On November 9, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking entitled “Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Update to the Refrigerant Management Requirements under Section 608 of the Clean Air Act.”

Section 608 of the Clean Air Act requires EPA to regulate the use and disposal of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) in such a way to reduce the use and emissions of such substances and maximize the recapturing and recycling of such substances. Section 608 also prohibits any person from knowingly venting, releasing, or disposing into the environment any ozonedepleting or substitute refrigerant in the course of maintaining, servicing, repairing, or disposing of air-conditioning or refrigeration appliances or industrial process refrigeration (IPR).

The proposed rule is another step towards implementing the Obama Administration’s Climate Action Plan which is designed to cut carbon pollution and reduce the use and emissions of substances that deplete the ozone and contribute to global warming.

EPA has stated that it has three goals for this rulemaking. The first is to protect the stratospheric ozone layer by reducing emissions of ozonedepleting substances. The second is to protect the climate system by reducing emissions of other refrigerant gases with high global warming potential (GWP). EPA’s third goal with this proposed rule is to improve the clarity and effectiveness of the regulations.

Current EPA regulations require that persons servicing or disposing of air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment observe certain service practices that reduce emissions of ozone-depleting refrigerant. Through this proposed rule, EPA is seeking to update existing requirements as well as extending them to non-ozone-depleting substitute refrigerants, such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

The proposed updates include strengthening leak repair requirements, establishing recordkeeping requirements for the disposal of appliances containing five to 50 pounds of refrigerant, changes to the technician certification program and changes for improved readability, compliance and restructuring of the requirements.

This proposed rule would also more fully implement the prohibition under section 608 of the Clean Air Act against knowingly venting, releasing or disposing of ozone-depleting and substitute refrigerants. It would accomplish this by updating the existing requirements under section 608 that currently apply to ozone-depleting (ODS) refrigerants and then extending them to non-ozone-depleting substitute refrigerants, such as HFCs.

The existing regulations require that persons servicing or disposing of air conditioning and refrigeration equipment observe certain service practices that reduce emissions of ozone-depleting refrigerant. Specifically, these provisions include:

• requiring that technicians be certified to work on appliances;
• restricting the sale of refrigerant to certified technicians;
• specifying the proper evacuation levels before opening up an appliance and requiring the use of certified refrigerant recovery and/or recycling equipment;
• requiring the maintenance and repair of appliances that meet certain size and leak-rate thresholds;
• requiring that ozone-depleting refrigerants be removed from appliances prior to disposal;
• requiring that air conditioning and refrigeration equipment be provided with a servicing aperture or process stub to facilitate refrigerant recovery;
• requiring that refrigerant reclaimers be certified in order to reclaim and sell used refrigerant;
• establishing standards for technician certification programs, recovery equipment and quality of reclaimed refrigerant.

This rule proposes to update the existing requirements that currently apply to ozone-depleting refrigerants and extend those requirements to non-ozone-depleting substitute refrigerants, including but not limited to hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs).

EPA is also proposing changes to the National Recycling and Emission Reduction Program. Some of these changes are intended to strengthen the existing program, in particular by requiring a number of industry best practices. Others are intended to extend the regulations to HFCs and other substitutes for ODS. The major regulatory changes proposed are:

• extending the requirements of the Refrigerant Management Program to cover substitute refrigerants, such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). (Note that some substitutes, including ammonia, have already been exempted from the section 608 venting prohibition as provided for under section 608 in previous EPA rules; such substitutes would also be exempted from the requirements under this proposed rule.);
• requiring technicians to keep a record of refrigerant recovered during system disposal from systems with a charge size from 5 to 50 lbs. This would apply to both ODS and nonODS refrigerants.
• lowering the leak-rate threshold above which owner/operators of refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment normally containing 50 pounds or more of refrigerant must repair leaks, as follows:
• lower from 35 percent to 20 percent for industrial process refrigeration (IPR) and commercial refrigeration equipment;
• lower from 15 percent to 10 percent for comfort cooling equipment.
• requiring regular leak inspections or continuous monitoring devices for refrigeration/air conditioning systems as follows:
• annual inspections for systems normally containing 50 pounds or more of refrigerant;
• quarterly inspections for commercial refrigeration and IPR systems normally containing 500 pounds or more of refrigerant; 
• prohibiting operation of systems normally containing 50 pounds or more of refrigerant that have leaked 75 percent or more of their full charge for two consecutive years;
• allowing the purchase of cans containing two pounds or less of nonODS refrigerant for motor vehicle air conditioner servicing without technician certification so long as the small cans have a self-sealing valve to reduce refrigerant releases;
• requiring that certifying organizations publish lists or create online databases of technicians that they certify;
• updating the technician certification test bank with more questions on handling substitutes, including flammable substitute refrigerants, and on the impacts of climate change.

It is important to note that certain refrigerants, including ammonia, are currently exempted from the requirements of Section 608. EPA has stated that it will continue to exempt through regulation certain substitutes from the venting prohibition, and the other safe handling provisions, based on a determination that their release does not pose a threat to the environment.

This is the case in the current regulations, for instance, with all approved uses of hydrocarbon refrigerants, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. EPA is not proposing in this rulemaking to extend any of the requirements under section 608, including the technician certification program and the sales restriction, to refrigerants that are exempt from the statutory venting prohibition (CO2 , hydrocarbons in certain SNAP-approved applications, ammonia, etc.). The current list of exempted refrigerants is:

• carbon dioxide in any application;
• nitrogen in any application;
• water in any application;
• ammonia in commercial or industrial process refrigeration or in absorption units;
• chlorine in industrial process refrigeration (processing of chlorine and chlorine compounds);
• hydrocarbons in industrial process refrigeration (processing of hydrocarbons);
• ethane (R–170) in very low temperature refrigeration equipment and equipment for non-mechanical heat transfer;
• propane (R–290) in retail food refrigerators and freezers (stand-alone units only), household refrigerators, freezers, and combination refrigerators and freezers, self-contained room air conditioners for residential and light commercial air-conditioning, heat pumps and vending machines;
• isobutane (R–600a) in retail food refrigerators and freezers (stand-alone units only) and vending machines;
• R–441A in retail food refrigerators and freezers (stand-alone units only), self-contained room air conditioners for residential and light commercial air-conditioning, heat pumps, and vending machines.

While ammonia would not be subject to the updated requirements in the proposed rule, it is important for members to be aware of the proposed changes.

The full text of the proposal and additional information about the Section 608 program can be found at: http:// www2.epa.gov/snap/608-proposal. Public comments on the proposed rule must be received on or before January 8, 2016. To submit comments, you can use the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov and file them under Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2015–0453.