Quiero saber acerca de...

15588

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 55 / Wednesday, March 24, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
This list is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a guide for readers regarding entities likely to be regulated by this action. Other types of entities not listed above could also be regulated. To determine whether your entity is regulated by this action, you should carefully examine the applicability criteria found in CAA
section 609, and relevant implementing regulations at 40 CFR part 82, subpart B.
If you have questions regarding the applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section.
B. What acronyms and abbreviations are used in the preamble?
AHRI Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, formerly AirConditioning and Refrigeration Institute ARI
ASHRAE American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers CAA Clean Air Act CFC Chlorofluorocarbon CFR Code of Federal Regulations EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency ETL ETL Testing Laboratories HCFC Hydrochlorofluorocarbon HFC Hydrofluorocarbon HFO Hydrofluoroolefin ICCSC Interior Climate Control Standards Committee MVACs Motor Vehicle Air Conditioners MY Model Year NAICS North American Industrial Classification System NTTAA National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act OMB Office of Management and Budget PRA Paperwork Reduction Act RFA Regulatory Flexibility Act SAE SAE International, formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers SNAP Significant New Alternatives Policy UMRA Unfunded Mandates Reform Act UL Underwriters Laboratories
II. Background
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES

A. CAA section 609
CAA section 609 directs the EPA to issue regulations establishing standards and requirements for the servicing of MVACs. For purposes of the regulations implementing CAA section 609, MVACs 1 are defined as equipment that use mechanical vapor compression refrigeration to cool the drivers or 1 A related definition for MVAC-like is found at 40 CFR 82.152: MVAC-like appliance means a mechanical vapor compression, open-drive compressor appliance with a full charge of 20
pounds or less of refrigerant used to cool the drivers or passengers compartment of off-road vehicles or equipment. This includes, but is not limited to, the air-conditioning equipment found on agricultural or construction vehicles. This definition is not intended to cover appliances using R22 refrigerant.

VerDate Sep<11>2014

15:49 Mar 23, 2021

Jkt 253001

passengers compartment of any motor vehicle. This definition is not intended to encompass the hermetically sealed refrigeration systems used on motor vehicles for refrigerated cargo and the air conditioning systems on passenger buses using hydrochlorofluorocarbons HCFC22 or R22 refrigerant. For purposes of the section 609 regulations, motor vehicle is defined as any vehicle which is self-propelled and designed for transporting persons or property on a street or highway, including but not limited to passenger cars, light-duty vehicles, and heavy-duty vehicles. This definition does not include a vehicle where final assembly of the vehicle has not been completed by the original equipment manufacturer.
Under CAA section 609 and regulations that implement it, no person repairing or servicing motor vehicles for consideration e.g., payment or bartering may perform any service on an MVAC that involves the refrigerant 2
without properly using approved refrigerant recovery or recovery and recycling equipment, and no such person may perform such service for consideration unless such person has been properly trained and certified.
Section 609 also restricts the sale of class I and class II substances for use as a refrigerant in MVACs in containers of 20 pounds or less, except to certified technicians. Class I substances chlorofluorocarbons CFCs, halons, carbon tetrachloride, methyl chloroform, methyl bromide, hydrobromofluorocarbons, and chlorobromomethane and class II
substances HCFCs are ozone-depleting compounds and are listed in 40 CFR
part 82, subpart A, appendices A and B, respectively.
Regulations issued under CAA section 609, codified at 40 CFR part 82, subpart B, include, among other things, prohibited and required practices for persons repairing and servicing MVACs for consideration 40 CFR 82.34;
requirements for refrigerant handling equipment 40 CFR 82.36; approval processes for independent standards testing organizations 40 CFR 82.38;
requirements for certifications that any person servicing or repairing MVACs for consideration must submit to the EPA, and related recordkeeping requirements 40 CFR 82.42. Appendices AF at 40
CFR part 82, subpart B, provide minimum operating requirements for equipment used for the recovery,
B. Major Rules Under CAA Section 609
In 1992, the EPA published a rule 57
FR 31242; July 14, 1992 under CAA
section 609 establishing standards and requirements for servicing of MVACs and restricting the sale of small containers of ozone-depleting substances. The regulations, which appear in 40 CFR part 82, subpart B, require persons who repair or service MVACs for consideration to be certified in refrigerant recovery and recycling and to properly use approved equipment when performing service involving the refrigerant. Consistent with the definition in CAA section 609b1, refrigerant is defined in subpart B as any class I or class II
substance used in MVACs, and to include any substitute substance effective November 15, 1995. The 1992
rule also defined approved refrigerant recycling equipment as equipment certified by the Administrator or an approved organization as meeting either one of the standards in 40 CFR 82.36.
Such equipment extracts and recycles refrigerant or extracts but does not recycle refrigerant, allowing that refrigerant to be subsequently recycled on-site or to be sent off-site for reclamation.3 The EPA based the regulatory equipment standards in subpart B on those developed by SAE.
They cover service procedures for dichlorodifluoromethane CFC12 or R
12 recover/recycle equipment SAE
J1989, issued in October 1989, test procedures to evaluate R12 recover/
recycle equipment SAE J1990, issued in October 1989 and revised in 1991 and a purity standard for recycled R12
refrigerant SAE J1991, issued in October 1989. Only equipment certified to meet the standards set forth in appendix A at 40 CFR part 82, subpart B, or that meet the criteria for substantially identical equipment, was approved under CAA section 609 for use in the servicing of MVACs at that time.
The 1992 rule also implemented the statutory prohibition on the sale or distribution of any class I or class II
substance suitable for use in MVACs that is in a container of less than 20
pounds, to anyone other than a properly trained and certified section 609
technician. The rule also contained standards by which: 1 An independent
2 Section 609b1 defines the term refrigerant, as used in this section, to mean any class I or class II substance used in a motor vehicle air conditioner. Effective 5 years after November 15, 1990, the term refrigerant shall also include any substitute substance.

3 Equipment that extracts and recycles refrigerant is referred to as recover/recycle equipment.
Equipment that extracts but does not recycle refrigerant is referred to as equipment that recovers but does not recycle refrigerant, or as recover-only equipment.

PO 00000

Frm 00028

Fmt 4700

Sfmt 4700

recycling and/or recharging of refrigerant used in MVACs.

E:FRFM24MRR1.SGM

24MRR1