If state air regulators have their way, changes will soon be coming to a wide range of consumer products, from deodorants and hairsprays to carpet cleaners, insecticides and paint solvents.
The state Air Resources Board is in the midst of drafting regulations to reduce emissions of smog-forming organic gases from hundreds of consumer products sold in California. These compounds typically are used either as cleansers in consumer products or as aerosols to help propel the contents out of cans.
The crackdown stems from the state’s 2003 air pollution control plan, which mandates sweeping reductions in volatile organic compounds across the state.
There have been previous rounds of regulation of the compounds that have reduced the total emissions to 240 tons per day last year from 320 tons per day in 1990. Many of the proposals have been opposed by manufacturers.
In the South Coast air basin, which includes Los Angeles and Orange counties and the Inland Empire, compound emissions fell to 105 tons last year from 142 tons per day in 1990.
But without further regulation, emissions are projected to head back up again to nearly 300 tons per day by 2020 statewide. The South Coast air basin is expected to see 121 tons per day as a growing population uses more of these consumer products.
As a result, the 2003 air plan sets a timetable for additional emission reductions.
The first phase is being implemented this year and includes first-time regulations on a number of products, from nail polishes to graffiti removal solvents. These regulations are projected to result in an immediate reduction of 5 tons per day.
Air Resources Board staff now is drawing up the emission reduction regulations for the second phase, which is set to be presented to the governing board in November. There has been a series of workshops, with the next one scheduled for June 1 in Sacramento.
In materials for the last workshop in March, the board’s staff warned: “There is a great need for reductions. A large number of categories will likely see new (volatile organic compound) limits It will be a tough challenge and communication is essential.”
A consultant representing several consumer product manufacturers said the biggest concern with this round of regulations is that they will be hitting many products that already have had their emissions reduced.
“We may be reaching the limits on how far these products can be reformulated,” said Doug Raymond, who specifically cited hair spray as a product that has seen repeated reductions.
For more information on the workshop, use the following link: arb.ca.gov/consprod/
regact/cpwg2006/cpwg2006.htm.
New Fax Rules
Last summer, President Bush signed a law limiting the distribution of “junk faxes.”
Now, with the implementation deadline of Aug. 1 approaching, federal regulators have spelled out just how the law will be enforced.
Among the new rules from the Federal Communications Commission: Senders of fax advertisements must include a notice on the fax allowing recipients to contact the sender and have their name removed from the sender’s mass-fax list. After getting such an opt-out request, senders have 30 days to remove the person or entity from their list.
Fax.com Inc., a former Aliso Viejo-based company, drew the ire of federal and state agencies a few years ago for sending unsolicited faxes. Fax.com got hit with a multimillion-dollar fine from the FCC and lawsuits from the state among others. The company was forced to shutter.
The law signed last summer exempts faxes sent to someone who has an “established business relationship” with the sender. Under the FCC rules, there must be some sort of contractual arrangement made at least every 90 days in order to meet this criterion.
This interpretation has upset small businesses, who backed an earlier proposal that required renewing contractual arrangements after 18 months.
For the FCC report on the “junk fax” rules, use the following link: https://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/
edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-06-42A1.pdf.
Sales Tax Exemption
Backers of a state sales tax exemption on manufacturing equipment are hoping that word of an unanticipated $7.5 billion revenue windfall to state coffers will aid their cause.
Ever since the manufacturers’ tax credit was eliminated four years ago, the California Manufacturers and Technology Association has been pushing for either its reinstatement or the enactment of alternative tax exemptions.
This year, the association sponsored AB 2218, which is being carried by Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Newark.
The bill calls for a 10-year state sales tax exemption on purchases of equipment used in the manufacturing, high tech, biotech and nanotech industries.In past years, such proposals were dead on arrival given the state’s record budget deficits. But at the Torrico bill’s first hearing earlier this month, the manufacturer’s association achieved mixed results.
Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee chairman Johan Klehs, D-San Leandro, proposed narrowing the bill’s scope to fewer categories, but the committee did not kill the bill.
The committee is expected to take the measure up again in the next few weeks as part of budget negotiations.
Fine is a staff reporter with the Los Angeles Business Journal.
