The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to phase down the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigerators, air conditioners, and many other applications. EPA hopes to sharply reduce production and consumption of these pollutants by using an allowance allocation and trading program.
This phasedown will decrease the production and import of HFCs in the United States by 85 percent over the next 15 years. The agency expects a global HFC phasedown to avoid up to 0.5 °C of global warming by 2100.
EPA will accept comments on this proposal for 45 days after publication in the Federal Register and hold a public hearing. The agency plans to finalize this rule later this year.
Read the full EPA press release here.