Law & Order

EPA Phasing-Out HFC-134a as an Air-Conditioning System Refrigerant

By SEMA Washington, D.C., Staff

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to ban the use of HFC-134a as a motor-vehicle air-conditioning system refrigerant starting with model-year (MY) ’21 new vehicles. The EPA has also proposed a ban on the use of SP34E, R-416A and several other refrigerants as of MY ’17. Although the refrigerants were approved for use years ago, other chemicals have now been identified by the EPA as being more environmentally friendly substitutes to chlorofluorocarbons that deplete the ozone layer.

For more information, contact Stuart Gosswein at stuartg@sema.org.