United States Pollution Prevention EPA744-F-98-013 

Environmental Protection and Toxics August 1998 

Agency (7406) 

1EPA Design for the Environment 

Small Auto Refinish Shop 

Project in Philadelphia 

What Is Design for the 

Environment? 

What Is the Project Goal 

and Game Plan? 

Why Is This Project 

Important To You and 

Your Workers? 

Why Small Shops in 

Philadelphia? 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Design for 

the Environment (DfE) Program is a voluntary, partnership-based 

program that works with small companies to integrate health 

and environmental considerations into business decisions. DfE’s 

approach to environmental protection emphasizes making 

changes and choices—in materials and processes—that prevent 

pollution before it is created. 

The Small Auto Refinish Shop Project works with auto refinishers to identify and adopt safer, cleaner, more efficient practices 

and technologies. Through its research, the Project Team has 

uncovered many examples of health and safety improvements 

that increase efficiency and help shops save time and money— 

some are even cost-free. Other factors—like the quality of the 

refinish job and compliance with environmental regulations— 

also can advance the goal of a cleaner, safer shop. 

Auto refinishers use many potentially harmful chemicals, 

especially during painting operations. Of particular concern are 

isocyanates, solvents, and paint additives. Isocyanates, for example, are a major cause of occupational asthma. To safeguard their 

health, workers need to protect themselves from exposure during 

spray painting and related activities. The Small Auto Refinish 

Shop Project will identify better control technologies and more 

efficient workplace practices and will make this information 

available to interested shop owners. Use of these new practices 

and technologies will better protect workers and minimize the 

generation of waste and the release of chemicals in the environment. 

The DfE Program selected Philadelphia for the project’s first 

pilot because of the city’s positive experience working with auto 

refinishers, concern for small businesses and the safety and environmental issues they face, and the large number of auto refinish 

shops in the Philadelphia area. The project focuses on small 

shops because they make up the majority of the auto refinish 

industry and often have the fewest resources to upgrade their 

shops. 

2Printed on paper that contains at least 20 percent postconsumer fiber. 
What Improvements Are 

Shops Making? 

Why Should My Shop 

Consider Becoming a 

Partner? 

How Do Partner Shops 

Help? 

What Are the Incentives 

to Partner? 

The Philadelphia pilot for the Small Auto Refinish Shop Project 

will encourage use of improved practices and technologies such as 

the following: 

�	 More efficient spray guns that reduce the amount of paint 

overspray and potentially harmful chemicals in the air. 

�	 Better spray booths, filters, and filter changing practices 

that contribute to better air quality within and outside 

the shop. 

�	 More careful, efficient paint mixing room and gun cleaning 

practices that will produce less waste and reduce releases of 

solvents. 

�	 Better ventilation systems and adequate protective equipment, such as respirators and gloves, during tasks that 

involve exposure to harmful chemicals. 

A number of auto refinishers in the Philadelphia area and in 

other parts of the country have already installed new equipment 

and improved their practices. Whether your shop has made 

changes, or is interested in making them, the DfE Program hopes 

you will become a partner. By having partner shops at different 

stages of improvement, the Project Team can bring together 

experience and practical knowledge to share among partners. In 

the end, any shop that makes improvements may not only have 

helped its pocket book, but created a healthier work environment and a cleaner neighborhood. 

Partner shops serve as resources to the DfE Program. They offer 

a real-world perspective on health and safety matters in the shop: 

what are the barriers and incentives to change, how do you go 

about converting from the old—equipment, infrastructure and 

practices—to the new. The collective experience from partner 

shops will help the DfE Program design a blueprint for change. A 

DfE partnership team (industrial hygienist and project manager) 

will visit the partner shop and observe its operations, talk with 

management and workers, and gather information on improved 

equipment and practices. DfE will encourage partner shops to 

implement the recommendations the team might make for 

improvements and to participate in a workshop to educate other 

shops about the benefits of changing the way they work. 

The DfE Program offers shops several incentives to partner:

access to the latest developments—in safer shop equipment and 

practices, worker health issues, waste minimization, and work 

place efficiencies; a free industrial hygienist consultation— 

including advice on how to make additional improvements in 

the health and environmental profile of their shops; and, recognition—of their improvements and willingness to work with EPA 

to promote safer, cleaner auto refinish shops. 

Small Auto Refinish Shop Project Contacts: 

If you’re interested in partnering or would like to learn more about 

this project, please call Mary Cushmac, Project Manager in EPA’s 

Design for the Environment Branch at 202 568-88073, or send her an 

e-mail at <cushmac.mary@epa.gov>.