Company Agrees to $195K Penalty for Alleged CAA Refrigerant Violations

On June 11, 2024, the EPA announced a settlement with Andersen’s Sales and Salvage Inc., based in Greeley, Colorado, resolving alleged violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA) associated with releases of refrigerants. The consent agreement and final order require the company to pay a $195,000 penalty for these violations.

“Andersen’s Sales and Salvage failed to verify the proper recovery of all refrigerants from the appliances accepted at its scrapyard,” states an Agency news release. “Releases of these refrigerant compounds deplete the stratospheric ozone layer that protects life from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation, and also contribute to global warming and climate change. As part of this settlement, the company is required to comply with an administrative compliance order that includes implementation of a refrigerant management plan, among other measures.”

Andersen is also located in an area with environmental justice concerns, which is “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies,” according to the EPA’s release.

The CAA defines the EPA’s responsibilities for protecting and improving the nation’s air quality and the stratospheric ozone layer. Section 608 establishes the National Recycling and Emission Reduction Program.

Section 608 also prohibits individuals from intentionally venting ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) refrigerants and their substitutes (such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)) while maintaining, servicing, repairing, or disposing of air-conditioning (AC) or refrigeration equipment.

The purpose of this program is to:

• Implement the venting prohibition.
• Reduce the use and emissions of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs).
• Maximize the recapture and recycling of CFCs and HCFCs.
• Ensure the safe disposal of CFCs and HCFCs.

The Section 608 regulatory requirements include:

1. Technician certification: Technicians servicing AC and refrigeration equipment must pass an EPA-approved examination.
2. Refrigerant recovery and/or recycling equipment: Equipment must be certified by an EPA-approved testing organization to meet EPA requirements for refrigerant recovery efficiency.
3. Refrigerant leaks: AC and refrigeration equipment with 50 pounds (lb) or more of ODS is subject to specific EPA requirements for leak repair.
4. Refrigerant sales restriction: Refrigerants can only be sold for use to certified technicians.
5. Service practices: Technicians must evacuate AC and refrigeration equipment to established vacuum levels during servicing and disposal.
6. Reclamation: Recovered refrigerant must be reclaimed to specified purity levels by an EPA-certified reclaimer before it can be resold.
7. Safe disposal: The final person in the disposal chain must remove (or make certain that customers have removed) refrigerants before appliance disposal.
8. Recordkeeping: Service technicians, owners, and operators of large refrigeration and AC equipment, refrigerant wholesalers, and EPA-certified refrigerant reclaimers must document dates, refrigerant charge amounts, and related information for equipment servicing and disposal.

2016 rule summary

On November 18, 2016, the EPA issued a final rule updating its refrigerant management regulations. Among other things, that rule extended the refrigerant management requirements to common substitutes like HFCs. Key changes in this final rule included that it:

• Extended the requirements of the Refrigerant Management Program to cover substitute refrigerants, such as HFCs. However, the EPA previously exempted some substitutes from the Section 608 venting prohibition through previous rules. Those exemptions remain in effect.
• Lowered the leak rate thresholds that trigger the duty to repair refrigeration and AC equipment containing 50 lb or more of refrigerant:
  • Lowered from 35% to 30% for industrial process refrigeration (IPR)
  • Lowered from 35% to 20% for commercial refrigeration equipment
  • Lowered from 15% to 10% for comfort cooling equipment
• Required quarterly/annual leak inspections or continuous monitoring devices for refrigeration and AC equipment that has exceeded the threshold leak rate.
• Required owners/operators to submit reports to the EPA if systems containing 50 lb or more of refrigerant leak 125% or more of their full charge in one calendar year.
• Extended the sales restriction to HFCs and other nonexempt substitutes, except for small cans (containing 2 lb or less) of nonexempt substitutes (e.g., primarily HFC-134a) for motor vehicle AC servicing. These small cans can continue to be sold without technician certification so long as they have a self-sealing valve to reduce refrigerant releases.
• Required technicians to keep a record of refrigerant recovered during system disposal from systems with a charge size of between 5 lb and 50 lb.

Why does it matter?

The stratospheric ozone layer shields the Earth from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation. Emissions of certain synthetic chemicals, including CFCs, halons, and HCFCs, that are commonly used as refrigerants, solvents, and insulating foams destroy the ozone layer and have created an “ozone hole” over the South Pole. In addition, many of these ODSs, as well as their substitutes, like HFCs, are greenhouse gases (GHG) that contribute to climate change.

HFC phaseout

In accordance with the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the United States committed to an international effort to end the use of ODSs, as well as phased out CFCs and halon in the mid-1990s. The EPA is currently in the process of reducing HFC production and import, with a regulatory schedule that calls for the complete phaseout of HFCs by January 1, 2030.