PROVIDENCE – The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) will hold a virtual public workshop next month to review the draft Rhode Island "Prohibition of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in Specific End-Uses" regulation. HFCs are potent man-made greenhouse gases that can be hundreds to thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2) in contributing to climate change. In the absence of national policies and federal action, DEM has been working in collaboration with the United States Climate Alliance (USCA) and other states to adopt similar legislation to lead the transition to refrigerants with lower global warming potentials which pose lower overall risk to human health and the environment. A virtual public workshop will be held on Friday, December 11 on the draft rule. The purpose of the workshop is to present an overview of the draft rule and provide an opportunity for stakeholder feedback. DEM expects to initiate the formal rule-making process during the first quarter of 2021. Due to the Covid-19 emergency, which prevents the Department from holding public meetings in-person, the public workshop will be held virtually in accordance with Governor Raimondo's Executive Order 20-05.
WHAT: Virtual Public Workshop to Discuss Draft Prohibition of Hydrofluorocarbons in Specific End-Uses Regulation
WHEN: Friday, December 11 at 10 AM
WHERE: Pre-registration for the workshop is required, please visit: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=VGrKUmVENUa_82XQqEEiiMeIvfZuDlRPgTgFYWfXyQlUMDBRQUhWSzNITkVDTkRBS0ZKSU9VUUs5SSQlQCN0PWcu
Zoom Meeting information will be shared with those who have pre-registered. All participants will be muted upon joining the meeting. Following a presentation on the draft rule, DEM will open the line for feedback with instructions provided to participants.
The full text of the draft rule is available on the DEM website at: http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/air/climate-change-hfc.php
For questions about the workshop or more information, contact Allison Archambault, Supervising Air Quality Specialist of DEM's Office of Air Resources at Allison.Archambault@dem.ri.gov