Environmental Protection Agency
The Clean Air Act (CAA) prohibits knowingly venting or releasing ozone-depleting and substitute refrigerants in the course of maintaining, servicing, repairing, or disposing of appliances or industrial process refrigeration. On November 18, 2016, EPA finalized a rule that updated the existing refrigerant management requirements and extended requirements that previously applied only to refrigerants containing an ozone-depleting substance (ODS) to substitute refrigerants such as hydrofluorocarbons that are subject to the venting prohibition (i.e., those that have not been exempted from that prohibition). The Agency is revisiting the aspects of the 2016 Rule that apply to equipment containing such substitute refrigerants. This action proposes changes to the legal interpretation that supported that rule and amendments to the regulations based on the revised interpretation. More specifically, in connection with the proposed changes to the legal interpretation, EPA is proposing to revise the appliance maintenance and leak repair provisions so they apply only to equipment using refrigerant containing a class I or class II substance. Based on this proposed limitation of the leak repair requirements, this document further proposes to revise the list of practices that must be followed in order for refrigerant releases to be considered de minimis to clarify that the reference to following leak repair practices only applies to equipment that contains ODS refrigerant. EPA is also taking comment on whether, in connection with the proposed changes to the legal interpretation, the 2016 Rule's extension of subpart F refrigerant management requirements to such substitute refrigerants should be rescinded in full. Additionally, EPA is proposing to extend by six to twelve months the January 1, 2019 compliance date for when appliances containing only substitute refrigerants subject to the venting prohibition must comply with the appliance maintenance and leak repair provisions.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Environmental Protection Agency 40 CFR Part 82 [EPA-HQ-OAR-2017-0629; FRL-9984-55-OAR] RIN 2060-AT81 AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Proposed rule. SUMMARY: The Clean Air Act (CAA) prohibits knowingly venting or releasing ozone-depleting and substitute refrigerants in the course of maintaining, servicing, repairing, or disposing of appliances or industrial process refrigeration. On November 18, 2016, EPA finalized a rule that updated the existing refrigerant management requirements and extended requirements that previously applied only to refrigerants containing an ozone-depleting substance (ODS) to substitute refrigerants such as hydrofluorocarbons that are subject to the venting prohibition ( i.e., those that have not been exempted from that prohibition). The Agency is revisiting the aspects of the 2016 Rule that apply to equipment containing such substitute refrigerants. This action proposes changes to the legal interpretation that supported that rule and amendments to the regulations based on the revised interpretation. More specifically, in connection with the proposed changes to the legal interpretation, EPA is proposing to revise the appliance maintenance and leak repair provisions so they apply only to equipment using refrigerant containing a class I or class II substance. Based on this proposed limitation of the leak repair requirements, this document further proposes to revise the list of practices that must be followed in order for refrigeran…
Other Federal Register documents from the same docket.
Citation: 83 FR 49332
