More stringent architectural and industrial maintenance (AIM) regulations on the horizon
More stringent architectural and industrial maintenance (AIM) regulations on the horizon
Keywords: Coatings technology, Health and safety requirements
At a meeting of the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) Control Strategy Committee in Baltimore, OTC announced that its Phase II – Suggested Control Measure (SCM) for architectural and industrial maintenance (AIM)coatings will be the same as South Coast Air Quality Management District(SCAQMD) Rule 1113 levels and categories. The Rule 1113 limits are currently the most stringent in the nation and NPCA has aggressively fought their adoption.
It appears that, based on modeling results, the current VOC regulations in the Northeast states are not enough for these states to reach attainment for ozone. As a result, the OTC needs additional VOC reductions and has hired a contractor to review the estimated reductions and costs associated with adopting the Rule 113 limits. This background data is scheduled to be presented at OTC's meeting in Newark, Del. on November 2-3.
Final action on OTC adopting the SCAQMD Rule 1113 limits and the new OTC“model rule” probably will not occur until the February or June 2006 OTC meetings. Additional information can be obtained from the OTC web site: www.otcair.org.
In addition, OTC is also working with the Lake Michigan Air Directors Consortium (LADCO), which represents the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,Wisconsin and Ohio. Like OTC, modeling suggests that additional VOC reductions are needed for several of these states to be in attainment for ozone. LADCO has already developed two suggested control measures for AIM coatings – one based on OTC, the other based on Rule 1113. A full report is available at: www.ladco.org/reports/rpo/MWRPOprojects/Strategies/Final%20Control%20 Measures.pdf.
LADCO is planning discussion of these suggested control measures at its Regional Air Quality Workshop set for November 16 in Chicago.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will be revising its SCM next year based on the data it has gathered from the recent 2005 AIM survey. It is expected that CARB will pursue changes to the current limits and may include reactivity in the revised SCM as well. Chances are that, like OTC and LADCO,CARB will probably look towards the Rule 1113 limits when revising the SCM.
