Significant New Alternatives Policy

The Significant New Alternatives Policy is a program of the EPA to determine acceptable chemical substitutes, and establish which are prohibited or regulated by the EPA. It also establishes a program by which new alternatives may be accepted, and promulgates timelines to the industry regarding phase-outs of substitutes.

Scope

Originally, Section 612 was limited by ozone-depleting chemicals. However, after passing regulations to phase-out R134a, an HFC refrigerant with no ozone-depleting potential, this phase-out was defended by a subsidiary of DuPont siding with the EPA as it was challenged by a major manufacturer of R134a, and was struck down in 2017. This decision was upheld in 2018. In 2021, a new law was passed as part of the appropriations bill extending the EPA's scope to substances with high GWP as well.
The EPA looks at available chemical substitutes in the following industrial sectors:

Adhesives, Coatings, and Inks
Aerosols
Cleaning Solvents
Fire Suppression and Explosion Protection
Foam Blowing Agents
Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
Sterilants
Tobacco Expansion

Evaluations are ongoing as technological understanding improves, and can only prohibit substance where the EPA has determined other available substitutes that pose less overall risk to human health and the environment.

Submittal process

In order to submit new proposed chemicals, along with general contact and marketing information, for a complete submittal, the EPA requires reports on:

Impurities
Byproducts
Degradation Products
Test Marketing
Physical Properties including:
*molecular weight
*physical state
*melting point
*boiling point
*specific gravity
*If a blend
**bubble point
**dew point
*If flammable
**lower flammability limit
**upper flammability limit
**flash point
Ozone Depletion Potential
Global Warming Potential
VOC content
Proposed cost
Toxicity Limits
*Permissible Exposure Limits
*Short-Term Exposure Limits
*Threshold Limit Values
*Recommended Exposure Limits
*Workplace Environmental Exposure Limits
*acceptable exposure limits
*Toxicological studies
SDS
Environmental/Health and Safety Law Review
Industry/Application-specific Use Profile
Refrigerants

One important, changing aspect of SNAP is its effect on the HVAC industry. Particularly because it decides which refrigerants may be legally used, it coordinates refrigerant phaseouts in the U.S., and which are prohibited against venting in concordance with Section 608. The following is a list of accepted refrigerants, or phase-out periods according to the EPA.

MVAC Passenger Air Conditioning in Vehicles

MVAC Passenger Air Conditioning in Buses and Trains

Centrifugal Chillers

Positive Displacement Chillers

Industrial Process Refrigeration

Cold Storage Warehouse

Commercial Ice Machines

Household Refrigerators and Freezers

Ice Skating Rinks

Industrial Process Air Conditioning

Residential and Light Commercial Air Conditioning and Heat Pumps

Residential Dehumidifiers

Refrigerated Transport

Stand Alone Equipment

Refrigerated Food Processing and Dispensing Equipment

Remote Condensing Units

Typical Supermarket Systems

Vending machines

Very Low Temperature Refrigeration

Water Coolers

Ammonia / Water Absorption

Ammonia Absorption

Ammonia Vapor Compression

Ammonia Vapor Compression with Secondary Loop

Chlorine

Cryogenic Transport Refrigeration System

Desiccant Cooling

Direct Nitrogen Expansion

Evaporative Cooling

FOR12A

FOR12B

Freeze 12

G2018C

GHG-HP

GHG-X5

HC Blend A

HC Blend B

HCFC-123

HCFC-124

HCFC-22

HCFC-22/HCFC-142b

HCFO-1233zd

HFC-134a

HFC-134a/HBr

HFC-152a

HFC-227ea

HFC-23

HFC-32

HFC-236fa

HFC-245fa

HFE-347mcc3

HFE-449s1

HFE-569sf2

HFO-1234ze

HFO-1336mzz

HFO-1336mzz/dichloroethylene blend

Ikon A

Ikon B

ISCEON 89

NARM-502

Pressure stepdown

R-1224yd

R-125/R-134a/R-600a

R-125/R-290/R-134a/R-600a

R-170

R-1270

R-290

R-401A

R-401B

R-402A

R-402B

R-403B

R-404A

R-406A

R-407A

R-407B

R-407C

R-407D

R-407F

R-407H

R-408A

R-409A

R-410A

R-410B

R-411A

R-411B

R-414A

R-414B

R-416A

R-417A

R-417C

R-420A

R-421A

R-421B

R-422A

R-422B

R-422C

R-422D

R-423A

R-424A

R-426A

R-427A

R-428A

R-434A

R-437A

R-438A

R-441A

R-442A

R-443A

R-448A

R-449A

R-449B

R-450A

R-452A

R-452B

R-452C

R-453A

R-454A

R-454B

R-454C

R-457A

R-458A

R-507, R-507A

R-508A

R-508B

R-513A

R-515B

R-600

R-744

RB-276

RS-24

RS-44

Self-chilling cans using CO2

SP34E

Stirling Cycle

THR-01

THR-02

THR-03

THR-04

Trans-1-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoroprop-1-ene

Water / Lithium Bromide Absorption

Significant New Alternatives Policy

Scope

Submittal process

Refrigerants