The Federal Government has confirmed it will be undertaking a comprehensive review of the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas legislation which will provide industry with a greater degree of certainty and facilitate extensive consultation.
News of the review was first published in CCN last week after details were disclosed during a Carbon Tax Repeal seminar at the ARBS Exhibition.
It emerged when participants began complaining about a lack of clear direction from the federal government and the need to undertake closer consultation with the HVAC&R industry. This is when Refrigerants Australia executive director Greg Picker said the government is considering a review of the legislation and that an announcement was imminent.
Two days later, Environment Minister Greg Hunt issued a statement confirming the review, which he said will reduce "the complexity for businesses and individuals who operate under the legislation."
Industry groups such as AREMA and Refrigerants Australia immediately welcomed the revie pointing out that Australia's ozone legislation has not been comprehensively reviewed since 2001. This review will:
explore opportunities to reduce compliance costs for more than 80,000 businesses and individuals covered by the legislation
identify options to reduce emissions of synthetic greenhouse gases
work co-operatively with business and state and territory governments to address the impacts and impediments to adopting new low emission technologies
consider the way in which the legislation interacts with workplace health and safety issues
To protect the ozone layer new laws are being introduced across the globe to reduce industry's reliance on synthetic gases and to move to low Global Warming Potential (GWP) alternatives, the problem is that many of these "new options" are highly flammable and toxic.
Speaking at ARBS standards expert, Kevin Lee, said it is important to have an effective legislative framework around the use of these refrigerants which is why consultation with industry is essential.
Lee said industry also needs to support the introduction of a training regime to upskill the HVAC&R workforce.
He said there are plenty of safety considerations that also need to be addressed which is why consultation throughout the review process will be critical.
Hunt said that alternative gases such as hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide and ammonia - when used safely - play an important role in reducing the impact of refrigerants on ozone depletion and climate change.
"This review will examine how to address potential risks which are being increasingly reported due to the impact of Labor's carbon tax on Australia's refrigeration and air-conditioning industry from the sudden jump in costs for synthetic greenhouse gases," Hunt said.
"The Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Airconditioning and Heating has raised safety concerns that the carbon tax has led to the unsafe handling and use of alternate gases in systems that were not designed for their use.
"We all saw what happened with Labor's pink batts fiasco. An ill-designed and poorly implemented scheme resulted in tragic consequences.
"As a consequence the Government has raised industry's concerns with the Heads of Workplace Safety Authorities who represent all jurisdictions on these matters."
Hunt said the Department of the Environment will continue to work closely with industry and state and territory work health and safety regulators to improve awareness of the safety risks.
All members of the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry are urged to contact the relevant workplace health and safety organisation in their jurisdiction with any safety concerns. Contacts are available on the SafeWork Australia website at: www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au
Businesses and the community will be consulted throughout the Ozone review. Submissions on the Terms of Reference are invited by July 18, 2014. An interim report is expected to be available for comment by the end of 2014.
A final report will be delivered to the Government in mid-2015.
Further information including Terms of Reference for the review can be accessed on the Department of the Environment's website at: www.environment.gov.au/topics/environment-protection/ozone/legislation