United States 

Environmental

Protection Agency

Office of Air and Radiation

Stratospheric Protection

Division (6205-J)

August 1998

 

SUMMARY OF

DETERMINATION: Halon

Recovery/Recycling Equipment

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a direct final determination (DFD) published in the

Federal Register (FR) on August 11, 1998 (63 FR 42728) regarding the need for a certification program for

equipment used to recover and recycle halons (i.e., Halon 1211, Halon 1301, and Halon 2402, and all isomers

of these chemicals). Briefly, the direct final determination states that it is neither necessary nor appropriate at

this time, under section 608 of the Clean Air Act as amended (CAA), to issue a rule establishing a certification

program for equipment used in the recovery and recycling of halons, a group of Class I ozone-depleting

substances, or to require that halons be recovered only through the use of certified equipment. 

EPA stresses that nothing in this determination affects any existing legal requirements regarding halons and

strongly emphasizes the ongoing environmental need to reduce their use and emissions and maximize their

recapture and recycling. It should be noted that all provisions, including those relating to halon disposal and

recovery and recycling practices, of a recent rule concerning halons (63 FR 11084, published on March 5,

1998) continue to fully apply. EPA urges members of the regulated community to ensure that their practices

thoroughly comply with those federal rules and all other appropriate standards and regulations. This summary

provides a brief background on halons and the August 11, 1998 regulatory action. The full text of the

determination can be retrieved at the Federal Register web site (select both Final Rules and Regulations and

Proposed Rules and use an appropriate term in the Search Terms box, e.g., halon):

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html

Background

Halons are gaseous or easily vaporized halocarbons

used primarily for fire and explosion protection and

are listed as Group II, Class I ozone-depleting

substances ODSs) under 40 CFR Part 82, Subpart

A. Section 608 of the CAA directs EPA to issue

regulations that reduce the use and emissions of

ozone-depleting substances to the lowest achievable

level and that maximize the recapture and recycling

of such substances. 

Despite their effectiveness as a fire fighting agent,

halons are among the most ozone-depleting

chemicals in use today. With 0.2 ozone-depleting

potential (ODP) representing the threshold for

classification as a Class I substance, Halon 1301

has an estimated ODP of 10, Halon 2402 an

estimated ODP of 6, and Halon 1211 an estimated

ODP of 3.

Several existing federal regulations address halons. 

The new production of halons has been banned in

the U.S. since January 1, 1994. More recently,

EPA issued a rule on March 5, 1998 (63 FR

11084), under the authority of Section 608 of the

CAA, establishing certain practices and

requirements relative to halons, including training

requirements for technicians who handle haloncontaining equipment; and prohibitions on releases

of halons during technician training and during the

testing, maintenance, repair, servicing, and disposal

of halons and halon-containing equipment. The

March 5, 1998 rule also provided for the proper

disposal of halons and halon-containing equipment.
Current Practices and EPA Determination

The further environmental objective of an equipment

certification program, and associated provisions

allowing the removal of halons only through the use

of certified equipment, would be to verify that all

recycling and recovery equipment sold is capable of

minimizing emissions, and that such certified

equipment was in fact used, thereby ensuring

minimum emissions and maximum recovery during

recycling and recovery activities.

Research completed by EPA in association with this

determination suggested that the great majority of

halon recovery and recycling equipment currently in

use, and all such equipment currently on the market,

consists of highly efficient closed halon recovery

systems achieving a minimum recovery efficiency of

98%. Entities that perform the vast majority of

halon transfers employ these efficient units. 

Research further indicated that the halon sector has

been instituting conservative halon practices since

the ban on halon production that occurred on

January 1, 1994. Operations utilizing less efficient

halon recycling and recovery equipment and

methods are estimated to account for less than 1%

of total annual halon emissions in the United States. 

With regard to such halon emissions arising from

the use of inefficient, non-closed halon recovery and

recycling devices and methods, in sections

82.270(d) and (e) of an EPA rule issued March 5,

1998, were intended to eliminate the use of such

devices and restrict halon recovery and recycling

equipment to the highly efficient type of closed

recovery systems now widely used in industry. 

Based upon these findings, EPA determined that no

further environmental advances could be made, in

regard to the CAA section 608 goals of reducing

halon use and emissions, or maximizing halon

recapture and recycling, through a halon recovery

and recycling equipment certification program.

It should be noted that EPA stated in this

determination that it will propose to amend the

March 5, 1998 rule to, among other adjustments,

clarify sections of that regulation pertaining to the

requirement for halon and halon-containing

equipment disposal to be performed in accordance

with cited industry standards. Please see FR text of

determination for further discussion of these

anticipated clarifications.

The direct final determination will become effective

on October 13, 1998 without further notice, unless

the EPA receives adverse comment on the

determination by September 10, 1998. If adverse

comment is received, the EPA will publish a timely

withdrawal of the direct final determination in the

Federal Register and inform the public that the

determination will not take effect. All comments

would then be addressed in a subsequent final

determination based on the proposed determination

that was published simultaneously with the direct

final determination on August 11, 1998. Comments

on the determination should be made to EPA as

indicated in the August 11, 1998 FR text of the

determination (63 FR at 42729, under

“Addresses”). 

For Further Information

For further information, please call the

Stratospheric Protection Hotline at (800) 296-1996

or contact:

Lisa Chang

Stratospheric Protection Division

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Mail Code: 6205J

Washington, D.C. 20460

202/564-9742 (phone)

202/565-2096 (fax)

Information is also available from EPA’s 

Stratospheric Protection Home Page at the

following URL address:

http://www.epa.gov/ozone/index.html