BOARD MEETING DATE: December 2, 2005
AGENDA NO. 28

Amend Proposed Rule 1151 – Motor Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Non-Assembly Line Coating Operations

SYNPOSIS:

The proposed amendments will further reduce VOC emissions by modifying Rule 1151 coating categories and VOC limits in accordance with the California Air Resources Board 2005 Automotive Coatings Suggested Control Measure. The proposed amendments to Rule 1151 implement, in part, Control Measure CTS-10 - Miscellaneous Industrial Coatings and Solvent Operations which is part of the 2003 AQMP.

COMMITTEE:

Stationary Source, November 18, 2005, Reviewed

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:

Adopt the attached resolution:

1. Certifying the CEQA Final Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed amendments.
2. Amending Rule 1151 – Motor Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Non-Assembly Line Coating Operations

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

Rule 1151 – Motor Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Non-Assembly Line Coating Operations was adopted by the Board on July 8, 1988 to control volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from motor vehicle and mobile equipment non-assembly line coating operations. Rule 1151 applies to both commercial and non-commercial refinishing coating applications that include, but are not limited to auto body repair/paint shops, production auto body paint shops, new car dealer repair/paint shops, fleet operators repair/paint shops, custom-made car fabrication facilities, truck body builders, and any other motor vehicle or mobile equipment non-assembly line painting operation. Motor vehicle assembly line coating operations are subject to Rule 1115. Staff has identified approximately 3,500 business that use automotive coatings. However, AQMD records indicate that there are only approximately 1,730 commercial refinishing facilities with permits to construct and operate spray booths. The remaining facilities are believed to use or handle automotive coatings on a limited basis. Rule 1151 establishes VOC limits by coating category and vehicle type (Group I and Group II vehicles). Group I vehicles include large-sized trucks, buses and mobile equipment. Group II vehicles include passenger cars, small-sized and medium-sized trucks and vans, motor homes, and motorcycles.

The objective of PAR 1151 is to reduce VOC emissions from automotive refinish operations and implement portions of the 2003 Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) Control Measure CTS-10 – Miscellaneous Industrial Coatings and Solvent Operations. Staff used the 2005 CARB Suggested Control Measure (SCM) for Automotive Refinishing Coatings, adopted on October 20, 2005, as a guideline in the development of the proposed amendments.

Proposal

The proposed amendments modify Rule 1151 coating categories and VOC limits in accordance with CARB’s SCM. Specifically, the proposed amendments: (1) Combine Group I and Group II vehicle categories and establish VOC limits by coating category only; (2) Eliminate the composite VOC limit for multistage coating systems and establish independent VOC limits for both the color and clear parts of the multistage coating system; (3) Combine the primer, primer surfacer, and primer sealer categories into a single primer category and establish a single VOC limit for primers; and (4) Eliminate the general specialty coating category and replace it with specific categories, and VOC limits.

The new VOC limits proposed in Rule 1151 are essentially identical to the VOC limits in the CARB SCM. According to information generated by CARB, with the exception of the VOC limits proposed for adhesion promoters and pretreatment coatings, the VOC limits proposed for new coating categories are based on products that are currently available in the marketplace in the United States and/or other parts of the world.

Although the proposed amendments are technology neutral, the proposed VOC limit for the color coating category is based on waterborne technology. There are waterborne products currently available in the marketplace; however, the use of this technology in Southern California has been limited. The European Union is implementing waterborne technology in 2007 as part of the European Parliament directive to reduce VOC emissions from coatings and solvents. Furthermore, CARB and AQMD staffs have received information from coating manufacturers that the automotive coating industry is likely to rely on waterborne technology to comply with the proposed VOC limits.

According to information given to CARB, most automotive coating manufacturers believe that the VOC limit proposed for the color coating category in the SCM is feasible provided sufficient time is given to prepare for the implementation of waterborne technology in California. To this end, the VOC limits for color and clear coatings in PAR 1151 are proposed to become effective by July 1, 2008, with a sell-through provision of six months with full implementation of the proposed VOC limits on January 1, 2009. The sell-through provision allows the end user a transition to adjust to the new waterborne technology. Consistent with CARB SCM, the VOC limits for adhesion promoters, primers, and single stage coatings are proposed to become effective January 1, 2010. The VOC limits for all other categories are proposed to become effective January 1, 2009.

The proposed amendments also add, in accordance with the CARB SCM, a prohibition of possession that will prohibit possession of non-compliant coatings unless specific conditions are met. The prohibition of possession is proposed to become effective six months after adoption of the proposed rule. Finally, the proposed amendments also add language to the rule that exempts tertiary butyl acetate (TBAc) as a VOC for coating categories other than the color and clear coatings.

Emission Reductions

The proposed amendments will result in VOC emission reductions of 3.7 tons per day which represent an emission reduction of approximately 36 percent from this source category.

Cost-Effectiveness

The cost-effectiveness for the proposed amendments to Rule 1151 is estimated at $2,291 per ton of VOC reduced.

