HB  51-USE OF DESIGNATED REFRIGERANTS                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
3:39:21 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR SUMNER announced  that the next order of  business would be                                                               
HOUSE  BILL NO.  51,  HOUSE  BILL NO.  51,  "An  Act relating  to                                                               
refrigerants  designated  as  acceptable for  use  under  federal                                                               
law."                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
3:39:42 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR SUMNER opened public testimony on HB 51.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
3:40:10 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MIKE   NEROZZI,   Director,    Air-Conditioning,   Heating,   and                                                               
Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), stated  that AHRI supports HB 51,                                                               
as  it  gives  the  heating, ventilation,  and  air  conditioning                                                               
industry  the tools  it  needs to  comply  with upcoming  federal                                                               
regulations  on  hydrofluorocarbons.    He  stated  the  economic                                                               
impact  of AHRI  in the  U.S.  and Alaska.   He  stated that  the                                                               
American Innovation and Manufacturing Act  was signed into law in                                                               
December  2020  by then  President  Donald  Trump, directing  the                                                               
Environmental  Protection Agency  (EPA)  to restrict  the use  of                                                               
certain refrigerants  in commercial refrigeration.   He continued                                                               
that building  codes need  to be  updated in  order to  allow the                                                               
usage  of  new  refrigerants  that  would  comply  with  the  new                                                               
regulations  put in  place by  the  EPA.   He stated  that HB  51                                                               
eliminates   the  timing   barrier  for   the  new   regulations,                                                               
preventing  the possibility  of  a time  period  in which  Alaska                                                               
would not have access to refrigerants.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
3:43:20 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX asked  if the new EPA  regulations would also                                                               
apply to firefighting agents.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
HELEN  WALTER-TERRINONI, VP  of  Regulatory  Affairs and  Policy,                                                               
Air-Conditioning, Heating, and  Refrigeration Institute, answered                                                               
that they would not.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
3:45:10 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  PRAX  asked  if  the legislature  would  need  to                                                               
consider  firefighting  agents  in  the  building  codes  in  the                                                               
future.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
MS.  WALTER-TERRONI answered  that firefighting  suppressants are                                                               
protected from the regulations.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
3:46:23 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  SUMNER, after  ascertaining  that no  one  else wished  to                                                               
testify, closed public testimony on HB 51.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
3:46:36 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE RUFFRIDGE moved  to report HB 51  out of committee                                                               
with  individual  recommendations  and  the  accompanying  fiscal                                                               
notes.  There  being no objection, HB 51 was  reported out of the                                                               
House Labor and Commerce Standing Committee.