1 Section 608 Certification and Environmental Rules
Learn the scope of Section 608, technician certification requirements, refrigerant-handling responsibilities, and the limits of the venting prohibition.
Scope of
of the establishes the federal refrigerant-management program for stationary air-conditioning and refrigeration. Its rules appear in 40 CFR Part 82, Subpart F, and aim to limit emissions, require appropriate refrigerant recovery and handling, and support safe equipment disposal. The prohibition covers ozone-depleting refrigerants and most substitutes, including many HFC refrigerants.
is distinct from , which covers servicing motor vehicle air conditioners (MVACs). Technicians working on MVACs generally need the applicable certification; certification applies to equipment within its own scope.
Who needs certification
A technician must hold the appropriate EPA certification before doing work that could reasonably be expected to release refrigerant. Examples include connecting or disconnecting gauges or hoses, adding or removing refrigerant, and otherwise opening a refrigerant circuit.
Certification is earned by passing the relevant exam through an . EPA approves the testing programs, but it does not issue certification cards. Credentials do not expire. An apprentice may work without certification only while closely and continually supervised by a certified technician.
Certification types and limits
Each certification covers a defined equipment category. Technicians should work only within the category covered by their certification.
: Servicing small appliances.
: Servicing or disposing of high- or very-high-pressure appliances, except small appliances and MVACs.
: Servicing or disposing of low-pressure appliances.
: All three equipment categories.
To earn certification, a technician must pass the required exams under the applicable proctored testing conditions.
Handling, sales, and records
Certified technicians must follow refrigerant-handling rules when servicing, repairing, or disposing of covered equipment. They must recover rather than knowingly release refrigerant, use the required recovery or recycling equipment, and follow applicable service procedures.
Refrigerant sales rules generally restrict who may purchase regulated refrigerants and limit purchases to refrigerants consistent with the buyer’s certification. Technicians must keep proof of certification at their place of business and retain it until three years after they stop working as technicians. They need not carry the card while servicing equipment.
Technicians must also follow applicable disposal and recordkeeping requirements. These requirements vary with the equipment and work performed; for example, specific records apply to disposal of certain mid-sized appliances.
prohibition and narrow exceptions
means knowingly releasing refrigerant to the atmosphere during maintenance, service, repair, or disposal. Deliberately purging a refrigerant charge into the air instead of recovering it is prohibited for covered refrigerants. The prohibition applies to ozone-depleting substances and most refrigerant substitutes, not only older refrigerants.
The exceptions are limited and do not create general permission to release refrigerant:
may occur as part of good-faith efforts to recover or recycle refrigerant, such as small releases when connecting or disconnecting service hoses.
Emissions during normal equipment operation are treated differently from releases during service. This exception does not excuse compliance with applicable leak-repair requirements.
Certain specifically exempt substances or uses are identified in the regulation. Check the refrigerant and application rather than assuming a substitute is exempt.
When removing a charge to replace a component, connect recovery equipment and capture the refrigerant. A brief, incidental hose release during a good-faith recovery effort may qualify as de minimis; intentionally emptying the system into the air does not.