UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

REGION IX AIR DIVISION

Technical Support Document 

for

EPA’s Rulemaking

for the

California State Implementation Plan

Eastern Kern Air Pollution Control District Rule 410.4A

Motor Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Refinishing Operations

Prepared by: Arnold Lazarus

Reviewed by: Andrew Steckel

January 2016
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RULE IDENTIFICATION -

Agency Eastern Kern Air Pollution Control District (EKAPCD)

SIP Approved 

Rule

Rule 410.4A - Motor Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Refinishing 

Operations

Adopted - March 7, 1996

Submitted – May 10, 1996

EPA Approved – November 13, 1998 (63 FR 63410)

Subject of this 

TSD

Rule 410.4A - Motor Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Refinishing 

Operations

Amended - March 13, 2014

Submitted – July 25, 2014

Completeness 

Finding

Determination of Completeness letter: September 11, 2014

Effective Date: March 13, 2014

BACKGROUND – EKAPCD has been designated as Marginal Nonattainment for the 8-hour 

Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS).

According to EKAPCD’s Final Staff Report associated with this rule revision, “Amended 

Rule 410.4A limits volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from coatings and solvents 

used in production, repair, refinish, or maintenance operations where motor vehicles, 

mobile equipment, or associated parts and components are coated. A majority of the 

amendments are based on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Suggested Control 

Measure (SCM) for Automotive Coatings. The SCM is designed to promote uniformity

amongst air districts that use it as a template for amending their motor vehicle and 

mobile equipment refinishing/coating rules.”1

There is no EPA Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) for Motor Vehicle and Mobile 

Equipment Refinishing Operations and, according to CARB’s Facility Search Engine, there 

are no facilities that emit VOC in the EKAPCD for this category for the most recent 

database year of 2013. Therefore, Rule 410.4A is not required to implement reasonably 

available control technology (RACT) pursuant to Clean Air Act (CAA) §182(b)(2). 

RULE SUMMARY - Rule 410.4A establishes VOC content limits and workplace standards 

for motor vehicle and mobile equipment coating operations. It also describes related 

labeling, recordkeeping, and test methods. Changes from the approved SIP rule include:

 

1 EKAPCD Final Staff Report, “Motor Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Refinishing Operations,” March 13,

2014.
2

1. Expands the applicability of the rule to include manufacturers and distributors of 

coatings for motor vehicles and mobile equipment in Paragraph II,

“Applicability.”

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2. Eliminates the grouping of vehicles in Paragraph II, “Applicability.”

3. Exempts coating on motor vehicle assembly lines in Paragraph V(A)(5).

4. Lowers VOC limits for existing coating categories and adds categories to the table 

of limits in Paragraph VI(A), “VOC Content Limits.”

5. Clarifies storage requirements for VOC-containing materials in Paragraph VI(G), 

“Storage and Disposal.”

6. Adds recordkeeping requirements for operations claiming exemptions from sale

prohibitions in Paragraph VII(C), “Record Keeping Requirements for Prohibition of 

Sale.”

7. Lowers the surface preparation cleaning solvent VOC limit to 25 grams per liter

(g/l) of material in Paragraph VI(F)(1).

8. Clarifies record keeping requirements by explicitly stating what information needs 

to be recorded and maintained in Paragraph VII(C), “Record Keeping 

Requirements.”

EVALUATION CRITERIA

1. Enforceability - The Bluebook (Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, 

Deficiencies, and Deviations, EPA, May 25, 1988) and the Little Bluebook 

(Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule Deficiencies, EPA 

Region 9, August 21, 2001) were used to help evaluate compliance with the CAA 

§110(a)(2)(A) requirement for enforceability. 

2. Stringency – Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 40, Subpart B, Table 1, 

“Volatile Organic Compound Emission Standards for Automobile Refinish Coatings” 

(40 CFR pt. 59, subpart. B, tbl.1), CARB’s Suggested Control Measure (SCM) titled 

“Suggested Control Measure for Automotive Coatings,” (approved by the board on

October, 2005), and Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District 

(SMAQMD) Rule 459, were used to evaluate rule stringency. As discussed above, this 

rule is not required to implement RACT at this time.

3. SIP Relaxation - CAA §110(l) prohibits EPA from approving any SIP revision that 

would interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and 

reasonable further progress (RFP) or any other applicable requirement of the CAA. 

In addition, CAA §193 prohibits the modification of any SIP-approved control 

requirement in effect before November 15, 1990, in a nonattainment area.

 

2 The version of Rule 410.4A that is currently under review reorganizes provisions under amended 

paragraph numbers. All paragraph references in this TSD are to the 2014 version currently under review.
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EPA EVALUATION - A summary of our evaluation of the three criteria follows.

