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Section 608
Section 608 (together with Section 609, which covers motor vehicles) of the Clear Air Act (promulgated as 40 CFR Part 82) serves as the main form of occupational licensure for technicians in the HVAC industry in the United States, and satisfies the U.S. requirements under the Montreal Protocol. It requires that all persons who maintain, service, repair or dispose of appliances that contain regulated refrigerants be certified in proper refrigerant handling techniques. In particular, it helps regulate and minimize the release of refrigerants, and in particular ozone depleting refrigerants such as chloroflourocarbons and hydroflourocarbons, as well as other regulated refrigerants as determined by Section 612. Scope There are four categories of certification: A technician with the required level of certification may also legally purchase regulated refrigerants. And technicians who violate the Clean Air Act provisions may be fined, lose their certification, and may be requir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clean Air Act (United States)
The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the United States' primary federal air quality law, intended to reduce and control air pollution nationwide. Initially enacted in 1963 and amended many times since, it is one of the United States' first and most influential modern environmental laws. As with many other major U.S. federal environmental statutes, the Clean Air Act is administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in coordination with state, local, and tribal governments. EPA develops extensive administrative regulations to carry out the law's mandates. The associated regulatory programs are often technical and complex. Among the most important, the National Ambient Air Quality Standards program sets standards for concentrations of certain pollutants in outdoor air; the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants program sets standards for emissions of particular hazardous pollutants from specific sources. Other programs create requirements for vehicle f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order. The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate. The agency is led by its administrator, who is appointed by the president and approved by the Senate. The current administrator is Michael S. Regan. The EPA is not a Cabinet department, but the administrator is normally given cabinet rank. The EPA has its headquarters in Washington, D.C., regional offices for each of the agency's ten regions and 27 laboratories. The agency conducts environmental assessment, research, and education. It has the responsibility of maintaining and enforcing national standards under a variety of environmental laws, in consultation with state, tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Refrigerants
A refrigerant is a working fluid used in the refrigeration cycle of air conditioning systems and heat pumps where in most cases they undergo a repeated phase transition from a liquid to a gas and back again. Refrigerants are heavily regulated due to their toxicity, flammability and the contribution of CFC and HCFC refrigerants to ozone depletion and that of HFC refrigerants to climate change. Refrigerants are used in a Direct Expansion (DX) system to transfer energy from one environment to another, typically from inside a building to outside (or vice versa) commonly known as an "air conditioner" or "heat pump". Refrigerants can carry per kg 10 times more energy than water and 50 times more than air. Refrigerants are controlled substances due to 1) High Pressures (100-145 psi), 2) Extreme temperatures (-50°C to 145°C), 3) Flammability A1 class non-flammable, A2/A2L class flammable & A3 class extremely flammable/explosive and 4) Toxicity B1-low, B2-medium & B3-high, as classifie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Recycling By Material
Recycling can be carried out on various raw materials. Recycling is an important part of creating more sustainable economies, reducing the cost and environmental impact of raw materials. Not all materials are easily recycled, and processing recyclable into the correct waste stream requires considerable energy. Some particular manufactured goods are not easily separated, unless specially process therefore have unique product-based recycling processes. Asphalt Asphalt concrete removed during road maintenance, resurfacing, and repair activities can be reclaimed and reused in new pavement mixtures, as an unbound aggregate base, or other civil engineering applications. Very little asphalt concrete — less than 1 percent, according to a survey by the Federal Highway Administration and the National Asphalt Pavement Association conducted annually since 2009 — is actually disposed of in landfills. When asphalt pavement material is reclaimed for reuse, it is able to replace both virgin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Licensing
A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreement between those parties. In the case of a license issued by a government, the license is obtained by applying for it. In the case of a private party, it is by a specific agreement, usually in writing (such as a lease or other contract). The simplest definition is "A license is a promise not to sue," because a license usually either permits the licensed party to engage in an activity which is illegal, and subject to prosecution, without the license (e.g. fishing, driving an automobile, or operating a broadcast radio or television station), or it permits the licensed party to do something that would violate the rights of the licensing party (e.g. make copies of a copyrighted work), which, without the license, the licensed party could be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Environmental Policy In The United States
