§82.158. Standards for recovery and/or recycling equipment. — Inbound Citations

(i) The applicable practices in §§ 82.155 and 82.156 are observed, the applicable practices in § 82.157 are observed for appliances that contain any class I or class II refrigerant or blend containing a class I or class II refrigerant, recovery and/or recycling machines that meet the requirements in § 82.158 are used whenever refrigerant is removed from an appliance, the technician certification provisions in § 82.161 are observed, and the reclamation requirements in § 82.164 are observed; or

(a) Before opening appliances (except small appliances, MVACs, and MVAC-like appliances) or disposing of such appliances, technicians must evacuate the refrigerant, including all the liquid refrigerant, to the levels in Table 1 using a recovery and/or recycling machine certified pursuant to § 82.158 unless the situations in paragraphs (a)(1) or (2) of this section apply. Technicians may evacuate either the entire appliance or the part to be serviced, if the refrigerant in the part can be isolated to a system receiver. A technician must verify that the applicable level of evacuation has been reached in the appliance or the part before it is opened.

(1) If evacuation of the appliance to the atmosphere is not to be performed after completion of the maintenance, service, or repair, and if the maintenance, service, or repair is not major as defined at § 82.152, the appliance must:

(i) Be evacuated to a pressure no higher than 0 psig before it is opened if it is a medium-, high- or very high-pressure appliance;

(ii) Be pressurized to a pressure no higher than 0 psig before it is opened if it is a low-pressure appliance. Persons must cover openings when isolation is not possible. Persons pressurizing low-pressure appliances that use refrigerants with boiling points at or below 85 degrees Fahrenheit at 29.9 inches of mercury (standard atmospheric pressure), must not use methods such as nitrogen that require subsequent purging. Persons pressurizing low-pressure appliances that use refrigerants with boiling points above 85 degrees Fahrenheit at 29.9 inches of mercury, must use heat to raise the internal pressure of the appliance as much as possible, but may use nitrogen to raise the internal pressure of the appliance from the level attainable through use of heat to atmospheric pressure; or

(iii) For the purposes of oil changes, be evacuated or pressurized to a pressure no higher than 5 psig, before it is opened; or drain the oil into a system receiver to be evacuated or pressurized to a pressure no higher than 5 psig.

(2) If leaks in the appliance make evacuation to the levels in Table 1 unattainable or would substantially contaminate the refrigerant being recovered, persons opening or disposing of the appliance must:

(i) Isolate leaking from non-leaking components wherever possible;

(ii) Evacuate non-leaking components to be opened or disposed of to the levels specified in Table 1; and

(iii) Evacuate leaking components to be opened or disposed of to the lowest level that can be attained without substantially contaminating the refrigerant. This level may not exceed 0 psig.

(3) As of January 1, 2018, technicians evacuating refrigerant from appliances with a full charge of more than 5 and less than 50 pounds of refrigerant for purposes of disposal of that appliance must keep records documenting the following for three years:

(i) The company name, location of the appliance, date of recovery, and type of refrigerant recovered for each appliance;

(ii) The total quantity of refrigerant, by type, recovered from all disposed appliances in each calendar month; and

(iii) The quantity of refrigerant, by type, transferred for reclamation and/or destruction, the person to whom it was transferred, and the date of transfer.

(a) Any equipment testing organization may apply for approval by the Administrator to certify equipment under the standards in § 82.158 and appendices B2, B3, B4, or C of this subpart. Applications must be sent to [email protected], or if containing confidential business information, mailed to: Section 608 Program Manager, Stratospheric Protection Division, Mail Code: 6205T, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460.

Appliance means any device which contains and uses a class I or class II substance or substitute as a refrigerant and which is used for household or commercial purposes, including any air conditioner, motor vehicle air conditioner, refrigerator, chiller, or freezer. For a system with multiple circuits, each independent circuit is considered a separate appliance.

Appliance means any device which contains and uses a class I or class II substance or substitute as a refrigerant and which is used for household or commercial purposes, including any air conditioner, motor vehicle air conditioner, refrigerator, chiller, or freezer. For a system with multiple circuits, each independent circuit is considered a separate appliance.

Appliance means any device which contains and uses a class I or class II substance or substitute as a refrigerant and which is used for household or commercial purposes, including any air conditioner, motor vehicle air conditioner, refrigerator, chiller, or freezer. For a system with multiple circuits, each independent circuit is considered a separate appliance.

Appliance means any device which contains and uses a class I or class II substance or substitute as a refrigerant and which is used for household or commercial purposes, including any air conditioner, motor vehicle air conditioner, refrigerator, chiller, or freezer. For a system with multiple circuits, each independent circuit is considered a separate appliance.

(a) Persons recovering refrigerant from a small appliance, MVAC, or MVAC-like appliance for purposes of disposal of these appliances must evacuate refrigerant to the levels in § 82.156(b) through (d) using recovery equipment that meets the standards in § 82.158(e) through (g), or 40 CFR part 82 subpart B, as applicable.

Appliance means any device which contains and uses a class I or class II substance or substitute as a refrigerant and which is used for household or commercial purposes, including any air conditioner, motor vehicle air conditioner, refrigerator, chiller, or freezer. For a system with multiple circuits, each independent circuit is considered a separate appliance.

(a) Persons recovering refrigerant from a small appliance, MVAC, or MVAC-like appliance for purposes of disposal of these appliances must evacuate refrigerant to the levels in § 82.156(b) through (d) using recovery equipment that meets the standards in § 82.158(e) through (g), or 40 CFR part 82 subpart B, as applicable.

(c) Persons may only open MVAC-like appliances while properly using, as defined at § 82.32(e), recovery and/or recycling equipment certified pursuant to § 82.158(f) or § 82.36, as applicable. All persons recovering refrigerant from MVAC-like appliances for purposes of disposal of these appliances must evacuate the appliance in accordance with 40 CFR part 82, subpart B or reduce the system pressure to or below 102 mm of mercury vacuum.

Appliance means any device which contains and uses a class I or class II substance or substitute as a refrigerant and which is used for household or commercial purposes, including any air conditioner, motor vehicle air conditioner, refrigerator, chiller, or freezer. For a system with multiple circuits, each independent circuit is considered a separate appliance.

(a) Persons recovering refrigerant from a small appliance, MVAC, or MVAC-like appliance for purposes of disposal of these appliances must evacuate refrigerant to the levels in § 82.156(b) through (d) using recovery equipment that meets the standards in § 82.158(e) through (g), or 40 CFR part 82 subpart B, as applicable.

(2) Approved equipment testing organizations must notify EPA at [email protected] if retests of equipment or inspections of manufacturing facilities conducted under to § 82.158(i) show that a previously certified model line fails to meet EPA requirements. Such notification must be received within thirty days of the retest or inspection.