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(Adopted March 6, 2009) (Amended July 9, 2010)

RULE 1143. CONSUMER PAINT THINNERS & MULTI-PURPOSE 

SOLVENTS

(a) Purpose

The purpose of this rule is to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds

(VOCs) from the use, storage and disposal of consumer paint thinners and multipurpose solvents commonly used in thinning of coating materials, cleaning of 

coating application equipment, and other solvent cleaning operations by limiting 

their VOC content.

(b) Applicability

This rule is applicable to any person who supplies, sells, offers for sale, or 

manufactures consumer paint thinners and multi-purpose solvents for sale in the 

District, as well as any person who uses or solicits the use of any consumer paint 

thinner and multi-purpose solvent within the District.

(c) Definitions

For the purpose of this rule, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) CONSUMER MULTI-PURPOSE SOLVENTS are any liquid products

designed or labeled to be used for dispersing or dissolving or removing 

contaminants or other organic materials for personal, family, household, or 

institutional use including but not limited to the following: (1) products 

that do not display specific use instructions on the product container or 

packaging, (2) products that do not specify an end-use function or 

application on the product container or packaging, (3) solvents used in 

institutional facilities, except for laboratory reagents used in analytical, 

educational, research, scientific or other laboratories, (4) “Paint clean-up” 

products, and (5) products labeled to prepare surfaces for painting. For the 

purpose of this definition only, “Paint clean-up” means any liquid product 

labeled for cleaning oil-based or water-based paint, lacquer, varnish, or 

related coatings from, but not limited to, painting equipment or tools, 

plastics or metals.

“Consumer Multi-purpose Solvents” do not include solvents used in cold 

cleaners, vapor degreasers, conveyorized degreasers or film cleaning 

machines, or solvents that are incorporated into, or used exclusively in the 
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manufacture or construction of, the goods or commodities at the site of the 

establishment. “Multi-purpose Solvents” also do not include any products

making any representation that the product may be used as, or is suitable 

for use as a consumer product which qualifies under another definition in 

California Code of Regulations Title 17, § 94508 as of the date of 

adoption.

(2) CONSUMER PAINT THINNERS are any liquid products used for 

reducing the viscosity of coating compositions or components for 

personal, family, household, or institutional use, including, but not limited 

to, products that prominently display the term “Paint Thinner,” “Lacquer 

Thinner,” “Thinner,” or “Reducer” on the front panel of its packaging.

(3) DISTRIBUTOR means any person to whom consumer products are sold 

or supplied for the purposes of resale or distribution in commerce, except 

that manufacturers, retailers, and consumers are not distributors.

(4) EXEMPT COMPOUND is as defined in Rule 102.

(5) FORMULATION DATA is the actual product recipe which itemizes all 

the ingredients contained in a product including VOCs and the quantities 

thereof used by the manufacturer to create the product. Material Safety 

Data Sheets (MSDS) are not considered formulation data.

(6) GRAMS OF VOC PER LITER OF MATERIAL is the weight of VOC per 

volume of material and can be calculated by the following equation:

Grams of VOC per Liter of Material =

Ws- Ww - Wes

Vm

Where:

Ws = weight of volatile compounds in grams

Ww = weight of water in grams

Wes = weight of exempt compounds in grams

Vm = volume of the material in liters

(7) INDUSTRIAL MAINTENANCE COATINGS are coatings, including 

primers, sealers, undercoaters, intermediate coatings and topcoats, 

formulated for or applied to substrates, including floors that are exposed to 

one or more of the following extreme environmental conditions:
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(A) immersion in water, wastewater, or chemical solutions (aqueous 

and non-aqueous solutions), or chronic exposure of interior 

surfaces to moisture condensation;

(B) acute or chronic exposure to corrosive, caustic or acidic agents, or 

similar chemicals, chemical fumes, chemical mixtures, or 

solutions;

(C) repeated exposure to temperatures in excess of 250 degrees 

Fahrenheit;

(D) repeated heavy abrasion, including mechanical wear and repeated 

scrubbing with industrial solvents, cleaners, or scouring agents; or

(E) exterior exposure of metal structures.

(8) LACQUER THINNERS are solvents that are manufactured for the 

purpose of thinning, diluting, dissolving, and for clean-up of lacquer 

coatings.

(9) MANUFACTURER means any person, company, firm, or establishment 

who imports, manufactures, blends, assembles, produces, packages, 

repackages, or re-labels a consumer paint thinner or multi-purpose solvent. 

The manufacturers listed on the product‟s label shall be primarily 

responsible for compliance with applicable provisions of this Rule. If the 

label lists two or more manufacturers, they may mutually designate in 

writing a manufacturer responsible for compliance with this rule. That 

writing shall be filed with the Executive Officer.