The environmental policy of the United States is a federal governmental action to regulate activities that have an environmental impact in the United States. The goal of environmental policy is to protect the environment for future generations while interfering as little as possible with the efficiency of commerce or the liberty of the people and to limit inequity in who is burdened with environmental costs. As his first official act bringing in the 1970s, President Richard Nixon signed the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) into law on New Years Day, 1970. Also in the same year, America began celebrating Earth Day, which has been called "the big bang of U.S. environmental politics, launching the country on a sweeping social learning curve about ecological management never before experienced or attempted in any other nation." NEPA established a comprehensive US national environmental policy and created the requirement to prepare an environmental impact statement for “ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Environmental Law In The United States
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale from microscopic to global in extent. It can also be subdivided according to its attributes. Examples include the marine environment, the atmospheric environment and the terrestrial environment. The number of biophysical environments is countless, given that each living organism has its own environment. The term ''environment'' can refer to a singular global environment in relation to humanity, or a local biophysical environment, e.g. the UK's Environment Agency. Life-environment interaction All life that has survived must have adapted to the conditions of its environment. Temperature, light, humidity, soil nutrients, etc., all influence the species within an environment. However, life in turn modifies, in various forms, its conditions. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Construction
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and comes from Latin ''constructio'' (from ''com-'' "together" and ''struere'' "to pile up") and Old French ''construction''. To construct is the verb: the act of building, and the noun is construction: how something is built, the nature of its structure. In its most widely used context, construction covers the processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design, and continues until the asset is built and ready for use; construction also covers repairs and maintenance work, any works to expand, extend and improve the asset, and its eventual demolition, dismantling or decommissioning. The constructio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Code Of Federal Regulations
In the law of the United States, the ''Code of Federal Regulations'' (''CFR'') is the codification of the general and permanent regulations promulgated by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government of the United States. The CFR is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to federal regulation. The CFR annual edition is published as a special issue of the '' Federal Register'' by the Office of the Federal Register (part of the National Archives and Records Administration) and the Government Publishing Office. In addition to this annual edition, the CFR is published online on the Electronic CFR (eCFR) website, which is updated daily. Background Congress frequently delegates authority to an executive branch agency to issue regulations to govern some sphere. These statutes are called "enabling legislation." Enabling legislation typically has two parts: a substantive scope (typically using language such as "The Secretary shall promulgate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Pollution In The United States
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials into the atmosphere, causing harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or damaging ecosystems. Air pollution can cause health problems including, but not limited to, infections, behavioral changes, cancer, organ failure, and premature death. These health effects are not equally distributed across the U.S population; there are demographic disparities by race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and education. Air pollution has affected the United States since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. According to a 2009 report, around "60 percent of Americans live in areas where air pollution has reached unhealthy levels that can make people sick." Analyzing data from 2016–2018, the American Lung Association found major declines in air quality, including increases in ground-level ozone. In 2016, a study found that levels of nitrogen oxides had plummeted over the previous de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ozone Depletion
Ozone depletion consists of two related events observed since the late 1970s: a steady lowering of about four percent in the total amount of ozone in Earth's atmosphere, and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone (the ozone layer) around Earth's polar regions. The latter phenomenon is referred to as the ozone hole. There are also springtime polar tropospheric ozone depletion events in addition to these stratospheric events. The main causes of ozone depletion and the ozone hole are manufactured chemicals, especially manufactured halocarbon refrigerants, solvents, propellants, and foam-blowing agents (chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), HCFCs, halons), referred to as ozone-depleting substances (ODS). These compounds are transported into the stratosphere by turbulent mixing after being emitted from the surface, mixing much faster than the molecules can settle. Once in the stratosphere, they release atoms from the halogen group through photodissociation, which ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Occupational Licensure
Occupational licensing, also called occupational licensure, is a form of regulation, government regulation requiring a license to pursue a particular profession or vocation for compensation. It is related to occupational closure. Professions that can have a large negative effect on individuals, like physicians, public accountants, and lawyers, require occupational licenses in most developed countries, but many jurisdictions also require licenses for professions without that possibility, like plumbers, taxi drivers, and electricians. Licensing creates a regulatory Barriers to entry, barrier to entry into licensed occupations, and this results in higher income for those with licenses and usually higher costs for consumers. Licensing advocates argue that it protects the public interest by keeping incompetent and unscrupulous individuals from working with the public. However, there is little evidence that it affects the overall quality of services provided to customers by members of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
