In the Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010 Federal Register, the EPA proposed changes to the leak repair regulations promulgated under Section 608 of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAA or Act). The agency is proposing to lower the leak repair trigger rates for comfort cooling, commercial refrigeration, and industrial process refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment (i.e., appliances) with ozone-depleting refrigerant charges greater than 50 pounds.

The action proposes to streamline existing required practices and associated reporting and recordkeeping requirements by establishing similar leak repair requirements for owners or operators of comfort cooling, commercial refrigeration, and industrial process refrigeration appliances. This action also proposes to reduce the use and emissions of class I and class II controlled substances (such as but not limited, to CFC-11, CFC-12, HCFC-123, HCFC-22) by requiring the following:

• Verification and documentation of all repairs, retrofit or retirement of appliances that cannot be sufficiently repaired,
• mandatory replacement of appliance components that have a history of failures, and
• mandatory recordkeeping of the determination of the full charge and the fate of recovered refrigerant.

Written comments on this proposed rule must be received by the EPA Docket on or before Feb. 14, 2011, unless a public hearing is requested by Dec. 29, 2010.

SOURCE: Federal Register