South Coast Air Quality Management District

Amend Rule 1113 - Architectural Coatings

SYNOPSIS: 

Rule 1113 - Architectural Coatings, which was amended on May 14, 1999, achieves approximately 21.8 tons per day of VOC emission reductions. That amendment has been determined by the appellate court to have been improperly adopted. To ensure that VOC reductions are still timely achieved, staff is proposing to re-adopt the May 14, 1999 amendments with proposed changes to various compliance dates and other clarifying changes, while vacating the specific amendments adopted on May 14, 1999.

COMMITTEE: 

Stationary Source, September 27, 2002; October 25, 2002, November 22, 2002, Reviewed

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Adopt the attached resolution:

1. Certifying the Final Subsequent Environmental Assessment (SEA) for proposed Amended Rule 1113 – Architectural Coatings, and
   
   
2. Adopting proposed amendments to Rule 1113 – Architectural Coatings and vacating the May 14, 1999 Rule 1113 amendmentsamendments to Rule 1113 – Architectural Coatings.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D. Env.
Executive Officer

Background

Rule 1113 is applicable to manufacturers, distributors, and end-users of architectural and industrial maintenance (AIM) coatings. It was first adopted in 1977, and has undergone numerous amendments. The purpose of the rule is to reduce VOC emissions from the use of AIM coatings, primarily by placing VOC limits on various coating categories.

The 1997 Air Quality Management Plan contained specific short term measures for architectural coatings - #97CTS-07 - Further Reductions from Architectural Coatings - Rule 1113. On May 14, 1999, Phase II of Control Measure #97CTS07 was implemented by amending Rule 1113 - Architectural Coatings to establish lower interim and final VOC limits for new and existing coating categories. These included Chemical Storage Tank; Essential Public Service; Floor; Industrial Maintenance; Non-flat; Primers, Sealers, and Undercoaters; Quick-Dry Enamels; Quick-Dry Primers, Roof; Sealers, and Undercoaters; Recycled; Rust Preventative, and Specialty Primers.

Subsequent to the May 14, 1999 amendments to Rule 1113, three lawsuits were filed against the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) that were subsequently consolidated as one matter by the court. Although the AQMD prevailed in the trial court, on June 24, 2002, the Court of Appeal of the State of California Fourth Appellate District, Division Three, issued a ruling finding that the May 14, 1999 amendments to Rule 1113 were not properly adopted. The appellate court has directed the trial court to issue a writ of mandate to order the AQMD to vacate those rule amendments, based on changes made to the rule within the last 30 days of the rulemaking process. Subsequently, the AQMD filed a petition for review to the California Supreme Court to review that appellate decision. On October 1, 2002, the Supreme Court denied review of the AQMD's petition. As a result, AQMD expects the trial court to issue a writ of mandate ordering the AQMD to vacate the May 14, 1999 amendments.

Also, following the May 14, 1999 amendments to Rule 1113, CARB developed a suggested control measure (SCM) for architectural coatings that was largely based on the interim VOC limits and the averaging provision of Rule 1113 as adopted in May 1999. The SCM, which has January 1, 2003 as the main compliance date for most coating categories and January 1, 2004 for Industrial Maintenance Coatings, has been adopted by 17 of the 35 local air districts in California that have an architectural coating rule.

Proposal

Staff is proposing to vacate the May 14, 1999 amendments. In addition, staff proposes to readopt most of the May 14, 1999 VOC limits with new proposed compliance dates of January 1, 2003 and January 1, 2004 for the interim rule limits (as in the SCM), clarifications to reflect the original intent of the adopted rule, and other changes in response to public, CARB and EPA comments received since the May 1999 amendments. These proposed amendments and clarifications are in direct response to industry comments and concerns received since 1999, and are designed to respond to recent court findings of inadequacies during the adoption process.

