Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Revision of Refrigerant Recovery and Recycling Equipment Standards

Résumé

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to update motor vehicle refrigerant recovery and recycling equipment standards. Under Clean Air Act Section 609, motor vehicle air- conditioning (MVAC) refrigerant handling equipment must be certified by the Administrator or an independent organization approved by the Administrator and, at a minimum, must be as stringent as the standards of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) in effect as of the date of the enactment of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. In 1997, EPA promulgated regulations that required the use of SAE Standard J2210, HFC-134a Recycling Equipment for Mobile Air Conditioning Systems for certification of MVAC refrigerant handling equipment. SAE has replaced Standard J2210 with J2788, Recovery/Recycle and Recovery/Recycle/ Recharging Equipment for HFC-134a Refrigerant. To avoid confusion, EPA is updating its reference to include the new SAE standards. This action reflects a change in industry standard practice. This action proposes to revise the EPA addresses to send equipment certification forms.