California Air Resources Board (CARB)

Regulator Responsibility:

CARB is the air pollution regulator for the state of California. Its programs range from research and education to enforcement and regulation. Because of the severe air pollution problems affecting parts of the state, California has been the most aggressive regulator of air pollutants including Volatile Organic Compounds and Hazardous Air Pollutants.

SCAQMD:

The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) is the local air quality regulator for the Los Angeles basin. It has developed the toughest VOC emission limits in the US. Please review their regulations together with CARB regulations.

Consumer Products Regulation:

CARB looks to minimize harmful ingredients present specifically in consumer products. (For industrial applications, CARB defers to the air quality management districts under the Reducing Air Pollution – ARB Program described below.) For consumer products, the following California state legislation governs:

California Code of Regulations (CCR) Title 17, Division 3 Chapter 1 – Air Resources Board Subchapter 8.5 – Consumer Products

It lists five Articles regulating consumer products; but only 3 of which are of major concern to industrial solvent users:

• Article 2: Regulation for Reducing Emissions from Consumer Products (includes 2012 amendments, effective 07-01-13) Article 2 includes a lengthy table, § 94509, starting on pg 54 of all of the VOC content limits for consumer products sold in California.  Many of these regulations are being updated.  See Consumer Products page.

• Article 3: Regulation for Reducing the Ozone Formed from Aerosol Coating Product Emissions, and the Tables of Maximum Incremental Reactivity Values.   Article 3 includes a table starting on pg 110 all of the VOC content limits for aerosol products sold in California and a table of MIR limits starting on page 112.  However, CARB is tightening the regulations as shown on the Aerosols and Consumer Products pages, so both these tables in Article 3 have essentially been superseded.

• Article 4: Alternative Control Plan Regulation for Consumer Products and Aerosol Coating Products Article 4 provides an alternative plan for complying with VOC Standards for consumer products and aerosol coatings.

Industrial Applications Regulations

Under the Reducing Air Pollution program – ARB Programs, CARB publishes an extensive network of links for the regulations in various industrial applications and air quality management districts.  On the Reducing Air Pollution page, link to Coatings and then on the left side menu, link to California’s Coatings Rules. A chart will appear listing the specific rule that applies in each application and management district. As of October, 2014, CARB has prioritized Thermal Spraying for special attention.

VOC Content Limits

CARB establishes a maximum VOC-content for consumer products sold in California. Products containing VOCs above the threshold may not be sold in California. The table in this link compares the VOC content limits for the EPA, CARB and each AQMD in California for Architectural Coatings.   Not every jurisdiction publishes a limit for each type of coating.  Where the limits can be compared among jurisdictions, it is significant that SCAQMD’s are the most strict (and often substantially so), followed by CARB and then by the EPA.  The 34 AQMDs other than SCAQMD have limits equal to or between the limits for EPA and SCAQMD. The table in this link indicates which VOC content limit rule applies for each  Product Category for each AQMD in California.

Suggested Control Measures

From the 1980’s to 2000’s, CARB published Suggested Control Measures for Architectural Coatings and Automotive Refinishing.  There is a notation that certain SCM’s have been recently reviewed, but the regulations don’t appear to have been updated for several years.

Maximum Incremental Reactivity (MIR)

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are not the only measurement of the impacts on air quality. CARB developed and has initiated the use of the Maximum Incremental Reactivity (MIR) value to quantify the propensity of a chemical compound to react in the atmosphere to form ground-level ozone. MIR is now being adopted as a replacement for Low Vapour Pressure as more flexible standard in determining suitability of a solvent as “VOC-exempt” or “low VOC”. CARB is focussing on eliminating high-MIR VOCs which will have the greatest impact in lowering ambient VOC levels. MIR’s are recognized by manufacturers across the United States and increasingly by local, regional and national regulatory bodies. CARB has published the list of MIR values for many products.  CARB and EPA are co-operating to curb the emission of reactive chemicals. Rather than attempting to eliminate thousands of chemicals, CARB and EPA are focussing on eliminating only the high-MIR VOCs which will have the greatest impact in lowering smog production. The threshold limit is that of Ethane at 0.28. Chemicals with a higher reactivity than ethane are regulated, while those with a lower reactivity are not subject to regulation. (Curiously, SCAQMD typically established stricter requirements than CARB or the EPA. However, SCAQMD’s benchmark MIR is that of Toluene at 3.88.) CARB maintains a list of MIR values for thousands of chemical compounds which is available at this link. The MIR value of most of the chemicals in the table are much greater than Ethane, indicating that many chemicals are the subject of controls. Currently, only Aerosols are regulated by MIR.  All other products are still regulated by VOC content limits, expressed either as a % by weight, or more commonly, as grams of VOC per liter of product.  It is expected that MIR limits will become more common in the future.

Impending Rule Change

CARB is implementing significant reductions to the VOC emission limits and MIR values for Aerosol products from 2015 through 2017.  These changes will be summarized in a new section of this website in January, 2015.  CARB has published a comprehensive Staff Report: Initial Statement of Reasons for Proposed RuleMaking which explains the changes and the background for them. TBF’s very low MIR values mean that customers can formulate aerosol products that will meet and exceed new CARB regulations when they come into effect.

Enforcement

CARB enforces violations of air pollution regulations under the California Health and Safety Code (HSC) Sections 42402  through 42402.5.  HSC section 42402 identifies potential civil penalties of $1,000 to $10,000 per day for strict liability.  Higher penalties are provided for under 42402.1 for negligent emission violations (up to $25,000), 42402.2 for knowing (failure to correct) violations (up to $40,000), 42402.3 for willful violations (up to $75,000), and 42402.4 for falsification violations (up to $35,000).   In each case, if a death results, the penalties can be significantly higher. CARB published its Enforcement Policy in 2011.  CARB has enforced VOC regulations violations with stiff fines. The number of cases or citations closed in 2009 totaled 4,054, compared with 1,535 in 2002. Penalties collected in 2009 totaled $16.3 million, up from $11.3 million collected in 2002.  See http://www.arb.ca.gov/enf/sb1402/arb_amended_enf_policy_072111.pdf  pg 7. Dozens of cases each month are pursued.  Most are settled through negotiation rather than litigation.  A complete listing of enforcement actions is published on the CARB website.