The Refrigerant Compliance Glossary

An appliance that loses 125% or more of its full charge within a single calendar year, which must be reported to EPA by March 1 of the following year. The figure is based on total calendar-year loss, not on the calculated leak rate.

Federal follow-on inspections triggered by an exceedance — quarterly for commercial or industrial systems of 500 pounds or more, annually for smaller ones. Exit requires four consecutive quarters, or one year, below threshold.

A scheduled search for leaks across an appliance, at a frequency set by charge size and jurisdiction. Federal inspections are required only after an exceedance; state programs in California, New York, and Washington require them proactively — typically monthly for 1,500+ pound systems, quarterly for 200–1,499, and annually for 50–199.

Evacuating and taking an appliance out of operation, which suspends repair, retrofit, and retirement clocks. Those clocks resume when refrigerant is added back.

A documented plan to permanently remove an appliance from service rather than repair or retrofit it, on the same deadlines as a retrofit plan. Refrigerant must be recovered by a certified technician at removal.

A documented plan to convert an appliance to a different refrigerant instead of continuing to repair it, due within 30 days of exceedance federally and completed within one year. State deadlines are shorter — typically six months from initial detection.

An extension to the repair deadline, available for radiological contamination, conflicting regulatory constraints, or unavailable components — the last capped at 180 days from exceedance, or 270 for an industrial process shutdown. Federal requests go to EPA within the original repair window.

A second test confirming the repair held under operating conditions, due within 10 days of a successful initial verification or of the system reaching normal operating conditions. State windows differ — Washington allows 14 days after return to normal, California 30.

A test performed after a leak repair, within the 30- or 120-day repair window, confirming the repair held. It must be documented as part of the service record.

30 days from the refrigerant addition that caused the exceedance under federal rules, extended to 120 days when an industrial process must be shut down to make the repair. California, New York, and Washington all use a stricter 14-day standard with a 45-day extended window.