(10) PERSON means any individual, firm, association, organization, 

partnership, business trust, corporation, company, contractor, supplier, 

installer, user or owner, or any state or local governmental agency or 

public district or any other officer or employee thereof. PERSON also 

means the United States or its agencies to the extent authorized by Federal 

law.

(11) RESPONSIBLE PARTY for a corporation is a corporate officer or an 

authorized representative so delegated by a corporate officer. Delegation 

of an authorized representative must be made in writing to the Executive 

Officer. A responsible party for a partnership or sole proprietorship is the 

general partner or proprietor, respectively.

(12) RETAIL OUTLET means any establishment at which consumer products 

are sold, supplied, or offered for sale directly to consumers.

(13) SOLICIT is to require for use or to specify, by written or oral contract.
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(14) SOLVENTS include diluents and thinners and are defined as organic 

materials which are liquids at standard conditions and which are used as 

dissolvers, viscosity reducers or cleaning agents.

(15) SOLVENT CLEANING is the removal of adhesives, inks, coatings, and 

contaminants which include, but are not limited to, dirt, soil, and grease 

from parts, products, tools, machinery, equipment, and general work areas.

(16) SOLVENT FLUSHING is the use of a solvent to remove adhesives, inks, 

coatings, or contaminants from the internal surfaces and passages of the 

equipment by inducing a rapid flow of solvent through the equipment.

(17) VOC (VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUND) is as defined in Rule 102.

(18) VOC CONTENT means the total weight of VOC in a product expressed 

as a percentage of the product weight or as a mass-based concentration 

expressed in grams per liter of material (g/L) or pounds per gallon 

(lb/Gal).

(d) Requirements

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (d)(2), no person shall supply, sell, offer 

for sale, manufacture, blend, package or repackage any consumer paint 

thinner or multi-purpose solvent for use in the District unless the 

consumer paint thinner or multi-purpose solvent complies with the 

applicable VOC content limits set forth in the table below:

CATEGORY

EFFECTIVE

1/1/2010

EFFECTIVE

1/1/2011

VOC Content

g/L or (lb/Gal)

VOC Content

g/L or (lb/Gal)

Consumer

Paint Thinner

300

(2.50)

25

(0.21)

Consumer MultiPurpose Solvent300

(2.50)

25

(0.21)

(2) Sell-Through Provision

(A) Any consumer paint thinner or multi-purpose solvent that is 

manufactured prior to the implementation date, may be sold, 

supplied, offered for sale, or used for up to one year after the 

specified effective date.

(B) Consumer paint thinners manufactured prior to July 9, 2010 and 

labeled for more than one use including industrial maintenance
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coating thinning, may be sold, supplied, offered for sale, or used 

up to April 1, 2011.

(3) The prohibition of sale specified in paragraphs (d)(1) and (d)(5) shall not 

apply to any manufacturer of consumer paint thinners or multi-purposesolvents provided that the product was sold to an independent distributor 

that was informed in writing by the manufacturer about the compliance 

status of the product in the District.

(4) Any solvent container in which the contents therein are applied directly to 

a surface from said container by pouring, siphoning, brushing, rolling, 

padding, rag application or other means, shall be closed when not in use. 

These solvent containers include, but shall not be limited to: drums, 

buckets, cans, pails, trays or other application containers.

(5) General Prohibition

No person shall supply, sell, offer for sale, manufacture, blend, package, 

or repackage any consumer paint thinner or multi-purpose solvent for use 

in the District subject to the provisions of this rule with any materials that 

contain in the excess of 0.1% by weight any Group II exempt compounds 

listed in Rule 102. Cyclic, branched, or linear, completely methylated 

siloxanes (VMS) are not subject to this prohibition.

(e) Administrative Requirements

(1) No person shall sell, supply, offer for sale, manufacture, blend, package, 

or repackage for use in the District any “Flammable” or “Extremely 

Flammable” Consumer Paint Thinner or Multi-purpose Solvent named, on 

the Principal Display Panel as “Paint Thinner”, “Multi-purpose Solvent”, 

“Clean-up Solvent”, or “Paint Clean-up”.

(2) Paragraph (e)(1) does not apply to products that meet any of the following 

criteria:

(A) Products which include an attached “hang tag” or sticker that 

displays, at a minimum, the following statement: “Formulated to 

meet low VOC limits: see warnings on label”.

(B) Products which include an attached “hang tag” or sticker that 

displays, at a minimum, the following statement: “Formulated to 

meet low VOC limits with [the common name of the chemical 

compound (e.g., „Acetone‟, „Methyl Acetate‟, etc.) that results in 
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the product meeting the criteria for „Flammable‟ or „Extremely 

Flammable‟]”.

(C) Products which include an attached “hang tag” as a second 

Principal Display Panel that displays, at a minimum, the following 

statement: “Formulated to meet low VOC limits” placed adjacent 

to and associated with the required Consumer Product Safety 

Commission (CPSC) warning.