Key Issues

Staff received comments from environmental groups that TBAc should not be delisted as a VOC in PAR 1151. In addition, staff received comments from vendors that TBAc should be fully delisted in Rule 1151, rather than the partial delisting proposed by staff.

The exemption for TBAc provided in PAR 1151 deviates from the exemption provided in CARB’s SCM that adds TBAc to the list of exempt compounds. Cal/EPA conducted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) pursuant to CEQA to determine the environmental impacts associated with granting an exemption for TBAc as a VOC in the CARB Consumer Products Regulation. The EIA was performed as a collaborative effort that involved CARB, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and the Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC). The EIA for TBAc concluded that the data concerning the adverse health effects from exposure to TBAc were limited; and therefore, that it is not possible to characterize the potential for non-cancer health effects resulting form the potential exposures. However, because a metabolite of TBAc tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) has been shown to induce tumors in both rats and mice, exposure to TBAc may result in a cancer risk to humans if indeed a significant amount metabolizes into TBA. As part of the EIA work for TBAc, an inhalation unit risk factor for TBA was derived using TBA data. This inhalation unit risk factor was used to determine the carcinogenic risk of using TBAc by OEHHA. CARB concluded that there were no significant impacts statewide associated with exemption of TBAc as a VOC in the definition in the CARB Consumer Products Regulation. Following this recommendation and using the information contained in the Cal/EPA EIA for TBAc, CARB staff, in the development of the Draft SCM, conducted a health risk assessment for TBAc. The CARB health risk assessment indicated a potential cancer risk of 2.8 in one million. Based on the results of their health risk assessment and the potential health benefits due to the low photochemical reactivity of TBAc, the SCM recommended that TBAc be exempt as a VOC for all automotive refinish coatings. At the federal level, TBAc was recently delisted as a VOC by U.S. EPA due to its low photochemical reactivity. As part of the federal delisting of TBAc the manufacturer of TBAc committed itself to work with U.S. EPA to conduct the additional long-term toxicity testing necessary to resolve the toxicity uncertainty of TBAc. The AQMD staff has issued a Draft Environmental Assessment for PAR 1151. The Draft Environmental Assessment is based on the health analysis provided by Cal/EPA but uses a worst-case scenario in assessing potential carcinogenic risk. The analysis of the Draft Environmental Assessment examines the staff recommendation that TBAc use be limited to coating categories other than clear and color coatings. Staff believes that there are sufficient compliant coatings available on the market in the clear and color coating categories that will meet the VOC limits of the rule without the use of TBAc. However, in other categories the use of TBAc is warranted to ensure the development and availability of lower VOC coatings. The Draft EA concludes that use of TBAc exemption would result for the largest automobile refinishing facility in the AQMD, in an estimated carcinogenic risk to the nearest residential receptor of five in one million, which is lower than the significance threshold of 10 in one million for CEQA. Acute and chronic hazard indices were also estimated to be less than the significance threshold of 1.0. The potential carcinogenic risk to the nearest residential receptor for approximately 90 percent of the facilities subject to Rule 1151 is estimated to be less than one in one million.

AQMP and Legal Mandates

The California Health and Safety Code requires the AQMD to adopt an Air Quality Management Plan to meet state and federal ambient air quality standards in the Basin. In addition, the California Health and Safety Code requires that the AQMD adopt rules and regulations that carry out the objectives of the AQMP. The proposed amendment to Rule 1151 help in part to implement Control Measure CTS-10 of the 2003 AQMP by reducing VOC emissions by approximately 3.7 tons per day.

Socioeconomic Impact Assessment

A socioeconomic analysis was conducted to assess the impacts of the proposed amendments on 1,726 automotive refinishing facilities and 17 coating manufacturers in the district. The total average annual cost for all facilities is projected to be $3.58 million between 2006 and 2020, with the industry of repair and maintenance bearing the majority of the cost (74 percent). On average between 2006 and 2020, it is projected that 33 jobs would be foregone annually in the four county region with the industry of retail trade having the highest number of jobs forgone (6). The industry of repair and maintenance is projected to have an increase in the relative production cost by at most 0.018 percent in 2008 relative to its counterpart in the U. S. Changes in the relative product cost in other industries are insignificant.

California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Analysis

Pursuant to CEQA and the AQMD’s Certified Regulatory Program (Rule 110), the SCAQMD prepared a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for PAR 1151, which was circulated for a 30-day public review and comment period from October 19, 2005 to November 18, 2005. Five comment letters were received on the Draft EA and responses to individual comments have been prepared and incorporated as part of the Final EA.

Implementation Plan

Staff will continue its outreach efforts on Rule 1151 to inform the general public of the motor vehicle and mobile equipment non-assembly line coatings operations rule, and will report back to the Board on the result of the technical assessment of TBAc.

Resource Impacts

Current AQMD resources are sufficient to implement the proposed Rule 1151 amendments with no additional budget impact.

Attachment(s) (EXE 4,177KB)

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