California Code of Regulations
Title 17 - Public Health
Division 3 - Air Resources
Chapter 1 - Air Resources Board
Subchapter 10 - Climate Change
Article 4 - Regulations to Achieve Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions
Subarticle 4 - Small Containers of Automotive Refrigerant
Section 95361 - Definitions

(a) The definitions in section 1900(b), Title 13 of the California Code of Regulations apply with the following additions:

"Appliance" means any device that contains and uses a high-GWP refrigerant, including any air conditioner, refrigerator, chiller, freezer, or refrigeration system.

"Automotive Refrigerant" means any substance used, sold for use, or designed or intended for use as a heat transfer fluid and provides a cooling effect in a Motor Vehicle Air Conditioner (MVAC) that is not either a Class I or a Class II refrigerant as defined in 42 U.S.C. sections 7671(a) or (b), or that is listed in Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations part 82, subpart A, appendix A, as it existed as of July 1, 2006.

"Breached" or "Breached Container" means any small container that has been structurally compromised so that the container's contents have been released to the environment through an opening other than the self-sealing valve.

"Can Heel" means the quantity of automotive refrigerant remaining in a small container of automotive refrigerant after that small container of automotive refrigerant has been used to charge an MVAC system or systems with refrigerant.

"Certified Reclaimed Refrigerant" means used (recovered) refrigerant that has been reclaimed by a U.S. EPA-certified refrigerant reclaimer from a previously operational appliance and meets all of the following conditions:

"Consumer" means the first person who in good faith purchases a small container of automotive refrigerant for purposes other than resale, including, but not limited to, MVAC maintenance and repair activities or other applications involving this product. A person who purchases a small container of automotive refrigerant for purposes of servicing or repairing another person's MVAC for consideration (e.g., a MVAC technician) is considered a 'consumer' for purposes of this subarticle. Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are not consumers.

"Dispose" means to discard a small container of automotive refrigerant in any manner, except as permitted in section 95365 of this subarticle.

"Distributor" means any person to whom a small container of automotive refrigerant is sold or supplied for the purposes of resale or distribution in commerce, including imports to and exports from the United States. Manufacturers, retailers, and consumers are not distributors.

"Executive Officer" means the Executive Officer of the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

"Foam" means a product with a cellular structure formed via a foaming process in a variety of materials that undergo hardening via a chemical reaction or phase transition.

"Global Warming Potential" (GWP) means the radiative forcing impact of one mass-based unit of a given greenhouse gas relative to an equivalent unit of carbon dioxide over a given period of time.

"Global Warming Potential Value" or "GWP Value" means, for the purposes of this subarticle, the 100-yr GWP value first published by the IPCC in its Second Assessment Report (SAR) (IPCC, 1995); or if a 100-yr GWP value was not specified in the IPCC SAR, it means the GWP value published by the IPCC in its Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) (IPCC, 2007); or if a 100-yr GWP value was not specified in the IPCC AR4, then the GWP value will be determined by the Executive Officer based on data, studies and/or good engineering or scientific judgment. Both the 1995 IPCC SAR values and the 2007 IPCC AR4 values are published in table 2.14 of the 2007 IPCC AR4. The SAR GWP values are found in column "SAR (100-yr)" of Table 2.14.; the AR4 GWP values are found in column "100 yr" of Table 2.14."

"Label" means any written, printed, or graphic matter affixed to, applied to, attached to, embossed on, or appearing upon any small container for purposes of branding, identifying, or giving information with respect to the product or to the contents of the package.

"Manufacturer" means any person who imports, manufactures, assembles, packages, repackages, recovers, recycles, or reclaims a small container of automotive refrigerant, or who re-labels such a container of refrigerant.

"Motor Vehicle Air Conditioner" (MVAC) is a system installed in a motor vehicle that uses a refrigerant to cool the driver's or passenger's compartment.

"Non-Profit Organization" is a business that has been granted tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

"Person" has the same meaning as defined in Health and Safety Code section 39047.

"Reclaim" means to process refrigerant to a level equivalent to new product specifications in accordance with the AHRI Standard 700 (2019 Standard for Specifications for Refrigerants", Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, Arlington, VA, 2019), which is incorporated by reference herein.

"Recover" means to remove refrigerant, in any condition, from either a MVAC system or previously operational appliance and to store it in an external container without necessarily testing or processing it in any way.

"Recovery and reclamation" means any action or activities in which a person or entity physically extracts refrigerants and foams stored in appliances or equipment, and subsequently processes such refrigerants and foams so that they conform to standards under Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations Part 82, § 82.164, adopted on July 30, 1992, as last amended on November 18, 2016, which is incorporated by reference herein.

"Recycle" means to clean refrigerant for reuse by oil separation and by single or multiple passes through moisture-absorption devices, such as replaceable core filter-driers that reduce moisture, acidity, and particulate matter.

"Recovery facility" means a facility that recovers automotive refrigerant that is subject to the provisions of this subarticle.

"Refrigerant reclaimer" means a person who takes recovered refrigerant and reclaims it for reuse.

"Retailer" means any person who owns, leases, operates or controls, or supervises a retail outlet in California. Manufacturers, distributors, and consumers are not retailers.

"Retail Outlet" means any establishment at which a small container of automotive refrigerant is sold, supplied, or offered for sale in California.

"Self-Sealing Valve" means a valve affixed to small container of automotive refrigerant that automatically seals to prevent or minimized inadvertent release of refrigerant when not actively engaged for the purpose of dispensing refrigerant, and meets or exceeds established performance criteria as identified in section 95362(b).

"SKU" (Stock Keeping Unit) means a unique code identifier for each distinct product or service that can be ordered from a supplier. The SKU system enables the merchant to systematically track their inventory, such as in warehouses and retail outlets.

"Small Container" or "Small Container of Automotive Refrigerant" means automotive refrigerant packaged in a container holding more than 2 ounces and less than 2 pounds of automotive refrigerant by weight.

"Unclaimed deposits" means deposits collected from a consumer by a retailer in conjunction with the sale of a small container of automotive refrigerant that are not returned to the consumer.

"Use" means any utilization of a compound or any substance, including, but not limited to, utilization in a product, consumption by the end-user, or in intermediate applications, such as formulation or packaging for other subsequent applications.