Section 84.110 - [Effective 12/10/2024] Emissions from fire suppression equipment(a) As of January 1, 2026, no person installing, servicing, repairing, or disposing of fire suppression equipment containing a regulated substance may knowingly vent or otherwise release into the environment any regulated substances used in such equipment. (1) Release of regulated substances during testing of fire suppression equipment is not subject to the prohibition under this paragraph (a) if the following four conditions are met: (i) Equipment employing suitable alternative fire suppression agents are not available;(ii) Release of fire suppression agent is essential to demonstrate equipment functionality;(iii) Failure of the system or equipment would pose great risk to human safety or the environment; and(iv) A simulant agent cannot be used in place of the regulated substance for testing purposes.(2) The prohibition under this paragraph (a) does not apply to qualification and development testing during the design and development process of fire suppression equipment containing regulated substances when such tests are essential to demonstrate equipment functionality and when a suitable simulant agent cannot be used in place of the regulated substance for testing purposes.(3) The prohibition under this paragraph (a) does not apply to the emergency release of regulated substances for the legitimate purpose of fire extinguishing, explosion inertion, or other emergency applications for which the fire suppression equipment was designed.(b) As of January 1, 2026, no owner or operator of fire suppression equipment containing regulated substances shall allow the release of regulated substances to occur as a result of failure to maintain such fire suppression equipment.(c) As of January 1, 2030, recycled regulated substances must be used for the initial installation of new fire suppression equipment, including both total flooding systems and streaming applications, that is installed in the United States. As of January 1, 2026, recycled regulated substances must be used for the servicing and/or repair of existing fire suppression equipment in the United States, including both total flooding systems and streaming applications. Notwithstanding the prior sentences, if the fire suppression equipment does not use any regulated substance, this requirement does not apply. If the fire suppression equipment uses a regulated substance in combination with other fire suppression agents, this requirement will only apply to the regulated substance used.(d) Any person who employs fire suppression technicians who install, service, repair, or dispose of fire suppression equipment containing regulated substances shall train technicians hired on or before January 1, 2026, on emissions reduction of regulated substances by June 1, 2026. Fire suppression technicians hired after January 1, 2026, shall be trained regarding emissions reduction of regulated substances within 30 days of hiring, or by June 1, 2026, whichever is later. (1) The fire suppression technician training shall include an explanation of the purpose of the training requirement and also address the following:(i) The significance of minimizing releases of regulated substances and ensuring technician safety;(ii) An overview of regulated substances and environmental concerns with regulated substances, including discussion of other federal, State, local, or Tribal fire, building, safety, and environmental codes and standards;(iii) A review of relevant regulations concerning regulated substances, including the requirements of this subpart that apply with respect to fire suppression equipment; and(iv) Specific technical instruction relevant to avoiding unnecessary emissions of regulated substances during the servicing, repair, disposal, or installation of fire suppression equipment at the different types of facilities where the technician might perform such work on fire suppression equipment.(e) As of January 1, 2026, no person shall dispose of fire suppression equipment containing regulated substances except by either recovering the regulated substances themselves before sending the equipment for disposal or by leaving the regulated substances in the equipment and sending it for disposal to a facility, such as a fire suppression equipment manufacturer, a distributor, or a fire suppressant recycler.(f) As of January 1, 2026, no person shall dispose of regulated substances used as a fire suppression agent except by sending it for recycling to a fire suppressant recycler or a reclaimer certified under 40 CFR 82.164 , or by arranging for its destruction using one of the controlled processes listed in § 84.29 . (1) Any person using a device to recover, store, and/or transfer regulated substances used in fire suppression equipment must: evacuate the device used to recover, store, and/or transfer regulated substances prior to each use to prevent contamination, arrange for destruction of the recovered regulated substances as necessary; and collect and dispose of wastes from the recycling process.(2) Any person using recovery and recycling equipment to recover regulated substances from fire suppression equipment must: (i) Operate and maintain recovery and recycling equipment in accordance with manufacturer specifications to ensure that the equipment performs as specified;(ii) Repair leaks in storage, recovery, recycling, and/or charging equipment used with regulated substances before use; and(iii) Ensure that cross-contamination does not occur through the mixing of regulated substances that may be contained in similar cylinders.(g)(1) As of January 1, 2026, any person who performs first fill of fire suppression equipment, service (e.g., recharge) of fire suppression equipment, and/or recycles regulated substances recovered from fire suppression equipment, such as equipment manufacturers, distributors, agent suppliers, or installers that recycle regulated substances, must submit a report to EPA annually covering the prior year's activity from January 1 through December 31. The first annual report must be submitted to the Agency on February 14, 2027, and subsequent annual reports must be submitted by February 14 of each subsequent year. Each annual report must be submitted electronically, using the Agency's applicable reporting platform. Each annual report must contain basic identification information (i.e., owner name, facility name, facility address where equipment is located) and the following information for each regulated substance: the quantity of material (the combined mass of regulated substance and contaminants) sold for the purpose of installation of new fire suppression equipment and servicing and/or repair of existing fire suppression equipment; the quantity of material (the combined mass of regulated substance and contaminants) in inventory onsite for the purpose of installation of new fire suppression equipment and servicing and/or repair of existing fire suppression equipment broken out by recovered, recycled, and virgin; the total mass of each regulated substance sold for the purpose of installation of new fire suppression equipment and servicing and/or repair of existing fire suppression equipment; the total mass of each regulated substance in inventory onsite for the purpose of installation of new fire suppression equipment and servicing and/or repair of existing fire suppression equipment broken out by recovered, recycled, and virgin; and the total mass of waste products the reporting entity sent for disposal, along with information about the disposal facility if waste is not processed by the reporting entity. A copy of the submitted reports must be maintained for three years in either electronic or paper format. If any entity reports information to EPA under § 84.31(j) that is also required to be reported under this paragraph, to the extent the information reported under § 84.31(j) overlaps with the information that must be reported under this paragraph, in lieu of reporting the same information twice, the entity may refer to the corresponding information reported under § 84.31(j) and explain how it satisfies the reporting requirements in completing the reporting under this paragraph.(2) As of January 1, 2026, any person who employs fire suppression technicians who service, repair, install, or dispose of fire suppression equipment containing regulated substances must maintain an electronic or paper copy of the fire suppression technician training used to meet the requirements in paragraph (d) of this section and make that copy available to EPA upon request. These entities must document that they have provided training to personnel as specified in paragraph (d) of this section and must maintain these records for three years after each training in either electronic or paper format.(3) As of January 1, 2026, owners and operators of fire suppression equipment containing regulated substances must maintain records documenting that regulated substances are recovered from the fire suppression equipment before it is sent for disposal as specified in paragraph (e) of this section. Such records must be maintained for three years after the relevant equipment is sent for disposal in either electronic or paper format.