United States. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced a proposal to rescind its 2016 extension regarding leak repair provisions to appliances that use substitute refrigerants such as HFCs. The proposal would not affect requirements for ozone-depleting refrigerants.
On November 18, 2016, the EPA published a rule that updates refrigerant management requirements and extends requirements that previously applied only to refrigerants containing an ozone-depleting substance (ODS) to non-exempt substitute refrigerants, such as HFCs and HFOs. The 2016 Rule essentially extended the "appliance maintenance and leak repair" provisions to appliances containing 50 pounds or more of non-exempt substitute refrigerant.
EPA is reviewing aspects of the 2016 Rule that apply to equipment containing substitute refrigerants. If finalized as proposed, the revised Refrigerant Management rule will rescind the leak maintenance and repair requirements for substitute refrigerants. Therefore, appliances with 50 pounds or more of substitute refrigerants will not be subject to the following requirements:
- Performing leak rate calculations when adding refrigerant to an appliance;
- Repair an appliance that drips above a threshold leakage rate;
- Performing repair verification tests;
- Conduct periodic leak inspections on appliances that exceed the threshold leak rate
- Report chronically leaking appliances to the EPA;
- Retrofitting or removing appliances that are not repaired; and
- Keep related records.
EPA is also seeking comment on the termination of other provisions that were extended to replace refrigerants, including the following:
- Anyone who purchases refrigerant for use in an appliance or handles refrigerants (e.g., contractors and air conditioning and refrigeration service technicians) must be a Section 608 certified technician;
- Anyone removing refrigerant from a refrigeration or air conditioner must evacuate the refrigerant to a certain level using certified refrigerant recovery equipment before repairing or disposing of the appliance;
- The end disposer (e.g., scrap recycler, landfill) of small appliances, such as refrigerators and window air conditioners, must ensure and document that the refrigerant is recovered before final disposal; and
- All used refrigerant must be claimed to industry purity standards before it can be sold to another appliance owner.
EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler noted that by rescinding the extension of leak repair provisions to substitutes, the proposed rule would reduce the burden associated with the 2016 Rule by $39 million per year. The EPA also estimates that this rule would increase the need to purchase non-exempt substitute refrigerant for leaky appliances, at an overall cost of about $15 million per year. Thus, incremental compliance savings and combined refrigerant costs are estimated at a reduction of at least US$24 million per year.
The advance copy of the proposed rule will be updated once the proposed rule is published in the Federal Register. This proposed rule will have a public comment period of 45 days. To view the public record in the Federal Register, visit www.regulations.gov and search for file number EPA-HQ-OAR-2017-0629. In addition, EPA will host a public hearing on this proposed rule 15 days after its publication in the Federal Register at EPA headquarters in Washington DC.
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