Resources & References

Official EPA regulations, definitions, and compliance tools for 40 CFR Part 84 Subpart C

Official Sources & Regulations

Direct links to official federal regulations and EPA resources for refrigerant compliance under 40 CFR Part 84 Subpart C.

40 CFR Part 84 Subpart C - Management of Regulated Substances

Official federal regulation text for refrigerant management requirements including leak repair, recordkeeping, and compliance thresholds.

§ 84.106 Leak Repair Requirements

Detailed leak repair requirements, verification testing procedures, and compliance deadlines for refrigerant-containing appliances.

§ 84.102 Definitions

Official definitions for terms used in 40 CFR Part 84 Subpart C including full charge, leak rate, certified technician, and more.

EPA Climate & HFCs Reduction Program

EPA's American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act program information, including phasedown schedules and allowance allocations.

Appendix A to Part 84 - Regulated Substances

List of regulated substances with Global Warming Potential (GWP) values used to determine applicability of leak repair requirements.

40 CFR Part 82 Subpart F - Recycling and Emissions Reduction

Related regulations covering refrigerant recycling, technician certification (§82.161), and emissions reduction requirements.

40 CFR Part 19 - Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment

EPA penalty amounts for violations of refrigerant regulations, updated annually for inflation.

EPA Section 608 Technician Certification

Information about EPA certification requirements for technicians working with refrigerant-containing appliances under Section 608.

Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol

International agreement on HFC phasedown that forms the basis for the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act.

RefriTrak

Preferred refrigerant tracking software for 40 CFR Part 84 Subpart C compliance. Automated leak rate calculations, EPA-compliant recordkeeping, and annual reporting.

Recommended Software

§ 84.102 Definitions

Official definitions from 40 CFR Part 84 Subpart C. Search to quickly find specific terms and their regulatory meanings.

