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The U.S. Clean Air Act enforces air quality standards through the requirement of permits and certain monitoring and reporting methods. It also provides funding to U.S. states to implement clean air programs to monitor such things as air conditioning and systems containing refrigerant gases. Since implementation of the act requirements are conducted on the state level, the federal government supports each state with scientific research, studies and engineering design.
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[ Free Whitepaper ]
Collecting, organizing, and reporting of refrigerant gas data is challenging, the complexity of system auditing is confusing, and it remains difficult to remain in compliance with regulations. Learn how-to survive managing your refrigerants.
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| Summary of Section 608 Of The U.S. Clean Air Act |
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Refrigerant Tracker from Verisae enables accurate tracking and reporting of refrigerant gas usage across a distributed enterprise. Remain in compliance with Refrigerant Tracker. Know accurate inventories, keep updated maintenance logs, and track usage of refrigerants across all of your locations and AC/HVAC systems.
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Refrigerant gases contribute to global warming and ozone layer depletion as they contain harmful chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). Section 608 of The US Clean Air Act documents the regulations which govern the handling, recovery, and recycling of refrigerants during a variety of processes, including maintenance, repair, service or disposal.
The U.S. Clean Air Act (Section 608) states that it is against the law to intentionally vent refrigerants into the air during routine maintenance, servicing, repair or disposal of equipment. Discharge of refrigerants during normal operation is okay, so long as monitoring is in place.
There are numerous restrictions in place covering the use of refrigerant gases and Section 608 lays out guidelines for phase-out, the eventual elimination of compounds and acceptable substitutes. Regulation covers a number of industrial and commercial uses, cold storage warehouse, retail food refrigeration, chillers, industrial process refrigeration, transport refrigeration, and packaged air conditioners and heat pumps.
Those involved in the refrigerant gas industry face considerable recordkeeping requirements under The U.S. Clean Air Act (Section 608). This includes owners and operators of systems using the gases, technicians, wholesalers of refrigerants and reclaimers. Proper records must be kept including the date, type of service and the amount of refrigerant. The records will be submitted to the EPA under penalty of a fine of up to $32,500 per day per violation.
Leak repair requirements are outlined in Section 608 as they apply to commercial refrigeration, air conditioning systems, and industrial process refrigeration appliances, heating ventilation and air conditioning systems. If a leak occurs, the owner of the facility must keep very precise records of the quantity of gas that was discharged. This data and the repair documentation must be reported under The US Clean Air Act.
A timeline covering leak repairs is spelled out under Section 608, and it is mandatory that leaks be repaired within a month. The projected discharge over a 12 month period dictates this time frame. To be able to track this information, the regulation requires companies to maintain and submit accurate records, under penalty.
Technicians must follow strict evacuation requirements when they open cooling and refrigerant systems at any time, including during maintenance service and repair. Refrigerant reclaimers who reprocess used refrigerant back to a specified purity level must be certified by the EPA.
The U.S. Clean Air Act (Section 608) covers a variety of topics. Specific guidelines cover various issues and circumstances involving refrigerants, including those involved in refrigerant sales and distribution and refrigerant reclamation and leak repairs. Manufacturers or importers of refrigerant recovery and recycling equipment are required to submit to testing at an EPA approved facility and to provide certification to would-be buyers.
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