UPDATED INFORMATIVE DIGEST

PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER ADOPTION OF PROPOSED AME NDMENTS

TO THE CALIFORNIA CONSUMER PRODUCTS REGULATIONS

Sections Affected: Amendments to sections 94508, 94509, 94510, 94512, 94513, and 94515 to title 17, California Code of Regulations ( CCR) and amendments to Method 310, adopted September 25, 1997, as last amended Ma y 5, 2005, which is incorporated by reference in section 94515, title 17, CCR to add new sections 3.3.7; 4.3; 4.3.1; and

4.3.2.

Background: Section 41712 of the California Health and Safety Code requires the Air Resources Board (Board or ARB) to achieve the maxim um feasible reduction in volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from consumer prod ucts. As part of the regulatory process, ARB must determine that adequate data exis t for it to adopt the regulations. ARB must also determine that the regulations are te chnologically and commercially feasible, and necessary to carry out the Board’s re sponsibilities under Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code. In addition, Health and Sa fety Code section 41712(c) provides that no regulation shall be adopted which requires the elimination of a product form. Section 41712 is primarily directed at attaining th e State and federal ozone standards.

Pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 41712, A RB has adopted the Regulation for Reducing Emissions from Consumer Products (the “Consumer Products Regulation;” title 17, CCR, sections 94507-94517).

On September 25, 2007, ARB adopted the State Strate gy for California’s 2007 State Implementation Plan (2007 SIP). The 2007 SIP serve s as California’s overall plan to provide the emission reductions necessary to meet t he federal ozone standard of 0.08 parts per million averaged over eight hours. As part of the 2007 SIP, ARB has committed to achieve an additional 30 to 40 tons pe r day of VOC reductions from consumer products statewide by January 1, 2014. Th e amendments approved by the Board at its June 26, 2008, hearing constitute the first 4.5 tons per day in meeting this commitment. Achieving additional VOC reductions fr om consumer products is a critical element of the 2007 SIP and is necessary to attain State and federal air quality

standards.

In 2006, Assembly Bill 32, The California Global Wa rming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32), was signed into law. This law created a c omprehensive, multi-year program requiring the reduction of global warming compound emissions in California. Assembly Bill 32 added section 1, division 25.5 (commencing with section 38500) to the Health and Safety Code. Among other things, AB 32 require d ARB to design and adopt an overall Scoping Plan, by January 1, 2009, that iden tifies how greenhouse gas (GHG)

emissions can be reduced back to 1990 levels.2

AB 32 additionally recognizes that immediate progre ss in reducing GHG emissions can and should be made. In October 2007, the ARB appro ved a list of early action GHG

emission reduction measures. A subset of these ear ly action measures was identified as Discrete Early Action Measures. Discrete Early Action measures are Board adopted regulations to reduce GHG emissions, which are to b e legally effective by January 1, 2010. One of the approved Discrete Earl y Action Measures is to reduce the use of compounds with high global warming potential s in consumer products. The goal of this measure is to achieve, at a minimum, an emi ssions reduction equivalent to reducing 0.25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. The amendments approved at the June 26, 2008, hearing will provide about 0.23 million metric tons of

CO 2 equivalents per year toward meeting the emission r eduction target. The adopted amendments for this rulemaking will prevent the pot ential increased use of high global warming potential (GWP) compounds as products are r eformulated to meet the new VOC limits for Double Phase Aerosol Air Freshener, Paint Thinner, and Multi-purpose Solvent products.

Description of Adopted Regulatory Action: On September 24, 2009, the ARB approved, and subsequently adopted after two 15-day public comment periods, amendments to the existing Consumer Products Regula tion. The Consumer Products Regulation was amended by adding and modifying prod uct category definitions and by establishing new or lower VOC limits for three cate gories: 1) Double Phase Aerosol Air Fresheners, 2) Multi-Purpose Solvents and 3) Paint Thinners. For Double Phase Aerosol Air Fresheners, the amendments will reduce the VOC limit from 25 to 20 percent by weight effective December 31, 2012. For the Multi-purpose Solvent and Paint Thinner categories, the Board adopted two tie rs of VOC limits. For both categories, the first tier limit is 30 percent by w eight effective December 31, 2010, and the second tier limit is 3 percent by weight effect ive December 31, 2013. For all three categories, the adopted limits will achieve a total VOC reduction of 14.7 tons per day statewide, excluding the South Coast Air Quality Ma nagement District, by January 1, 2014. This represents a 54 percent reduction in em issions from these categories.

