§82.164. Reclaimer certification. — 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) Failure to abide by any of the provisions of this subpart may result in the revocation or suspension of the approval to certify technicians (under § 82.161), approval to act as a recovery/recycling equipment testing organization (under § 82.160), or reclaimer certification (under § 82.164), hereafter referred to as the “organization.” In such cases, the Administrator or her or his designated representative shall give notice of an impending suspension to the person or organization setting forth the facts or conduct that provide the basis for the revocation or suspension.

(1) Has been reclaimed by a person who has been certified as a reclaimer under 40 CFR 82.164 and has been reclaimed by being reprocessed to all of the specifications in appendix A to 40 CFR part 82, subpart F that are applicable to that regulated substance and verified to meet these specifications using the analytical methodology prescribed in section 5 of appendix A to 40 CFR part 82, subpart F; or

(f) As of January 1, 2026, no person shall dispose of regulated substances used as a fire suppression agent except by sending it for recycling to a fire suppressant recycler or a reclaimer certified under 40 CFR 82.164, or by arranging for its destruction using one of the controlled processes listed in § 84.29.

(1) Any person using a device to recover, store, and/or transfer regulated substances used in fire suppression equipment must: evacuate the device used to recover, store, and/or transfer regulated substances prior to each use to prevent contamination, arrange for destruction of the recovered regulated substances as necessary; and collect and dispose of wastes from the recycling process.

(2) Any person using recovery and recycling equipment to recover regulated substances from fire suppression equipment must:

(i) Operate and maintain recovery and recycling equipment in accordance with manufacturer specifications to ensure that the equipment performs as specified;

(ii) Repair leaks in storage, recovery, recycling, and/or charging equipment used with regulated substances before use; and

(iii) Ensure that cross-contamination does not occur through the mixing of regulated substances that may be contained in similar cylinders.

(c) As of January 1, 2026, reclaimers certified under 40 CFR 82.164 must affix a label to any container they fill that is being sold or distributed or offered for sale or distribution and that contains reclaimed regulated substances to certify that the contents do not exceed 15 percent, by weight, of virgin regulated substances.

(1) The label must read: “The contents of this container do not exceed the limit of 15 percent, by weight, on virgin regulated substance per 40 CFR 84.112(a).”

(2) The label must be:

(i) In English;

(ii) Durable and printed or otherwise labeled on, or affixed to, an external surface of the container;

(iii) Readily visible and legible;

(iv) Able to withstand open weather exposure without a substantial reduction in visibility or legibility; and

(1) A reclaimer certified under 40 CFR 82.164;

(1) Maintain certification by EPA under § 82.164 of this chapter;