To the Editor:
There is a new regulation in Albany that affects everyone, even though very few people know about it. It affects the AC units and refrigerators in places like our homes, offices, grocery stores, convenience stores, hospitals, and schools. It’s a regulation that basically ignores existing federal guidelines and phases out the technology that keeps our food and medicine cold at a much more aggressive and unnecessary rate – years before the federal government says certain products should be phased out. That means beginning in as early as eight months, if a refrigerator or AC unit needs servicing, certain businesses may have to buy a new one regardless of existing life, because legally, they won’t be able to fix it. A future replacement like that could cost homeowners thousands, but it could cost grocery stores and schools millions of dollars. It’s expensive enough living or owning a business in New York without Albany approving regulations like this one, especially when the U.S. EPA already has rules in place. On behalf of business owners and residents of the Hudson Valley, I implore the Governor and the Department of Environmental Conservation to reconsider this regulation and listen to the federal government.
Al Samuels
President/CEO
Rockland Business Association
