JULY 2024 ISSUE

Gristedes Supermarkets Penalized $14 Million for Section 608 Violations

Gristedes Supermarkets will pay a $400,000 fine and make $13.5 million worth of repairs to its existing commercial refrigeration equipment as part of an EPA enforcement action. The consent decree that resolved the case also forces the company to adopt a comprehensive refrigerant compliance management plan, convert three stores to utilize advanced refrigerants with low global warming potential, and lower its corporate leak-rate below 16% (it’s currently around 50%). You may be asking, “What did the company do?” Gristedes failed to repair leaks, failed to calculate leak rates, failed to conduct verification testing after repairing appliances, failed to retrofit or retire leaking appliances, and failed to report chronically leaking appliances to the EPA.

New York State Proposes Big (and I mean BIG) Grant Program for HFC Equipment Replacement

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is proposing $200 million in funding for projects that replace existing HFC refrigeration equipment with equipment that uses ultra-low GWP refrigerants. Support this great idea by emailing comments to Jessica Fowler at Jessica.Fowler@dec.ny.gov by Friday, July 26, 2024 at 5 p.m.

Washington Department of Ecology Fines Home Depot $1.6 Million for HFC Reg Violations

Washington State’s Department of Ecology fined Home Depot $1.6 million for violating their HFC regulations “after roughly two years of attempts to bring the company into compliance.” It could have been worse. Home Depot was only fined $1,500 per violation, even though the law allows for fines up to $10,000 per violation. If fined the maximum amount, Home Depot could have paid over $10.5 million.

The EPA Allows an Additional Year for VRF System Technology Transition

The EPA’s proposed rule will allow one additional year to install new VRF systems using HFCs with GWPs ≥700, but only if the system’s components were manufactured prior to 1/1/2026. The EPA is accepting public comments on the proposed rule until 7/26/2024.

Be Careful when Dealing with Scrap Yards!

The EPA likes to go after scrap yards (scrap yard fined $195,000), but let’s face it, they’re small fish in the grand scheme of things. The EPA would love nothing more than to pull supermarket end users into these cases, so be careful!  Make sure to cover your butts when disposing of equipment at scrap yards by documenting that you’ve properly recovered all refrigerant at equipment end-of-life.

The NASRC’s Danielle Wright Wins Person of the Year Award

The Person of the Year Award, given to Dani at the 2024 ATMO America Summit, celebrates a single individual who has shown exceptional leadership to advance natural refrigerant technology solutions in North America. Check out the NASRC’s many accomplishments here.

Need Some Help?

If you need help with these or any other topics related to refrigerant management, feel free to reach out to me (Keilly Witman). We’re a friendly bunch and happy to help!