Compliance and Enforcement Quick Finder

Stratospheric Ozone Protection (CFC) Complaint Letter

National Information

Concerned Citizen(s):

Thank you for contacting the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We appreciate tips from private citizens who witness or know of possible violations of the refrigerant recovery and recycling requirements established in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.

To assist us, please complete the Stratospheric Ozone Protection (CFC) Complaint Form (pdf, 68 KB, 2 pgs).
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the Adobe PDF files on this page. See EPA's PDF page for more information about getting and using the free Acrobat Reader.

Please try to include as much factual information as possible about the alleged violation. In submitting a tip to EPA, you may remain anonymous by not identifying yourself. You should, however, be aware that tips may be difficult to investigate without additional information from you which we would not be able to obtain if you do not include your name, address, and telephone number. Even if you remain anonymous, the information you report may indicate to the alleged violator that you made the compliant.

If we need more information, we will contact you by telephone. In most cases, you will not be contacted by EPA again unless clarifying information is needed, as we cannot talk to the public about ongoing investigations or enforcement cases. We recommend that you keep a copy of all information which you submit to EPA.

Upon receipt of the CFC Complaint Form, the information will be reviewed to determine if an onsite inspection, or sending a Section 114 investigative letter is needed. In some cases, no action is taken because the circumstances of the incident do not support an enforcement action. The final number of penalties levied against individuals or organizations will ultimately be a small fraction of the number of tips that EPA receives because proving a violation is difficult.

In order to follow up on your tip and determine whether a violation of the Clean Air Act may have occurred, you may use the questions below as a guide in filling out the Stratospheric Ozone Protection (CFC) Complaint Form (68 KB pdf, 2 pgs)

(1) A detailed description of the activity by the company (name, address, phone number) which may have resulted in the release of refrigerants into the environment, including:

(a) the name of any individual, if known, whom you witnessed venting a refrigerant into the environment;
(b) the date upon which such venting occurred;
(c) the location at which such venting occurred; and
(d) details of the operation undertaken during which the company allegedly vented refrigerants into the environment;

(2) A description of the circumstances under which you were able to witness the alleged venting of refrigerants by the company;

(3) A description of any current or former relationship between you and the company, i.e., employee, contractor, etc.

When completed, please mail the complaint to the following address:

U.S. EPA, Region 6
Attn: Joyce Johnson (6EN-H)
1445 Ross Avenue - Suite 1200
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733

Please feel free to contact me at (214) 665-8548, if you have any questions about filling out your complaint.