1. Enforceability – With the exception of the issue discussed in the deficiencies 

section below, the control, recordkeeping and other requirements are adequately 

clear and enforceable. 

2. Rule Stringency – As discussed above, Rule 410.4A is not required to implement 

RACT. Rule 410.4A is more stringent than the 40 CFR 59.102 Standards table 1. 

Therefore, we have determined that Rule 410.4A fulfills the relevant stringency 

requirements for this action. We note, however, that the rule is not as stringent as 

CARB’s SCM with respect to VOC content limits. For example, Rule 410.4A 

establishes VOC content limits for underbody coating and sealer at 650 g/l each

compared to the SCM‘s limits of 430 g/l, and 250 g/l respectively.

3. SIP Relaxation – Approval of the submittal would comply with CAA §110(l) and 193 

because (1) it would not interfere with the ongoing process for ensuring that 

requirements for RFP and attainment of the NAAQS are met, and (2) the emission 

limits in the submitted rule are more stringent than the existing SIP-approved 

control requirements that they would replace.

RULE DEFICIENCIES – The following deficiency precludes full approval of Rule 410.4A.

 Paragraph VI (A), “VOC Content Limits,” provides VOC limits for cavity wax, 

deadener, gasket/gasket sealing material, lubricating wax/compounds and trunk 

interior coatings. However, in conflict with long-standing guidance on 

enforceability such as discussed in the Bluebook, these terms are not defined in 

the rule.3 We note that the VOC limits for these products are contained in EPA’s 

CTG for automobile assembly lines, and they are usually not included in rules for 

automobile refinishing such as EKAPCD Rule 410.4A. However, coatings that are 

used in the process of automobile assembly are exempt from Rule 410.4A.4

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEXT RULE REVISION - The following revisions are not 

currently the basis for rule disapproval, but are recommended for the next time the rule 

is amended.

 

3

“Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations,” (a.k.a., Bluebook) EPA 

OAQPS, May 25, 1988. P2-7.

4 EKAPCD Rule 410.4A, “Motor Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Refinishing Operations,” Section V(A)(5),

submitted July 25, 2014.
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1. As per EPA’s National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) 

for Paint Stripping and Miscellaneous Surface Coating Operations at Area Sources

(40 CFR §63.11173(e)(1), subpart HHHHHH), revise the rule to require painters to 

receive instruction and certification.

2. Align the VOC content limits and categories of Rule 410.4A to be consistent with 

CARB’s SCM with respect to coating categories and their respective VOC content 

limits in the Coating Limits Table of the SCM.

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EPA ACTION - The submitted Rule 410.4A strengthens the SIP. The rule largely fulfills the 

relevant CAA §110 and part D requirements, but the deficiency discussed above 

precludes a full SIP approval. Therefore, EPA staff recommends a simultaneous limited 

approval and limited disapproval of Rule 410.4A pursuant to CAA §110(k)(3) and §301(a). 

If the limited disapproval is finalized, there are no CAA §110(k) federal implementation 

plan or §179 sanction implications because this rule is not a required submittal.

REFERENCES

1. “Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations,” 

(a.k.a., Bluebook) EPA OAQPS, May 25, 1988.

2. “Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule Deficiencies,” 

(a.k.a., Little Bluebook), EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001.

3. The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 40 Subpart B National Volatile Organic 

Compound Emission Standards for Automobile Refinish Coatings §59.102 

Standards table 1 (40 CFR 59.102, table 1).

4. EKAPCD Rule 410.4A, “Motor Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Refinishing 

Operations,” submitted May 10, 1996 and approved into the SIP on November 13, 

1998 (63 FR 63410).

5. EKAPCD Rule 410.4A, “Motor Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Refinishing 

Operations,” submitted July 25, 2014.

6. “Suggested Control Measure for Automotive Coatings,” CARB, October 20, 2005.

7. SMAQMD Rule 459, “Automotive, Mobile Equipment and Associated Parts and 

Components Coating Operations,” as submitted on February 23, 2012 and 

approved into the SIP on August 9, 2012 (77 FR 47536).

8. 40 CFR Part 63, Subpart HHHHHH - National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air 

Pollutants: Paint Stripping and Miscellaneous Surface Coating Operations at Area 

Sources.

9. “Control Techniques Guidelines for Automobile and Light-Duty Truck Assembly 

Coatings,” EPA-453/R-08-006, September 2008.

 

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“Suggested Control Measure for Automotive Coatings,” CARB, October 20, 2005, p. A-8.