Neil Everitt tip-toes through some of the major points of DEFRA’s new F-gas guidance document
AFTER months of European bickering, the F-gas regulations (more properly carrying the catchy title of EU regulation 842/2006) will finally come into force on July 4th 2007. For those who are unaware of their likely responsibilities under the new law and the impact it could have on their business, help is at hand in the form of a new guidance document available from DEFRA.

F-gases are hefty global warming gases and have come under the spotlight of the EC’s Kyoto Protocol targets. The basic objective of this new law is to reduce emissions of these global warming gases from air conditioning and refrigeration equipment/systems. F-gases include all our HFC refrigerants, including R134a, R407C, R410A and R404A. The main points of the new law include:

• Training and certification of personnel

• Regular leakage checks and prevention

• Refrigerant records

• Equipment labelling

• Ban on sales of non-refillable cylinders

Training/certification

Training and certification of operatives is one of the most highly publicised and vital elements of the new regulations, it is also the one clouded in the most mystery. Basically, anyone handling F-gases will need to have obtained the necessary certification by July 4, 2007. By that date, the EC, in consultation with all sectors and member states, must come up with minimum requirements for the training programmes and certification. The UK, along with other member states, then has until July 4, 2008 to establish its own scheme based on the EC requirements.

Now, some of you may have spotted the obvious flaw that operatives will need to be certified by July 4, 2007, even though a member state might not have a scheme in place before July 4, 2008. To get over this anomaly, the EC sees member states using their own existing certification schemes in the interim.

Leakage checking/repair

Operators (defined as those exercising actual power over the technical functioning of the equipment/system) will be required to use all available measures to prevent leakage of F-gases and to repair any detected leakage (as soon as possible). Any repair must be re-checked for leakage within one month.

The Regulation also provides a timetable for leak testing equipment and systems with a charge of 3kg or more:

• At least once a year for applications containing 3kg or more of F-gases (this does not apply to hermetically sealed systems containing less than 6kg)

• At least once every six months for applications containing 30kg or more of F-gases

• At least once every three months for applications containing 300kg or more of F- gases. In addition, these systems will be required to have permanent leak detection systems installed.

At some stage before the July 2007 deadline, the actual type of direct and indirect measuring methods and requirements will be specified by the EC.

Record keeping and responsibilities

Operators will also have to maintain records on the quantity and type of F-gases installed, any quantities added and the quantity recovered during maintenance, servicing and final disposal. They will also need to keep records of other relevant information, including the identification of the company or technician who performed the servicing or maintenance, as well as the dates and results of the leakage checks and relevant information specifically identifying the separate stationary equipment with more than 30kg of F-gases.

One grey area is who might be considered to be the “operator” of equipment and system. As the guidance notes state, in most circumstances it is likely to be that the person who has actual power will be the person or legal person (typically a company) responsible for giving instructions to its employees as to the day-to- day technical functioning of the equipment. This will require equipment-servicing companies and their customers to have contractual arrangements that clearly set out operator responsibilities in relation to the Regulation and for businesses using relevant equipment to ensure that operator tasks are clearly identified in employees’ job descriptions. There are no hard and fast rules as to the identity of the operator but this needs to be set out in the contract because it is the operator who will be responsible in the event of a breach of the regulations.

Recovery

From July 4, 2007, operators will be responsible for ensuring the proper recovery of F-gases by certified personnel to ensure their recycling, reclamation or destruction.

Non-refillable cylinders

The placing on the market of non-refillable cylinders will be prohibited from July 4, 2007. This placing on the market prohibition, however, will not apply to containers manufactured before the prohibition comes into force.

Reporting

Producers, importers and exporters of F-gases dealing with more than 1 tonne of these gases per year are required to report quantities to the EC by March 31 each year, starting in 2008. These provisions apply only to producers, importers and exporters of the F-gases themselves, rather than the producers, importers and exporters of the products containing these gases. However, estimates are required of the main categories of applications in which the substance is expected to be used.

Labelling

From July 4, 2007, products and equipment containing F-gases will have to be labelled with the name of the gas and the quantity. This also applies to hermetic systems.

Fines

The EC is allowing each member state to set the level of fines and sanctions for infringements of the regulations, but state that they should be “effective, proportionate and dissuasive”. The UK government is expected to consult with stakeholders on the level of penalties early next year.

This article is merely designed as a guide to the new regulations as they stand at the moment. Readers would be well advised to get a copy of the DEFRA document and seek advice from bodies like ACRIB (www.acrib.org.uk) if in any doubt of their own responsibilities.

The Defra document can be downloaded from http://www.dti.gov.uk/innovation/sustainability/fgases/page28889.html.