Delaware appeals panel rejects industry challenge of AIM VOC rule

Citation

(2003), "Delaware appeals panel rejects industry challenge of AIM VOC rule", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. 32 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/prt.2003.12932dab.010

Delaware appeals panel rejects industry challenge of AIM VOC rule

Delaware appeals panel rejects industry challenge of AIM VOC rule

Keywords: Coatings, Environment

Appeals panel in Delaware has rejected an NPCA petition seeking the repeal of a recently enacted VOC rule on architectural and industrial-maintenance (AIM) coatings in that state, the association reported. At a hearing in January conducted by the Delaware Environmental Appeals Board, the NPCA had argued that the rule would “effectively ban” numerous coatings products manufactured for sale in the state.

Under the Delaware regulation, coatings manufacturers will be required to meet sharply lower VOC limits on a number of architectural and industrial maintenance coatings categories beginning on 1 January 2005.

Jim Sell, Senior Counsel for the NPCA’s Government Affairs Division, said that the association is considering its options following the environmental appeals board decision, although he declined to speculate on any possible response. Delaware is the first member state of the ozone transport commission (OTC), a group of 12 mid-Atlantic and northeastern states and the District of Columbia, to adopt a proposed AIM VOC regulation developed by the OTC. The states of New York and Pennsylvania also have issued informal drafts of a VOC regulation that are essentially identical to the Delaware rule, Sell said. The NPCA and coatings manufacturers are continuing efforts to respond to those actions, he said.

The NPCA says that the OTC regulation is more stringent than the national VOC rule enacted several years back by the EPA. The OTC rule is modelled largely on a suggested control measure (SCM) issued by the California Air Resources Board for adoption by local air-quality districts in California. The California and OTC proposals would effectively force the elimination of many existing products based on VOC content, the NPCA says.

Representatives of the NPCA and several coatings companies had urged the Delaware appeals board to consider an alternative regulation that would provide substantial VOC-emission reductions but, allow less-stringent VOC limits for several key types of coatings products. The NPCA proposal also called for the adoption of a VOC-averaging provision that would provide greater compliance flexibility.

The Delaware regulation calls for VOC limits of 100 g/l for interior and exterior flat coatings 150 g/l for non-flats and 250 g/l for high-gloss coatings, and a range of limits for other product categories. More information on the regulation can be obtained from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Web site located at www.dnrec.state.de.us/air/aqm_page/regs.htm, under Regulation 41, “Limiting emissions of volatile organic compounds from consumer and commercial products”.