CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCES BOARD
Lincoln Plaza
Auditorium, First Floor
400 "P" Street
Sacramento, CA
June 15, 1990
8:30 a.m.
AGENDA
Page No.
90-7-1 Public Hearing to Consider the Adoption of a 001
Regulation for Reducing Volatile Organic
Compound Emissions from Consumer Products in
the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
90-7-2 Public Hearing to Consider the Adoption of 062
Amendments to Criteria for Designating Areas of
California as Nonattainment, Attainment, or
Unclassified for State Ambient Air Quality
Standards.
90-7-3 Consideration of Research Proposals: 141
Proposal No. 1791-157, entitled "Lifetimes and Fates of
Toxic Air Contaminants in California's Atmosphere,"
submitted by the University of California, Riverside,
for a total amount not to exceed $99,005.
Proposal Number 1792-157, entitled "Growth,
Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Ponderosa
Pine (Pinus ponderosa) to Ozone," submitted by the
University of California, Riverside, for a total amount
not to exceed $59,965.
ITEM NO.: 90-7-1
Proposed Regulation for Consumer Products in the Bay Area Air
Quality Management District.
RECOMMENDATION
The staff recommends that the Air Resources Board (ARB) approve
the proposed Regulation.
DISCUSSION
The ARB staff has developed a regulation for the control of VOC
emissions from consumer products in the BAAQMD. The proposed
regulation was developed in response to a U.S. District Court
order resulting from the consolidated cases of Citizens for a
Better Environment v. George Deukmejian and Sierra Club v.
Metropolitan Transportation Commission, et al.. The court order
requires the ARB or the BAAQMD to achieve emissions reductions of
at least 1.0 tons per day by February 1, 1991 and 4.0 tons per
day by February 1, 1993.
In an agreement between the ARB and the BAAQMD, the BAAQMD is
responsible for the adoption of an aerosol paint regulation that
will achieve a 1.0 ton per day emission reduction by February 1,
1991. The ARB is responsible for a regulation that will, in
conjunction with the BAAQMD regulation on aerosol paints, achieve
a total VOC emission reduction of at least 4.0 tons per day by
February 1, 1993.
The proposed regulation will reduce VOC emissions from consumer
products in the BAAQMD by establishing limits on the VOC content
of the following six product categories: air fresheners, engine
degreasers, hair sprays, oven cleaners, window cleaners, and
windshield washer fluids. In addition, a provision is included
that prohibits the new use of ozone depleting compounds in
consumer products. Manufacturers are also required to display
the date of manufacture on each product container. The
regulation contains several exemptions, including an exemption
for organic compounds with very low vapor pressure. Test methods
to determine the VOC content of consumer products are provided.
Emissions from the six product categories covered by the proposed
regulation are estimated at 14.3 tons per day in the BAAQMD. The
emission reductions possible from the implementation of this
regulation are estimated at 3.3 tons per day. Slightly higher
than the required 3 tons per day to allow a margin for error.
The ARB staff developed the proposed regulation in a process that
included two public workshops attended primarily by manufacturers
of consumer products and members of consumer product trade
organizations. ARB staff also considered comments supplied in
writing and in telephone conversations and informal meetings.
Another source of information included available responses to an
ARB survey sent to industry to determine the market share and VOC
content of consumer products.
The ARB staff believe that the proposed regulation sets VOC
limits that are commercially and technologically feasible.
Existing products are available that meet the VOC standards for
each product category.
In the development of the proposed regulation, ARB staff
evaluated the cost impact on businesses that could be affected by
the regulation. The cost effectiveness wast estimated to be
below $1.00 per pound of VOC reduced for most of the affected
products. The regulation is not expected to have a significant
adverse impact on small businesses.
In addition to developing a regulation to comply with the court's
order to adopt a consumer products regulation for the BAAQMD, a
statewide consumer products regulation is also being developed
for the Board's consideration in October 1990. At that time,
staff may make a recommendation that the Board rescind the
regulation proposed here and replace it with the statewide
regulation. In this case, staff will ensure that the statewide
regulation will achieve at least a 3 ton per day emission
reduction by February 1, 1993 in the Bay Area Air Quality
Management District as required by the court order.
ITEM NO.: 90-7-2
Public Hearing to Consider the Adoption of Amendments to Criteria
for Designating Areas as Nonattainment, Attainment, or
Unclassified for State Ambient Air Quality Standards.
RECOMMENDATION
The staff recommends the Board adopt the proposed new Sections
70303 and 70304(d).
DISCUSSION
The California Clean Air Act of 1988 (the "Act") requires the
Board to establish criteria for designating areas as
nonattainment, attainment, or unclassified for pollutants for
which there are state ambient air quality standards ("state
standards"). The Board adopted designation criteria at a public
hearing on June 8, 1989. Because there was testimony at that
hearing indicating concern with provisions in the adopted
criteria, the Board directed the staff to form a work group to
examine possible alternatives to the definitions and standards in
those criteria.
The staff established the Criteria Work Group in August 1989.
The group met monthly through January 1990 to discuss issues and
develop alternative approaches. As a result of the efforts of
the work group, the staff recommends two amendments to the
adopted criteria. First, the staff recommends Section 70303 be
added to define a transitional subcategory of nonattainment.
Nonattainment-transitional status would apply to areas that are
close to attaining the state standards. Second, the staff
recommends adding Section 70304(d) to clarify the conditions
under which a nonattainment area may be redesignated as
attainment when monitoring at a high concentration site has been
discontinued.
The staff also recommends that the Board clarify its policy for
ambient air quality monitoring to specifically address monitoring
in unclassified areas and monitoring in areas designated as
nonattainment based on information other than air quality data
from the area.