The South Coast Air Quality Management District Governing Board has approved a plan in that portion of California to phase out the use of solvents tert-butyl acetate (t-BAC) and para-chlorobenzotrifuloride (pCBtF) in paint manufacturing.

The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment determined the solvents are potent carcinogens, according to the AQMD.

During Phase I, affected facilities will be allowed to use coatings formulated to meet the less stringent U.S. National Rule Limits, which do not utilize pCBtF or t-BAc in their formulations and are, therefore, less expensive, the AQMD wrote in its draft socioeconomic impact assessment of the proposed amendments.

AQMD staff wrote in a report released earlier this month that the alternative VOC content limits for color coatings is intended to address solvent-based coatings use by smaller autobody shops. Shops will be given additional time to make the transition to water-based alternatives, until Jan. 1, 2030, the report says.

Color coatings that comply with the alternative VOC content limit pursuant to paragraph (d)(4) and that are manufactured prior to Jan. 1, 2030 may be sold, supplied, or offered for sale up to Jan. 1, 2032, and used until
Jan. 1, 2033.

Following a brief public hearing on Friday, the board voted 10-0 to approve the plan put forward by South Coast AQMD staff, which amends Rule 1151. Staff noted that, based on public comment during the drafting process, the time for companies to reformulate their products to comply with the changes was extended from two to three years to three to five.

“We have had a year-long public process with four Working Group meetings and 40 stakeholder meetings,” said South Coast AQMD Planning and Rules Manager Heather Farr.

She presented a map to the board of all the auto body shops in the South Coast District’s jurisdiction. There are 3,000, and the clustered shops shown below are in South Los Angeles.

“They’re really right within neighborhoods. The pCBtF and t-BAC are used ubiquitously in these coatings to meet the VOC [volatile organic compound] limits,” Farr said. “We’re going to raise VOC limits up to the national standards so that will allow coatings that are manufactured in, like Arizona and Nevada, to be sold in our jurisdiction. Those coatings don’t contain these toxic compounds. To address supply chain concerns, we’re going to allow sell-through and use-through that will help the coatings that are already in the supply chain and what’s at our local auto body shops.”

While three to five years sounds like a long time, she added, there’s a lot of research and development that goes into reformulation including matching more than 30,000 colors as well as certifications, training, labeling, and retooling.

Current emissions are around 2.5 tons per day and that will temporarily increase but after full implementation, will be lower than now, she said.

In the following slide, Farr gave an overview of a key issue brought to the AQMD throughout the proposal process.

RadTech Environmental Affairs Director Rita Loof told the board the proposal is “needlessly heavy-handed with our industry,” and said the association’s 800 member companies aren’t formulated with VOCs or toxic substances and are all-electric so they prevent greenhouse gases.

Gene Lopez, a collision repairer within the district, said it’s too soon for the board to make a decision on the amendments.

“The UV products that are being proposed won’t be ready in three or four years,” he said.

To learn more about the proposed changes, read a full overview given in a previous Repairer Driven News article.

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South Coast Air Quality Management District proposes phase-out of some paint solvents by 2028