(D) Products where the Principal Display Panel displays, in a font size 

as large as, or larger than, the largest font size of any other words 

on the panel, the following statement: “Formulated to meet low 

VOC limits” placed adjacent to and associated with the required 

CPSC warning.

(E) Products where the Principal Display Panel displays, in a font size

as large as, or larger than, the largest font size of any other words 

on the panel, the common name of the chemical compound (e.g., 

“Acetone,” “Methyl Acetate,” etc.) that results in the product 

meeting the criteria for “Flammable” or “Extremely Flammable.”

(F) Products that meet the labeling requirements of the CARB 

Consumer Product Regulation specified in title 17, CCR, section 

94512(e) as adopted.

(G) Products that are manufactured on or before July 9, 2010.

None of the above labeling or notice requirements preclude the use of any 

additional labeling or notice for consumer education.

(3) For the purposes of paragraphs (e)(1) and (e)(2) a product is “Flammable” 

or “Extremely Flammable” if it is labeled as “Flammable” or “Extremely 

Flammable” on the product container, or if the product meets the criteria 

for these specified in title 16, Code of Federal Regulations, section 1500.3 

(c)(6).

(4) Each product container shall clearly display the VOC content as 

determined from the actual product formulation data.

(5) The information required by paragraphs (e)(1) through (e)(3) shall be 

displayed on the product container such that it is readily observable 

without removing or disassembling any portion of the product container or 

packaging.

(6) No person shall remove, alter, conceal, or deface the information required 

by paragraphs (e)(1) through (e)(3) prior to final sale of the product.
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(7) In conjunction with the changes in VOC content limits, the Executive 

Officer shall develop a public education and outreach program to inform 

consumers of potential product changes that use more flammable 

substances by jointly working with the local fire departments to include, 

but not be limited to: public service announcements in both English and 

Spanish to be aired on television and radio from October 2010 to January 

2012; training retailers, including big box retailers at their corporate 

headquarters, in November 2010 about these potential changes so that they 

may alert their consumers; dissemination of 25,000 hardcopy brochures in 

several languages from November 2010 to January 2012; alerts through 

Twitter, and placement of electronic brochures and Public Service 

Announcements (PSAs) on AQMD, CARB, YouTube, local fire 

department and local city websites from November 2010 to January 2012. 

The Executive Officer shall report the status of the public education and 

outreach program to the Stationary Source Committee in November 2010 

and in November 2011. The Executive Officer may extend the public 

education and outreach program beyond January 2012, if he determines 

that additional consumer education is needed.

(8) Point of sale containers, for sale or distribution, of any consumer paint 

thinner or multi-purpose solvent subject to this rule shall display the 

maximum VOC content, as supplied, and the maximum VOC content after 

any dilution as recommended by the manufacturer.

(9) Point of sale containers, for sale or distribution, of any consumer paint 

thinner and multi-purpose solvent subject to this rule shall display the date 

of manufacture of the contents or a code indicating the date of 

manufacture. The manufacturers of such consumer paint thinners and 

multi-purpose solvents shall file with the Executive Officer an explanation 

of each code.

(10) Any manufacturer that supplies consumer paint thinners and multi-purpose 

solvents with intent to sell in the District shall submit an application as 

specified by the Executive Officer to apply for a manufacturer 

identification (ID) number by the applicable date in subdivision (g). The 

application form shall be signed by the responsible party for manufacturer 

certifying that all information submitted (including electronic submittals)

is true and correct. The Executive Officer shall be notified in writing 
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within 30 days of any change in the responsible party for the 

manufacturer.

(11) On or before May 1, 2010, and each subsequent January 1 thereafter, all 

manufacturers subject to this rule shall provide to the District a list of all 

their U.S. distributors to whom they supply products subject to this rule, 

including but not limited to private label and toll manufactured products. 

The list shall be in a format determined by the Executive Officer and shall 

include the distributor‟s name, address, contact person and phone number.

(12) Effective April 1, 2010, each manufacturer shall, on or before April 1 of 

each subsequent calendar year, submit an annual quantity and emissions 

report to the Executive Officer.

(f) Recordkeeping

(1) Manufacturers shall maintain a copy of the application receipt from the 

District. The receipt shall be maintained for five (5) years and made 

available upon request by the Executive Officer.

(2) Manufacturers shall maintain records to verify data necessary to determine 

annual consumer paint thinner and multi-purpose solvent sales subject to 

this rule and VOC emissions in the District, and compliance with 

applicable rules and regulations. The records shall be maintained for five 

(5) years and made available upon request by the Executive Officer. Such 

records shall include but not be limited to:

(A) Product formulation records (to include VOC content):

(i) Laboratory reports [including percent weight of nonvolatiles, water, and exempts (if applicable); density of the 

product; and raw laboratory data] of test methods 

conducted as specified in paragraph (i)(1), or

(ii) Product formulation data, including physical properties 

analyses, as applicable, with a VOC content calculation 

demonstration; and

(B) Production records including batch tickets with the date of 

manufacture, batch weight and volume; and

(C) Distribution records:

(i) Customer lists or store distribution lists or both (as 

applicable) and
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(ii) Shipping manifests or bills of lading or both (as 

applicable); and

(D) Sales records consisting of point of sale receipts or invoices to 

local distributors or both, as applicable.

