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Technical Brief

Ministry of the Environment Refrigerants Regulation

ODP Fact Sheet

Recently, the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) amended the Refrigerants Regulation (O. Reg. 189/94), making changes in the following areas: certification, enforcement, and mobile air conditioning systems. These changes will impact the way you do business.

Re-Certification Every Three Years

The Ministry of the Environment will continue the existing environmental certification (commonly known as the ODP card program). This program consists of initial training and testing, renewable cards (valid for three years) and re-testing prior to card renewal.

Over the next few years, all cards issued before June 30, 2001 will be expiring. All technicians will be required to take a re-certification exam in order to get a new certificate.

As of July 1, 2001, depending on your last name, your card expires:

Last Name	Date by which you must renew your ODP Card
A-G	December 31, 2002
H-P	December 31, 2003
Q-Z	December 31, 2004

Upon successful completion of the re-certification exam, you will be issued a card that is valid for three years. Then, as long as you need an ODP card, you must write a re-certification examination before your card expires.

It is expected that you will receive further information about the re-certification process approximately a year before your card expires.

Updated Standards for Technical Practice

The Ministry of the Environment has also now included minimum standards of practice in the regulation. Specifically, you must perform a leak test in accordance with the practices set out in the Environmental Code of Practice for Elimination of Fluorocarbon Emissions from Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Systems. This document can be obtained on the Internet at www.ec.gc.ca/ozone/cop-cdp/refrig/en/index.cfm or directly from Environment Canada.

Records of Use

All technicians who hold ODP cards are now required to keep records of use. These records must contain:

• All amounts and types of refrigerant purchased or obtained (if you do not purchase directly) for the purpose of servicing or testing equipment.
• The amount of, and explanation for, any discharge of a refrigerant, whether or not it occurs in the course of servicing or testing equipment.
• The date of any work done servicing or testing equipment, the name of the company doing the work and the name of the individual doing the work.
• A description of the work done, the amount and type of refrigerant used in the work, the type of refrigerant recaptured in the course of the work and an estimate of the amount of refrigerant recaptured in the course of the work.

These records would be kept by each technician for a minimum of 2 years and must be made available to ministry staff upon request.

Release Reporting

The amendment to the Refrigerants regulation also requires reporting of releases of 100 kg or greater of refrigerants to the ministry's Spills Action Centre (1-800-268-6060).

Clearer Definitions

The Ministry of the Environment has included two new definitions (refrigerant and mobile air conditioner) and has clarified the definition of wholesaler to make it clear that anyone who purchases refrigerants for the purposes of resale must keep records as required under section 14 of the Refrigerants Regulation.

Mobile Air Conditioning Systems (MACs)

As part of the Ministry of the Environment's plan to reduce the release of ozone-depleting refrigerants to the atmosphere, no person shall refill any mobile air conditioning system with CFC-based refrigerants (e.g. R-12 and R-502 and their blends) after January 1, 2002.

For Further Information

Please visit the ministry's Web site on ozone-depleting substances at www.ene.gov.on.ca/envision/ozone or call the ministry's information telephone line at 1-877-689-6110 or (416) 314-7245.