon use 
restrictions law that uses a refrigerant listed by the United States Environmental Protection 
Agency in regulations adopted pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act as acceptable, 
acceptable subject to use conditions or acceptable subject to narrowed use limits and is 
installed in accordance with any applicable conditions or limitations imposed by those 
regulations. The bill also corrects a numbering problem created by Public Law 2021, 
chapter 433 and Revisor's Report 2021, chapter 1 by reallocating to the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 38, section 1615 the version of Title 38, section 1613 that was reallocated in 
Revisor's Report 2021, chapter 1.