U.S. EPA Region 5 issued an Administrative Consent Order (ACO) to Regal Recycling to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA). On December 24, 2008, EPA issued to Regal Recycling a Finding of Violation (FOV) pertaining to its scrap metal recycling facility in Howell, Michigan. The FOV alleged that Regal Recycling had failed to fully respond to a previous 114 request. In response, Regal Recycling provided the requested records.
Regal accepted for recycling small appliances such as refrigerators and room air conditioners that contained or once contained ozone-depleting refrigerants, without either recovering the refrigerant from the appliances, so that it would be required to verify that the refrigerant had been properly recovered prior to sale to Regal Recycling, as required at 40 CFR Section 82.156. The ACO requires Regal Recycling to utilize its refrigerant recovery equipment and to offer its customers the service whereby it may recover the refrigerant from appliances it accepts for scrap recycling at its facility.