The Refrigerant Compliance Glossary
A leak rate, a full charge, a 15-pound threshold. The terms that trigger deadlines, reports, and penalties, defined in plain language.
Regulatory Frameworks & Programs
Refrigerants & Chemistry
Notice of Violation
A formal EPA finding that a facility has violated a Clean Air Act requirement, typically opening a negotiation over corrective action and penalty. Often follows an inspection or a records request.
Refrigerants & Chemistry
Civil Penalty
Monetary penalties EPA may assess under the Clean Air Act, currently up to $59,114 per day per violation and adjusted for inflation annually. Knowing violations can also carry criminal exposure.
Refrigerants & Chemistry
ECHO
EPA’s public database of inspections, violations, and enforcement actions by facility. Refrigerant cases appear here alongside other Clean Air Act matters.
Refrigerants & Chemistry
eCFR
The continuously updated online version of the Code of Federal Regulations, and the authoritative public source for Section 608 and AIM Act text. Sections can be linked directly, and historical versions retrieved by date.
Refrigerants & Chemistry
Supermarket Chain Program
A New York requirement for grocery chains with 20 or more in-state or 100 or more nationwide facilities to hit a defined refrigerant or emissions target by 2035, with a transition plan due January 1, 2027.
Refrigerants & Chemistry
Colorado Regulation 15 and 22
Colorado’s ODS registration rule (Regulation 15) and HFC prohibition rule (Regulation 22, Part B). Colorado has no state leak-rate program and defers to federal requirements for refrigerant management.
Refrigerants & Chemistry
New Jersey N.J.A.C. 7:27E
New Jersey’s greenhouse gas monitoring and reporting rule, which requires registration and annual reporting for facilities with 50 pounds or more but sets no state leak-rate thresholds, repair timelines, or prohibitions.
Refrigerants & Chemistry
Washington WAC 173-443
Washington’s refrigerant management rule, in effect since January 1, 2024, with leak-rate thresholds of 8% for comfort cooling, 16% for commercial refrigeration, and 24% for industrial process refrigeration — stricter than the federal 10/20/30. Registration and annual reporting run through the state Department of Ecology.
Refrigerants & Chemistry
New York 6 NYCRR Part 494
New York’s refrigerant rule, covering prohibitions, registration phased in by charge size, a full management program with 14-day repair, and a dedicated supermarket chain program. It defines high-GWP using a 20-year global warming potential rather than the 100-year figure everyone else uses.
Refrigerants & Chemistry
SB 1206
California legislation restricting the sale and distribution of high-GWP refrigerants on a declining schedule, tightening supply beyond the federal phasedown.
Compliance Concepts & Calculations
Nameplate Charge
The refrigerant quantity printed on the equipment data plate by the manufacturer. It is a common starting point for establishing full charge but is not automatically the same number.
Full Charge
The amount of refrigerant an appliance holds when it is operating normally with all components at their designed capacity. EPA accepts four ways to establish it: the manufacturer’s determination, calculation from component and piping volumes, actual measurement of refrigerant added and evacuated, or a documented range using its midpoint.
Refrigerants & Chemistry
CFC
Chlorine-containing refrigerants such as R-11 and R-12, the most ozone-damaging class. US production ended in 1996.
Refrigerant
The working fluid in a cooling system, absorbing heat as it evaporates at low pressure and rejecting it as it condenses at high pressure. Choice of refrigerant sets a system’s efficiency, safety class, and regulatory status.
Equipment & System Types
Centrifugal Chiller
A large chiller using a centrifugal compressor, typically 200 tons and up, common in campuses, hospitals, and high-rises. Often runs low-pressure refrigerants such as R-123 or R-514A, or R-134a.
Chiller
A refrigeration machine that cools water or glycol for distribution through a building’s air handlers or process equipment. Configurations include air-cooled and water-cooled, with centrifugal, screw, or scroll compressors.
Leak Detection & Repair
Direct ALD
An ALD that senses refrigerant concentration in air using sensors near the compressor, evaporator, and condenser. Applies to indoor components, with detection at 10 ppm and alert at 100 ppm.
Automatic Leak Detection (ALD)
A permanently installed system that continuously monitors for refrigerant loss and alerts on it, either by sensing refrigerant in air (direct) or by inferring loss from system behavior (indirect). Direct systems must detect at 10 ppm and alert at 100 ppm; indirect systems must alert at a loss of 50 pounds or 10% of full charge, whichever is less.
Refrigerant Handling & Lifecycle
De Minimis Release
The narrow allowance for minimal releases that occur during a good-faith attempt to recover or recycle refrigerant — for example the small loss when disconnecting a properly used recovery hose.
Venting Prohibition
The federal prohibition on knowingly releasing refrigerant to the atmosphere during maintenance, service, repair, or disposal. It covers ozone-depleting refrigerants and non-exempt substitutes, and extends to fire suppression agents under the AIM Act from January 1, 2026.
Service Operations & Documentation
Work Order
An authorized request for maintenance work, carrying scope, priority, asset, and assignment. It can cover one visit or several.
Field Service Order
The record of a dispatched service visit — the asset worked on, the work performed, parts and refrigerant used, technician, and time on site. It is the primary capture point for compliance data.
Roles & Certifications
Certified Technician
A person holding a valid EPA Section 608 certification of the type appropriate to the equipment. Only certified technicians may open appliances, recover refrigerant, or purchase restricted refrigerant.
Technician Certification
The federal certification required to maintain, service, repair, or dispose of appliances that could release refrigerant. Four types: Type I for small appliances, Type II for medium-, high-, and very high-pressure equipment, Type III for low-pressure, and Universal for all.
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