THE US looks set to follow the EU and ban the use of R134a in car air conditioning systems. The US EPA has agreed to grant a petition filed by a trio of environmental groups to withdraw the agency's approval for the use of the gas which will be followed by a formal 'notice and comment' rulemaking to set the phase-out schedule. This could take six months or more.
The decision comes after the new HFO refrigerant 1234yf - the preferred replacement option in Europe - was granted final US approval at the end of last month.

The Natural Resources Defence Council, a US-based environmental action group, took the lead on the original petition, and was joined by the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development and the Environmental Investigation Agency.

'The basis of the petition was that there are now alternatives to HFC-134a that cause less harm to the environment, including the HFC-1234yf approved for mobile air conditioning by EPA just a couple of weeks ago,' said Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development. 'EPA agreed that there were now alternatives that are better for the environment, and granted the petition.'