Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 250 - Department of Environmental Management › Chapter 120 - Air Resources › Subchapter 05 - Air Pollution Control › Part 51 - Control of VOC Emissions from Fiberglass Boat Manufacturing › Section 250-RICR-120-05-51.5 - Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
A. Unless otherwise expressly defined in this
				  section, the terms used in this Regulation shall be defined by reference to
				  Part
0
of this Subchapter (General Definitions). As
				  used in this Regulation, the following terms shall, where the context permits,
				  be construed as follows:
1. "Application
				  equipment cleaning" means the process of flushing or removing resins and gel
				  coats from the interior or exterior of equipment that is used to apply resin or
				  gel coat in the manufacture of fiberglass parts.
2. "Assembly adhesives" means any chemical
				  substance that is applied for the purpose of bonding two (2) surfaces together
				  other than by mechanical means.
3.
				  "Atomized application method" means a resin application technology in which the
				  resin leaves the application equipment and breaks into droplets or an aerosol
				  as it travels from the application equipment to the surface of the part.
				  Atomized application methods include, but are not limited to, resin spray guns
				  and resin chopper spray guns.
4.
				  "Boat" means any type of vessel, other than a seaplane, that can be used for
				  transportation on the water.
5.
				  "Clear gel coat" means gel coats that are clear or translucent so that
				  underlying colors are visible. Clear gel coats are used to manufacture parts
				  for sale.
Clear gel coats do not include tooling gel coats used to
					 build or repair molds.
6.
				  "Closed molding" means any molding process in which pressure is used to
				  distribute the resin through the reinforcing fabric placed between two (2) mold
				  surfaces to either saturate the fabric or fill the mold cavity. The pressure
				  may be clamping pressure, fluid pressure, atmospheric pressure, or vacuum
				  pressure used either alone or in combination. The mold surfaces may be rigid or
				  flexible. Closed molding includes, but is not limited to, compression molding
				  with sheet molding compound, infusion molding, resin injection molding (RIM),
				  vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM), resin transfer molding (RTM),
				  and vacuum-assisted compression molding.
a.
				  Processes in which a closed mold is used only to compact saturated fabric or
				  remove air or excess resin from the fabric (such as in vacuum bagging), are not
				  considered closed molding.
b. Open
				  molding steps, such as application of a gel coat or skin coat layer by
				  conventional open molding prior to a closed molding process, are not closed
				  molding.
7. "Cured
				  resin" or "cured gel coat" means resin or gel coat that has changed
				  irreversibly from a liquid to a solid.
8. "Fiberglass boat" means a vessel in which
				  either the hull or deck is built from a composite material consisting of a
				  thermosetting resin matrix reinforced with fibers of glass, carbon, aramid, or
				  other material.
9. "Fiberglass boat
				  manufacturing facility" means a boat manufacturing facility, including but not
				  limited to those listed in NAICS codes 336612 and/or 811490, that manufactures
				  hulls or decks of fiberglass boats, assembles fiberglass boats from
				  premanufactured hulls and decks, or builds molds to make hulls or decks of
				  fiberglass boats.
Fiberglass boat manufacturing facility does not include a
					 facility which manufactures ancillary parts for fiberglass boats such as
					 hatches, seats, or lockers or boat trailers; and does not manufacture hulls or
					 decks of fiberglass boats, assemble fiberglass boats from premanufactured hulls
					 and decks, or build molds for fiberglass boat hulls or decks.
10. "Filled resin" or "filled production
				  resin" means a resin to which an inert material has been added to change
				  viscosity, density, shrinkage, or other physical properties.
11. "Flowcoater" means a non-atomizing
				  application method of applying resins and gel coats to an open mold with a
				  fluid nozzle in a fan pattern with no air supplied to the nozzle.
12. "Gel coat" means a polyester resin
				  surface coating, either pigmented or clear, that provides a cosmetic
				  enhancement and improves resistance to degradation from exposure to the
				  elements.
13. "Mixing" means any
				  operation in which resin or gel coat, including the mixing of putties or
				  polyester resin putties, is combined with additives that include, but are not
				  limited to, fillers, promoters, or catalysts.
