Action 4-2 · BO

By 2027, complete an inventory of municipal refrigerant use to ensure all city departments comply with new federal and state requirements for low-GWP refrigerants.

Timing: By 2027
Lead department: SF Environment
Strategy: Transition to low-global-warming-potential refrigerants
In the plan: Page 51 of the published PDF

Implementation status

Departments report status each January through the City's monitoring, evaluation, and reporting cycle. The first report on the 2026 plan covers calendar year 2026. Status, milestones, and notes will appear here.

Racial and Social Equity ReviewWhat the equity review said about this strategy

Equity impacts

Small businesses in EJ communities may not have the resources to engage with the city on their needs in the transition to lower GWP refrigerants. Access to newer technologies can be hard for EJ communities, and they may have less access to information regarding the benefits and proper use of low-GWP refrigerants. Support for small and medium businesses in EJ communities is important to reduce operational burdens, increase access to safer and healthier work environments, and to make the benefits of low-GWP refrigerants more attainable.

Recommendations

Targeted outreach is important in EJ communities. Inlanguage education and training will be necessary to ensure safe use of newer low-GWP refrigerants. Low-GWP refrigerants have hazards associated with improper use, making training crucial.
Municipal facilities located in EJ communities should be prioritized.
Special consideration and support should be offered to stabilize food sector businesses that already have small margins or exist in EJ communities and other food deserts.
Also, clarify the definition of legacy businesses to help ensure that those who meet program criteria and could use extra support can participate in the program.
Track voluntary demographics from outreach and program participation to also provide insight for equity metrics.
Increasing access to the incentive program, prioritizing small and medium businesses in EJ communities, will help businesses still suffering financially from the pandemic.

Suggested edit to the draft

Suggest adding the following as actions: "Develop future RFPs (requests for proposals) for the municipal inventory (and any subsequent RFPs for work to transition to low-GWP refrigerants) opportunities or points to support workforce development and encourage diversification of contractors/SBEs (small business enterprises)." "Track demographic data in metrics tracking to ensure equitable program implementation as much as possible."

Partly reflected in the final plan. BO-4-1 targets smaller businesses; the RFP and demographic-tracking actions do not appear verbatim.

Source: 2026 Climate Action Plan, Appendix C. Adoption status is our reading of the final text, pending SFE confirmation.