Ultraviolet radiation can cause health and environmental concerns, including increased incidences of skin cancers, cataracts and damage to crops and living organisms. The following are basic CFC requirements to reduce emissions to the lowest achievable levels during service, maintenance and disposal of refrigeration appliances:

• Prohibition of venting ozone-depleting substances into the atmosphere
• Evacuation of refrigerant when major repairs are done
• Recovery and recycling of used refrigerants
• Use of certified refrigerant recovery equipment
• Technician certification for persons performing maintenance, repair or disposals
• Refrigerant sales restricted to EPA certified technicians
• Appliance self-disposal requirements to remove refrigerant prior to disposal
  
  

Additional Requirements

Additional requirements also apply for technicians who service appliances with greater than 50 pounds of refrigerant. These include calculating a leak rate and maintaining all records and data required by EPA. In addition to an initial verification leak test after repairs, a follow-up verification leak test is required to verify repairs within 30 days of the appliance’s return to service.