14. "Mold" means the cavity or surface into
				  or on which gel coat, resin, and fibers are placed and from which finished
				  fiberglass parts take their form.
15. "Monomer" means a VOC that partially
				  combines with itself, or other similar compounds, by a cross-linking reaction
				  to become a part of the cured resin. Monomers include, but are not limited to,
				  styrene and methyl methacrylate.
16. "Monomer VOC content" means the weight of
				  the monomer, divided by the weight of the polymer.
17. "Non-atomized application method" means
				  any application technology in which the resin is not broken into droplets or an
				  aerosol as it travels from the application equipment to the surface of the
				  part. Non-atomized application methods include, but are not limited to,
				  flowcoaters, chopper flowcoaters, pressure-fed resin rollers, resin
				  impregnators, and hand application (for example, paint brush or paint
				  roller).
18. "Open molding resin
				  and gel coat operation" means any process in which the reinforcing fibers and
				  resin are placed in the mold and are open to the surrounding air while the
				  reinforcing fibers are saturated with resin. For the purposes of this
				  Regulation, open molding includes operations in which a vacuum bag or similar
				  cover is used to compress an uncured laminate to remove air bubbles or excess
				  resin, or to achieve a bond between a core material and a laminate.
19. "Pigmented gel coat" means opaque gel
				  coats used to manufacture parts for sale.
Pigmented gel coats do not include tooling gel coats used
					 to build or repair molds.
20. "Polyester resin materials" means
				  unsaturated polyester resins, such as isophthalic, orthophthalic, halogenated,
				  bisphenol A, vinyl ester, or furan resins; cross-linking agents; catalysts; gel
				  coats; inhibitors; accelerators; promoters; and any other material containing
				  VOC used in polyester resin operations.
21. "Polyester resin operations" means
				  fabricate, rework, repair, or touchup products for commercial, military, or
				  industrial use by mixing, pouring, hand laying-up, impregnating, injecting,
				  forming, winding, spraying, and/or curing by using unsaturated polyester resin
				  materials.
22. "Production resin"
				  means any resin used to manufacture parts for sale.
Production resins do not include tooling resins used to
					 build or repair molds, or assembly adhesives as defined in §
												51.5(A)(2)
					 of this Part.
23. "Repair"
				  means that portion of the fabrication process that requires the addition of
				  polyester resin materials to portions of a previously fabricated product in
				  order to mend damage.
24. "Resin"
				  means any thermosetting resin with or without pigment containing styrene or
				  methyl methacrylate and used to encapsulate and bind together reinforcement
				  fibers in the construction of fiberglass parts.
25. "Resin impregnator" means a mechanical
				  non-atomizing composite materials application method in which fiber
				  reinforcement is saturated with resins in a controlled ratio for each specific
				  composite product.
26. "Roll-out"
				  means the process of using rollers, squeegees, or similar tools to compact
				  reinforcing materials saturated with resin to remove trapped air or excess
				  resin.
27. "Skin coat" means a
				  layer of resin and fibers applied over the gel coat to protect the gel coat
				  from being deformed by the next laminate layers.
28. "Tooling gel coat" means the gel coat
				  used to build or repair molds (also known as tools) or prototypes (also known
				  as plugs) from which molds will be made.
29. "Tooling resin" means the resin used to
				  build or repair molds (also known as tools) or prototypes (also known as plugs)
				  from which molds will be made.
30.
				  "Touch-up" means that portion of the process that is necessary to cover minor
				  imperfections.
31. "Vacuum bagging"
				  means any molding technique in which the reinforcing fabric is saturated with
				  resin and then covered with a flexible sheet that is sealed to the edge of the
				  mold and where a vacuum is applied under the sheet to compress the laminate,
				  remove excess resin, or remove trapped air from the laminate during curing.
Vacuum bagging does not include processes that meet the
					 definition of closed molding.
32. "Vinyl ester resin" means a thermosetting
				  resin containing esters of acrylic or methacrylic acids and having double-bond
				  and ester linkage sites only at the ends of the resin molecules.