To ensure that the reductions achieved by the Discr ete Early Action Measure for consumer products occur, and GHG emissions do not i ncrease, the amendments limit the use of compounds with high GWP in the three pro duct categories for which VOC limits were adopted. These products could only use compounds with GWP factors

below 150. The GWP values to be used in determinin g compliance are those set forth in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, S econd Assessment Report.

New definitions and modifications to existing defin itions were also made to the existing regulatory language. New definitions include “Arom atic Compound,” “Artist’s Solvent/Thinner,” “High Temperature Coating,” “Indu strial Maintenance Coating,” “Paint Clean-up,” and “Zinc-Rich Primer.” These new defin itions are in support of the new paint thinner standards to clarify the amendments. Modified definitions include “ASTM,” “Multi-purpose Solvent,” and “Paint Thinner.” The ASTM definition was changed to reflect the revised name of the organization that s ets the ASTM methods. The Multipurpose Solvent and Paint Thinner definitions were modified to identify products which3

are exempt from, or included, in the categories and to improve enforcement of the regulation. In addition, there are size modificati ons in the definitions of both dilutable and pre-mixed Automotive Windshield Washer Fluids. The definitions now state that

Dilutable Windshield Washer Fluids are sold in cont ainers greater than 10 gallons or one quart or less, while Pre-mixed Automotive Winds hield Washer Fluids are sold in containers greater than one quart but less than 10 gallons.

The adopted regulatory action has other requirement s for Multi-purpose Solvents and Paint Thinners. One is to prohibit the use of the toxic air contaminants methylene chloride, perchloroethylene, and trichloroethylene. Another provision is to temporarily prohibit manufacturers of flammable or extremely fl ammable products from using generic product names such as “Multi-purpose Solven t,” “Paint Thinner,” or “Paint Clean-up.” Exceptions to this prohibition include two options, either providing a hang tag or sticker with the statement “Formulated to me et California VOC limits, see warnings on label;” or displaying the name of the c hemical that results in the product meeting criteria for flammable, such as “Acetone” i n a font size at least as large as all other words on the principle display panel. This p rohibition would be effective December 31, 2010, through December 31, 2015. This prohibition is intended to alert the consumer that Multi-purpose Solvents and Paint Thinners have been reformulated and may have different characteristics than older p roducts.

Further, the amendments will limit the aromatic com pound content in these categories, to address possible ozone forming potential increas es and maximize air quality benefits. Finally, the Board adopted new reporting requiremen ts for Multi-purpose Solvents and Paint Thinners, which will provide the authority fo r ARB staff to use to perform a technical assessment of the progress of reformulati on efforts in advance of the second

tier VOC limits.

The amendments to Method 310 include analytical met hods already being used and/or are needed to enhance the enforceability of the new , lower VOC limits that will become effective by 2010. The modifications also include new VOC content calculations for products with high water content or low VOC content

.

The Board also adopted a number of minor changes to various provisions of the regulation in order to correct errors or improve cl arity.

Comparable Federal Regulations: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has promulgated a national consumer products r ule under section 183(e) of the federal Clean Air Act (40 CFR Part 59, subpart C, s ections 59.201 et seq. ). The rule specifies VOC limits for a number of consumer produ ct categories, and is similar in format to ARB’s consumer products regulation.

Although the national regulation is similar in many aspects to the California regulation, it is less effective in reducing VOC emissions from co nsumer products. The U.S. EPA’s rule does not regulate a number of product categori es that are currently regulated under the ARB regulation. For the categories that are re gulated under both rules, many of4

ARB’s limits are more stringent than the U.S. EPA’s limits. Because California has unique air quality problems, we must reduce VOC emi ssions from all categories, including consumer products, to the maximum extent feasible, to attain the federal and State ambient air quality standards for ozone.

The U.S. EPA’s rule also differs in that it applies nationwide to consumer product manufacturers, importers and distributors (but not retailers), while the ARB regulation applies to any person (including retailers) who “se lls, supplies, offers for sale, or manufactures consumer products for use in the State of California.” Finally, the U.S. EPA’s rule has an unlimited “sell-through” per iod for non-complying products

manufactured before the effective date of the limit s, whereas California law limits the sell-through period to three years.

U.S. EPA’s consumer products rule also does not pro hibit the use of certain toxic air contaminants. In aggregate, ARB’s consumer product s regulations have prohibited the

use of certain chlorinated toxic air contaminants i n 70 categories, resulting in emission reductions of over 13 tons per day.

There is no comparable federal regulation related t o reducing GHG emissions in consumer products.