The Refrigerant Compliance Glossary

The AIM Act subpart that extends leak repair, leak inspection, automatic leak detection, reclamation, and recordkeeping duties to HFC equipment, with obligations beginning January 1, 2026. It closed the gap created when Section 608’s leak repair scope narrowed to ozone-depleting refrigerants in 2020.

The AIM Act subpart that sets GWP limits by equipment subsector, restricting what refrigerants may be used in newly manufactured or newly installed systems. Examples include a 700-GWP limit for comfort-cooling chillers and a 150-GWP limit for large cold storage.

A tradable federal authorization to produce or import one exchange-value-weighted metric ton of HFCs. Producers and importers must hold allowances covering everything they put into the market.

The AIM Act’s stepped reduction of HFC production and import against a historical baseline — 90% in 2022–2023, 60% in 2024–2028, 30% in 2029–2033, 20% in 2034–2035, and 15% from 2036 onward. EPA administers it by issuing tradable allowances.

A 2020 federal law directing EPA to phase down HFC production and consumption, restrict high-GWP refrigerants in new equipment, and manage refrigerant in existing equipment. Its management rules apply to appliances holding 15 pounds or more of an HFC or a substitute with a GWP above 53.

The specific body of federal regulation that implements Section 608, titled “Recycling and Emissions Reduction.” Contains the definitions, leak repair steps, certification rules, and recordkeeping duties.

The federal refrigerant management rule covering recovery, technician certification, leak repair, and recordkeeping for ozone-depleting refrigerants. Leak repair provisions apply to appliances holding 50 pounds or more of a Class I or Class II refrigerant.

The federal law that gives EPA authority to regulate air pollutants, including the ozone-depleting and high-warming gases used as refrigerants. Section 608 and the AIM Act both draw their enforcement power from it.