§ 38-0107 — Regulation of the use of chlorofluorocarbon compounds

§ 38-0107. Regulation of the use of chlorofluorocarbon compounds.\n 1. The commissioner shall by regulation provide that:\n (a) On and after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-one, no person\nrepairing or servicing motor vehicle air conditioners shall knowingly\nvent into the atmosphere the chlorofluorocarbon compounds contained in\nsuch air conditioners and shall capture for recycling or capture and\nrecycle, to the greatest extent possible, the chlorofluorocarbon\ncompounds during servicing and repair of such air conditioners by\nproperly using approved refrigerant recycling equipment provided,\nhowever, that the provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to any\nautomobile repair shop with less than four covered bays, until January\nfirst, nineteen hundred ninety-two;\n (b) On and after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-two, no motor\nvehicle air conditioners shall be disposed of by any means without first\nhaving had the chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants contained within\nmechanical cooling systems captured for recycling. Such recapture shall\nbe performed by the person accepting the motor vehicle air conditioners\nfor recycling or dismantling. In making captured chlorofluorocarbon\ncompound refrigerants, which are captured from disposed of motor vehicle\nmobile air conditioning systems, suitable for reentry into the market\nplace, the captured chlorofluorocarbon compound refrigerants must be\nrecycled to a uniform level of quality such as that specified by the\nAir-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institution (ARI) Standard 700\n"Specifications for Fluorocarbon Refrigerants";\n (c) On and after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-two, no\nchlorofluorocarbon compounds shall knowingly be vented into the\natmosphere or otherwise be improperly disposed of during the repair,\nservicing or disposal of refrigeration systems but instead shall to the\ngreatest extent possible be captured for recycling. In making captured\nchlorofluorocarbon compound refrigerants, which are captured from a\nrefrigeration system, suitable for reentry into the market place, the\ncaptured chlorofluorocarbon compound refrigerants must be recycled to a\nuniform level of quality such as that specified by the Air-Conditioning\nand Refrigeration Institute (ARI) Standard 700 "Specification for\nFluorocarbon Refrigerants".\n (d) On and after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-two, no\ncontainers containing less than fifteen pounds of chlorofluorocarbon\ncompounds, commonly used for recharging automotive air conditioners,\nshall be sold or offered for sale within the state except for sales to\npersons meeting the requirements of section three hundred ninety-eight-c\nof the vehicle and traffic law and who have obtained for use in their\nbusiness approved motor vehicle refrigerant recycling equipment or\napproved motor vehicle refrigerant recapturing equipment or to persons\nfor purposes of resale only. Persons wishing to purchase\nchlorofluorocarbon compounds in containers with a capacity less than\nfifteen pounds must show proof of compliance with the requirements of\nthis section.\n 2. The commissioner is hereby directed upon application by an\ninterested party to determine, after a hearing, whether any uses,\nincluding but not limited to medical uses, of chlorofluorocarbon\ncompounds and halon compounds are so necessary to human health, safety\nand welfare that they should be exempted from the application of this\nsection and section three hundred ninety-nine-t of the general business\nlaw or, upon a finding that appropriate refrigerant recycling equipment\ndoes not exist in sufficient quantities, to phase in compliance with the\nprovisions of subdivision one of this section by postponing the\ncompliance dates therein. Upon receiving an application to phase in\ncompliance with the provisions of paragraph (a), (b), or (c) of\nsubdivision one of this section, the commissioner shall approve or deny\nthe application within ninety days. If the commissioner fails to act\nwithin ninety days, the application shall automatically be granted for\none hundred eighty days or until such time as the commissioner renders a\ndecision, whichever is longer.\n Any action of the commissioner under this article shall be subject to\njudicial review in a proceeding under article seventy-eight of the civil\npractice law and rules instituted within thirty days of its effective\ndate.\n 3. Any local law, ordinance, rule or regulation relating to sale, use,\nreuse, reclamation, or disposal of chlorofluorocarbon compounds must be\nidentical to or the same as the provisions of this article and the rules\nand regulations adopted hereunder.\n