This proposal risks encouraging equipment installations that violate federal law. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program permits propane (R-290) only in narrowly defined air-conditioning applications subject to specific conditions. Installing A3 refrigerant equipment in applications outside those federal permissions would directly violate EPA SNAP requirements. A Washington mechanical-code exception cannot override those restrictions.

The HVACR industry is not ready to support this expansion. Contractors and distributors need aligned safety, product-listing, and installation standards before broader use of highly flammable A3 refrigerants can be responsibly implemented. Moving ahead prematurely would create confusion and compliance risks for businesses, code officials, inspectors, and first responders.

Send a message to Washington leaders today and urge them to remove these exceptions and retain the nationally coordinated U.S. safety framework. Your immediate engagement can help prevent these unresolved issues from being written into Washington’s mechanical code.