The proposed amendments to Rule 1113 include additions and deletions to the definitions, and modifications to the VOC limits, with some new coating categories added to the Table of Standards. Interim VOC limits for most coating categories become effective beginning January 1, 2003 with final VOC limits effective July 1, 2006. Additionally, amendments include significant restructuring of the Averaging Program and expansion of coating categories allowed to participate in averaging, revisions to container labeling requirements, and additional categories added to the Technology Assessments. Benefits of the proposed amendments include achieving emission reductions of 21.8 tons per day on an Annual Average Basis by lowering the VOC limits for many categories. Since the issuance of the proposed rule on November 5, 2002, staff has decided to revise the definition of floor coatings to be limited to opaque coatings for the reasons discussed below.

At the October 31, 2002 Public Consultation Meeting, the Sherwin Williams Company raised a comment which staff interpreted as suggesting that clear floor coatings should also be covered under the definition of floor coatings. In response to that comment, staff revised the definition of floor coatings to remove the limitation that they be 'opaque', so as to include both opaque and clear floor coatings. However, the Sherwin Williams Company later informed staff that it did not advocate this change. In addition, other manufacturers of clear floor coatings have also expressed concern about this change.

Therefore, staff has re-revised the definition of floor coatings so they are limited to opaque coatings as it had been published at the October 31, 2002 public consultation meeting. This limitation was also part of the May 14, 1999 amendments, as well as the CARB SCM. In light of the appellate decision overturning the May 14, 1999 amendments, District Counsel has reviewed this change and determined that because this proposal was specifically available for public comment, it would not trigger the same concern that the appellate court had raised in its opinion.

CEQA

Pursuant to the CEQA and AQMD Rule 110, AQMD has prepared a Subsequent Environmental Assessment for the proposed amendments to Rule 1113. The Draft SEA was circulated for a 45-day public review and comment period from August 6, 2002 to September 4, 2002. Four comment letters were received on the Draft SEA and responses to the comment letters have been incorporated into the Final SEA for the proposed project.

Socioeconomic Analysis

The socioeconomic analysis for the May 14, 1999 amendments proposed to be readopted, was conducted by staff prior to their adoption. The socioeconomic impacts for reducing the VOC limits for High Temperature Industrial Maintenance Coatings, Pre-Treatment Wash Primers, and Swimming Pool Repair which were part of the May 14, 1999 amendments were subsequently conducted by the socioeconomic analysis for the CARB SCM. The two coating categories Chemical Storage Tank Coatings and Essential Public Service Coatings proposed to be deleted were analyzed under the Industrial Maintenance Coating category in the 1999 Socio-economic impact assessment. Based on the thorough cost-effectiveness and socioeconomic impact assessment conducted for the proposed amendments, staff has concluded that the proposed amendments are within the costs identified in the AQMP. Staff will continue to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and socioeconomic impact for the proposed final VOC limits. The final Socioeconomic Impact Report included in the May 14, 1999 Staff Report is available through the internet at the AQMD website.

AQMP and Legal Mandates

The 1997 AQMP estimates increased AIM emissions for the Summer-day average (due to population growth) at 68.2 tpd in 1997, growing to 79.4 tpd by the year 2010, due to population growth, without additional AIM regulations. If left unchecked, AIM coating emissions alone would account for more than a fifth of the total VOC emissions in the AQMD. Therefore, the 1997 AQMP has a specific control measure (CTS-07) to reduce AIM VOC emissions by 50% in two phases by the year 2010, as well as a long-term measure requiring an additional 25% reduction in VOCs. This cumulative 59.5 tpd emission reduction based on the Summer Planning Inventory is the largest of all short- and long-term control measures.

These proposed Rule 1113 amendments will implement Phase II of the control measure. The current proposal emphasizes reformulation of existing coatings, primarily by using currently-available, technologically-innovative resins, as well as utilizing the growing list of exempt solvents.

Implementations and Resources

Existing AQMD resources will be sufficient to implement the proposed changes to this rule with minimal impact on the budget.

Attachments (41,361 KB)

1. Summary of Proposed Amendment
2. Rule Development Flow Chart
3. Key Contacts
4. Key Issues and Responses
5. Resolution
6. Rule Language
7. Staff Report
8. CEQA

ATTACHMENT A

ATTACHMENT B

ATTACHMENT C