Source: 40 CFR § 84.102

Certified technician: means a technician that has been certified per the provisions at 40 CFR 82.161.
Comfort cooling: means the refrigerant-containing appliances used for air conditioning to provide cooling in order to control heat and/or humidity in occupied facilities including but not limited to residential, office, and commercial buildings. Comfort cooling appliances include but are not limited to chillers, commercial split systems, dual-function heat pumps, and packaged roof-top units.
Commercial refrigeration: means the refrigerant-containing appliances used in the retail food and cold storage warehouse subsectors. Retail food appliances include the refrigerant-containing appliances found in supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, and other food service establishments. Cold storage includes the refrigerant-containing appliances used to store meat, produce, dairy products, and other perishable goods.
Component: as it relates to a refrigerant-containing appliance, means a part of the refrigerant circuit within an appliance including but not limited to compressors, condensers, evaporators, receivers, and all of its connections and subassemblies.
Custom-built: means that the industrial process refrigeration equipment or any of its components cannot be purchased and/or installed without being uniquely designed, fabricated and/or assembled to satisfy a specific set of industrial process conditions.
Disposal (refrigerant-containing equipment): as it relates to refrigerant-containing equipment, means the process leading to and including: (1) The discharge, deposit, dumping, or placing of any discarded refrigerant-containing equipment into or on any land or water; (2) The disassembly of any refrigerant-containing equipment for discharge, deposit, dumping, or placing of its discarded component parts into or on any land or water; (3) The vandalism of any refrigerant-containing equipment such that the refrigerant is released into the environment or would be released into the environment if it had not been recovered prior to the destructive activity; (4) The disassembly of any refrigerant-containing equipment for reuse of its component parts; or (5) The recycling of any refrigerant-containing equipment for scrap.
Disposal (fire suppression equipment): as it relates to fire suppression equipment, means the process leading to and including: (1) The discharge, deposit, dumping, or placing of any fire suppression equipment into or on any land or water; (2) The disassembly of any fire suppression equipment for discharge, deposit, dumping, or placing of its discarded component parts into or on any land or water; or (3) The disassembly of any fire suppression equipment for reuse of its component parts.
Equipment: means any device that contains, uses, detects, or is otherwise connected to or associated with a regulated substance or substitute for a regulated substance, including any component, system, refrigerant-containing appliance, and fire suppression equipment.
Fire suppression equipment: means any device that is connected to or associated with a regulated substance or substitute for a regulated substance, including blends and mixtures, consisting in part or whole of a regulated substance or a substitute for a regulated substance, and that is used for fire suppression purposes. This term includes any such equipment, component, or system. This term does not include military equipment used in deployable and expeditionary situations. This term also does not include space vehicles as defined in 40 CFR 84.3.
Fire suppression technician: means any person who in the course of servicing, repair, disposal, or installation of fire suppression equipment could be reasonably expected to violate the integrity of the fire suppression equipment and therefore release fire suppressants into the environment.
Follow-up verification test: as it relates to a refrigerant-containing appliance, means those tests that involve checking the repairs to an appliance after a successful initial verification test and after the appliance has returned to normal operating characteristics and conditions to verify that the repairs were successful. Potential methods for follow-up verification tests include but are not limited to the use of soap bubbles as appropriate, electronic or ultrasonic leak detectors, pressure or vacuum tests, fluorescent dye and black light, infrared or near infrared tests, and handheld gas detection devices.
Full charge: as it relates to a refrigerant-containing appliance, means the amount of refrigerant required for normal operating characteristics and conditions of the appliance as determined by using one or a combination of the following four methods: (1) Use of the equipment manufacturer's determination of the full charge; (2) Use of appropriate calculations based on component sizes, density of refrigerant, volume of piping, and other relevant considerations; (3) Use of actual measurements of the amount of refrigerant added to or evacuated from the appliance, including for seasonal variances; and/or (4) Use of an established range based on the best available data regarding the normal operating characteristics and conditions for the appliance, where the midpoint of the range will serve as the full charge.
Industrial process refrigeration: means complex customized refrigerant-containing appliances that are directly linked to the processes used in, for example, the chemical, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, and manufacturing industries. This sector also includes industrial ice machines, appliances used directly in the generation of electricity, and ice rinks. Where one appliance is used for both industrial process refrigeration and other applications, it will be considered industrial process refrigeration equipment if 50 percent or more of its operating capacity is used for industrial process refrigeration.
Initial verification test: as it relates to a refrigerant-containing appliance, means those leak tests that are conducted after the repair is finished to verify that a leak or leaks have been repaired before refrigerant is added back to the appliance.
Installation: means the process of setting up equipment for use, which may include steps such as completing the refrigerant circuit, including charging equipment with a regulated substance or substitute for a regulated substance, or connecting cylinders containing a regulated substance or a substitute for a regulated substance to a total flooding fire suppression system, such that the equipment can function and is ready for use for its intended purpose.
Leak inspection: as it relates to a refrigerant-containing appliance, means the examination of an appliance to detect and determine the location of refrigerant leaks. Potential methods include but are not limited to ultrasonic tests, gas-imaging cameras, bubble tests as appropriate, or the use of a leak detection device operated and maintained according to manufacturer guidelines. Methods that determine whether the appliance is leaking refrigerant but not the location of a leak, such as standing pressure/vacuum decay tests, sight glass checks, viewing receiver levels, pressure checks, and charging charts, must be used in conjunction with methods that can determine the location of a leak.
Leak rate: as it relates to a refrigerant-containing appliance, means the rate at which an appliance is losing refrigerant, measured between refrigerant charges. The leak rate is expressed in terms of the percentage of the appliance's full charge that would be lost over a 12-month period if the current rate of loss were to continue over that period. The rate must be calculated using one of the following methods. The same method must be used for all appliances subject to the leak repair requirements located at an operating facility.
