July at-a-glance … regulations

NAFEM encourages NY to halt proposed expansion of HFC standards and reporting

New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) sought feedback by June 30 on the potential expansion of Part 404 or “SNAP” regulations regarding the sources of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants in the state. In its comments, NAFEM encouraged the DEC to not move forward with any amendments to HFC standards and reporting, especially those that over-regulate products that are currently subject to the federal refrigerant phase-downs and phase-outs being implemented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA).

According to NAFEM, “It is simply not realistic or practical to design, build, test and certify equipment to multiple (and competing) state/federal standards/compliance timelines. The length of product design cycles and demands for (and availability of) testing and certification laboratories require significant research and development while planning several years into the future. If, along the way, manufacturers are forced to readjust for various and competing individual state mandates, they would never be able to manufacture the type of more efficient products the markets (and states) demand.”

NAM provides feedback on proposed federal data privacy regulations

The House and Senate Commerce committees took a major step forward in developing a comprehensive federal data policy when they jointly released a discussion draft of the proposed American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA) June 3. The Act is intended to give Americans more control over their personal data and provide businesses with operational certainty about how to manage the data to which they are entrusted.

In comments to the House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce about the Act, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) supported a federal data privacy standard. The organization also recommended that federal legislation pre-empt state privacy regulations to resolve conflicting requirements in different states. Additionally, according to NAM, “ongoing innovation requires flexibility, and any federal action on data privacy must be carefully balanced and thoughtfully implemented without sacrificing opportunities for economic leadership and progress.”

NAFEM members can support school meals for kids in need

The House and Senate’s respective Keep Kids Fed acts would extend the National School Lunch Program’s pandemic-era waiver authority and funding that gave school districts increased flexibility in providing summer and school-year meal programs to needy students. The current waiver authority expired June 30, and many school districts facing tight budgets and higher food costs say without the act, they will be unable to effectively operate the National School Lunch Program for the next school year.

While NAFEM does not plan to comment, interested members may do so refer by referring to EERE–2017–BT–STD–0009, and emailing comments to WICF2017STD0009@ee.doe.gov, or submitting them through the Federal eRulemaking portal

NAFEM members also can help by joining NAFEM in supporting Feeding America and the one in five U.S. children who live in food-insecure households. NAFEM is again matching member contributions – up to $100,000 – of food, funds and volunteer time to local Feeding America member food banks, many of which support school feeding programs and even operate community food pantries in local schools. Download the toolkit in the Social Purpose section of the Member Dashboard to learn more.