A contractor is removing rooftop condensing units from a building and sending the shells to a scrap yard. What has to happen to the refrigerant still sitting in those units?
Correct Answer
A) A certified technician must remove the charge with certified recovery equipment before the units are scrapped
Refrigerant has to come out of an appliance before that appliance is disposed of, and the recovery has to be done by a certified technician using certified recovery equipment. Taking equipment out of service does not create a right to vent it. Responsibility does not simply transfer to whoever hauls the scrap either; everyone in the disposal chain has obligations, and the last person handling the appliance must be able to verify that the refrigerant was removed. There is also no small-quantity allowance that permits deliberate release.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
The rules cover appliances at disposal just as they cover appliances in service. The charge must be recovered by a certified technician with certified equipment, and documentation must exist showing it happened, because the person who finally disposes of the appliance has to be able to verify that the refrigerant is gone.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option B: The charge may be released once the units are disconnected, since the equipment is being taken out of service permanently
Knowingly releasing refrigerant is prohibited whether the equipment is staying in service or heading for scrap. Demolition is not an exemption.
Option C: The scrap yard becomes responsible for recovery and the contractor has no further obligation
Obligations run through the whole disposal chain. A contractor cannot hand off a charged appliance and treat the matter as closed.
Option D: The refrigerant may be released as long as the total amount in each unit is only a few pounds
The small allowance in the rules covers trace amounts released during a good-faith recovery, not the deliberate dumping of a full charge because it happens to be small.
Memory Technique
Scrap the metal, not the refrigerant. The charge comes out before the unit goes on the truck.
Reference Hint
40 CFR Part 82, Subpart F requires recovery before disposal and verification by the person disposing of the appliance. The venting prohibition applies at disposal.
More epa-608-type-2 Questions
A walk-in cooler condensing unit holds a full charge of twenty-five pounds of R-404A, which is below the fifty pound threshold that brings an appliance under the leak repair provisions. What still applies to this unit?
An office building has thirty water source heat pumps on a common water loop, and each one left the factory assembled, hermetically sealed and charged with four pounds of R-410A. How is one of those units classified?
A data sheet for an unfamiliar refrigerant lists a boiling point of about fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit at atmospheric pressure. What does that tell a technician holding Core and Type II certification?
A technician holds Core, Type I and Type III certification and is sent to recover the charge from a twenty ton rooftop unit charged with R-410A. What does that combination of sections allow on this job?
A fleet garage technician holds only the vehicle air conditioning certification issued under Section 609 and is asked to recover the charge from the shop's own rooftop air conditioner. What does that credential allow?
A split system's outdoor unit, indoor coil and the line set the installer ran and brazed between them are being considered. For the purposes of the refrigerant rules, what makes up the appliance here?
On a new installation the line set is brazed to a factory charged outdoor unit and an indoor coil shipped under a nitrogen holding charge, with the outdoor unit's service valves still closed. What does the recovery requirement call for before that brazing?
A rooftop unit's data plate has weathered until the charge figure cannot be read, and the technician needs the full charge to place the appliance under the evacuation and leak provisions. Where should that figure come from?
A computer room air conditioning unit holds forty pounds of R-407C and connects to a remote air cooled condenser through refrigerant piping run and brazed by the installer. How is that unit classified?
A shop's office manager, who holds no technician certification, is sent to a supply house to pick up a new recovery machine for the commercial crew. What does the sales restriction require at that counter?
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