Mothball: as it relates to a refrigerant-containing appliance, means to evacuate refrigerant from an appliance, or the affected isolated section or component of an appliance, to at least atmospheric pressure, and to temporarily shut down that appliance.
Motor vehicle: means 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.
Motor vehicle air conditioners (MVAC): means mechanical vapor compression refrigerant-containing appliances used to cool the driver's or passenger's compartment of any motor vehicle. This definition is intended to have the same meaning as in 40 CFR 82.32.
MVAC-like appliance: means a mechanical vapor compression, open-drive compressor refrigerant-containing appliance with a full charge of 20 pounds or less of refrigerant used to cool the driver's or passenger's compartment of off-road vehicles. This includes, but is not limited to, the air-conditioning appliances found on agricultural or construction vehicles. This definition is intended to have the same meaning as in 40 CFR 82.152.
Normal operating characteristics and conditions: as it relates to a refrigerant-containing appliance, means appliance operating temperatures, pressures, fluid flows, speeds, and other characteristics, including full charge of the appliance, that would be expected for a given process load and ambient condition during normal operation. Normal operating characteristics and conditions are marked by the absence of atypical conditions affecting the operation of the appliance.
Owner or operator: means any person who owns, leases, operates, or controls any equipment, or who controls or supervises any practice, process, or activity that is subject to any requirement pursuant to this subpart.
Recover: means the process by which a regulated substance, or where applicable, a substitute for a regulated substance, is (1) removed, in any condition, from equipment and (2) stored in an external container, with or without testing or processing the regulated substance or substitute for a regulated substance.
Recycling (fire suppressants): when referring to fire suppression or fire suppressants, means the testing and/or reprocessing of regulated substances used in the fire suppression sector to certain purity standards.
Refrigerant: means any substance, including blends and mixtures, consisting in part or whole of a regulated substance or a substitute for a regulated substance that is used for heat transfer purposes and provides a cooling effect.
Refrigerant circuit: as it relates to a refrigerant-containing appliance, means the parts of an appliance that are normally connected to each other (or are separated only by internal valves) and are designed to contain refrigerant.
Refrigerant-containing appliance: means any device that contains and uses a regulated substance or substitute for a regulated substance as a refrigerant including but not limited to any air conditioner, MVAC, MVAC-like appliance, refrigerator, chiller, or freezer. For such devices with multiple circuits, each independent circuit is considered a separate appliance.
Refrigerant-containing equipment: means equipment as defined in this subpart that contains, uses, or is otherwise connected to or associated with a regulated substance or substitute for a regulated substance that is used as a refrigerant. This definition includes refrigerant-containing components and refrigerant-containing appliances. This term does not include military equipment used in deployable and expeditionary situations. This term also does not include space vehicles as defined in 40 CFR 84.3.
Repackager: means an entity that transfers regulated substances, either alone or in a blend, from one container to another container prior to sale or distribution or offer for sale or distribution. An entity that services system cylinders for use in fire suppression equipment and returns the same regulated substances to the same system cylinder it was recovered from after the system cylinder is serviced is not a repackager.
Repair: as it relates to a particular leak in a refrigerant-containing appliance, means making adjustments or other alterations to that refrigerant-containing appliance that have the effect of stopping leakage of refrigerant from that particular leak.
Reprocess: means using procedures such as filtering, drying, distillation, and other chemical procedures to remove impurities from a regulated substance or a substitute for a regulated substance.
Retire: as it relates to a refrigerant-containing appliance, means the removal of the refrigerant and the disassembly or impairment of the refrigerant circuit such that the appliance as a whole is rendered unusable by any person in the future.
Retrofit: as it relates to a refrigerant-containing appliance, means to convert an appliance from one refrigerant to another refrigerant. Retrofitting includes the conversion of the appliance to achieve system compatibility with the new refrigerant and may include, but is not limited to, changes in lubricants, gaskets, filters, driers, valves, o-rings, or appliance components.
Seasonal variance: as it relates to a refrigerant-containing appliance, means the removal of refrigerant from an appliance due to a change in ambient conditions caused by a change in season, followed by the subsequent addition of an amount that is less than or equal to the amount of refrigerant removed in the prior change in season, where both the removal and addition of refrigerant occurs within one consecutive 12-month period.
Stationary refrigerant-containing equipment: means refrigerant-containing equipment, as defined in this subpart, that is not an MVAC or an MVAC-like appliance, as defined in this subpart.
Substitute for a regulated substance: means a substance that can be used in equipment in the same or similar applications as a regulated substance, to serve the same or a similar purpose, including but not limited to a substance used as a refrigerant in a refrigerant-containing appliance or as a fire suppressant in fire suppression equipment, provided that the substance is not a regulated substance or an ozone-depleting substance.
Technician: as it relates to any person who works with refrigerant-containing appliances, means any person who in the course of servicing, repair, or installation of a refrigerant-containing appliance (except MVACs) could be reasonably expected to violate the integrity of the refrigerant circuit and therefore release refrigerants into the environment. Technician also means any person who in the course of disposal of a refrigerant-containing appliance (except small appliances as defined in 40 CFR 82.152, MVACs, and MVAC-like appliances) could be reasonably expected to violate the integrity of the refrigerant circuit and therefore release refrigerants from the appliances into the environment. Activities reasonably expected to violate the integrity of the refrigerant circuit include but are not limited to: Attaching or detaching hoses and gauges to and from the appliance; adding or removing refrigerant; adding or removing components; and cutting the refrigerant line. Activities such as painting the appliance, rewiring an external electrical circuit, replacing insulation on a length of pipe, or tightening nuts and bolts are not reasonably expected to violate the integrity of the refrigerant circuit. Activities conducted on refrigerant-containing appliances that have been properly evacuated pursuant to 40 CFR 82.156 are not reasonably expected to release refrigerants unless the activity includes adding refrigerant to the appliance. Technicians could include but are not limited to installers, contractor employees, in-house service personnel, and owners and/or operators of refrigerant-containing appliances.
Virgin regulated substance: means any regulated substance that has not had any bona fide use in equipment.