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In EPA's leak repair rules, a leak rate is expressed as a percentage of full charge lost over what period?

12 months, if the current rate of loss continued.

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  1. 30 days
  2. 6 months
  3. 12 months ✔

Why: EPA defines leak rate as the percent of the full charge that would be lost over 12 months if the current rate of loss continued. So even a quick test is scaled to a yearly number.

Huh, didn't know that: EPA allows two ways to calculate it, the annualizing method and the rolling average method, and a facility must use the same one for all its appliances.

The dad joke
A plumber was called to fix a leaky pipe in the library. He made so much noise that the librarian asked him to pipe down.
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References

Answer: 12 months. EPA defines leak rate as the percent of the full charge that would be lost over 12 months if the current rate of loss continued. So even a quick test is scaled to a yearly number.

  1. 40 CFR 82.152 Definitions (Cornell LII) www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/40/82.152
    expressed in terms of the percentage of the appliance's full charge that would be lost over a 12-month period
    Checked 2026-10-10.
  2. 40 CFR 82.152 Definitions, Leak rate (Cornell LII) www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/40/82.152
    The same method must be used for all appliances subject to the leak repair requirements located at an operating facility.
    Checked 2026-10-10.

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