(g) Compliance Dates

(1) Consumer paint thinner and multi-purpose solvent manufacturers that 

begin to manufacture, supply, sell or offer for sale consumer paint thinners 

and multi-purpose solvents subject to this rule and for use in the District 

after July 1, 2009 shall submit the application required in paragraph 

(e)(10) no later than thirty (30) calendar days prior to manufacturing, 

supplying, selling, or offering for sale, any consumer paint thinner and 

multi-purpose solvent subject to this rule and for use in the District.

(2) Within thirty (30) calendar days after a change of consumer paint thinner 

and multi-purpose solvent manufacturer, the new consumer paint thinner 

and multi-purpose solvent manufacturer shall submit the application for a 

company ID number as required in paragraph (e)(10). That filing shall 

include the previous consumer paint thinner and multi-purpose solvent 

manufacturer‟s ID number.

(h) Information exempt from Disclosure

Information submitted to the Executive Officer may be designated as exempt

from disclosure consistent with District guidelines implementing the California 

Public Records Act (Govt. Code §§ 6250-6276.48).

(i) Test Methods

For the purpose of this rule, the following test methods shall be used:

(1) Determination of VOC Content

The VOC content of materials subject to the provisions of this rule shall 

be determined by:

(A) U.S. EPA Reference Test Method 24 (Determination of Volatile 

Matter Content, Water Content, Density, Volume Solids, and 

Weight Solids of Surface Coatings, Code of Federal Regulations 

Title 40, Part 60, Appendix A) with the exempt compound content 

determined by Method 303 (Determination of Exempt 

Compounds) in the SCAQMD "Laboratory Methods of Analysis 

for Enforcement Samples" manual; or
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(B) Method 304 [Determination of Volatile Organic Compounds 

(VOC) in Various Materials] in the SCAQMD "Laboratory 

Methods of Analysis for Enforcement Samples" manual.

(C) Exempt Perfluorocarbon Compounds

The following classes of compounds:

cyclic, branched, or linear, completely fluorinated alkanes

cyclic, branched, or linear, completely fluorinated ethers with 

no unsaturations;

cyclic, branched, or linear, completely fluorinated tertiary 

amines with no unsaturations; and

sulfur-containing perfluorocarbons with no unsaturations and 

with sulfur bonds only to carbon and fluorine

will be analyzed as exempt compounds for compliance with 

subdivision (d), only when manufacturers specify which individual 

compounds are used in the solvent formulations. In addition, the 

manufacturers must identify the U.S. EPA, CARB, and SCAQMD 

approved test methods, which can be used to quantify the amount 

of each exempt compound.

(2) Equivalent Test Methods

Other test methods determined to be equivalent upon approval in writing 

by the Executive Officer, CARB, and the U.S. EPA may also be used.

(3) Multiple Test Methods

When more than one test method or set of test methods are specified for 

any testing, a violation of any requirement of this rule established by any 

one of the specified test methods or set of test methods shall constitute a 

violation of the rule.

(4) All test methods referenced in this subdivision shall be the version most 

recently approved by the appropriate governmental entities.

(j) Exemptions

(1) The provisions of this rule shall not apply to:

(A) Solvents sold in this District for shipment outside of this District or 

for shipment to other manufacturers for repackaging.

(B) Solvents provided that they are labeled and designated exclusively 

for the clean-up of polyaspartic and polyurea coatings application 

equipment. This exemption does not apply if there are any 
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additional use claims on the label or any other product literature. 

This exemption does not apply to any person selling or using the 

otherwise exempt solvent for a non-exempt purpose.

(C) Thinners provided that they are labeled and designated exclusively 

for the thinning of Industrial Maintenance (IM) coatings, ZincRich IM Primers, and High Temperature IM Coatings. This 

exemption does not apply if there are any additional use claims on 

the label or any other product literature. This exemption does not 

apply to any person selling or using the otherwise exempt thinner 

for a non-exempt purpose.

(k) Severability

If any provision of this rule is held by judicial order to be invalid, or invalid or 

inapplicable to any person or circumstance, such order shall not affect the validity 

of the remainder of this rule, or the validity or applicability of such provision to 

other persons or circumstances. In the event any of the exceptions to this rule is 

held by judicial order to be invalid, the persons or circumstances covered by the 

exception shall instead be required to comply with the remainder of this rule.