Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance, Inc
UPDATE
Legislative and Regulatory News for the Solvents Industry

September/October 2007

EPA Proposes Paint Stripping Management Practices

As part of a proposed emission standard for paint stripping operations, EPA would require all sources to implement management practice standards to reduce emissions of methylene chloride by minimizing evaporative losses of the solvent. These practices would include optimizing stripper application conditions, reducing exposure of stripper to air, and practicing proper storage and disposal of materials containing methylene chloride. Existing sources consuming more than 150 gallons per year of paint stripping formulation would also be required to develop and implement a minimization plan including criteria for evaluating the necessity of methylene chloride in stripping operations and management techniques to minimize emissions.

According to the EPA notice, the plan’s evaluation criteria would involve only using methylene chloride-based paint stripper "when an alternative on-site stripping method or material is incapable of accomplishing the work as determined by the operator" (emphasis added). Sources using more than 150 gallons of stripper annually would be required to submit the minimization plan to EPA or the designated state permit authority, keep a written copy of the plan on site, and post a sign outlining the evaluation criteria and management techniques in the facility. Compliance would be required within 2 years of the publication of the final rule.

Comments on the proposal are due by October 17. HSIA will be submitting comments in support of the Agency’s proposal, but suggesting a higher cutoff for facilities required to develop written management plans. Interested parties are encouraged to also submit comments. The final rule is expected to be published by the end of the year.

Faster HCFC Phaseout Will Benefit Ozone, Climate

Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer agreed in late September to accelerate the phaseout of production of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) by 10 years. As a result of the agreement among the 190 nations, HCFC production and consumption will end in developed countries by 2020 and in developing countries by 2030.  HCFCs emerged as replacement chemicals for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the 1990s for air conditioning, refrigeration, foam, and solvent applications. While the HCFCs have a lower ozone depletion potential (ODP) than the CFCs, they were always planned as interim substitutes and were due to be phased out in 2030 by developed countries and in 2040 by developing ones.

Under the new international agreement, developed countries have committed to reductions in production and consumption of HCFCs of 75 percent by 2010 and 90 percent by 2015. HCFC production and consumption will be eliminated by 2020. Developing countries are committed to freeze HCFC production and consumption by 2013 and achieve reductions of 10 percent by 2015, 35 percent by 2020, and 76.5 percent by 2025. Full elimination would occur by 2030.

The United States and the European Community have already taken steps to accelerate the HCFC phaseout. EPA eliminated production of HCFC-141b, a replacement in foam and solvent applications with a relatively high ODP, in 2003 and will prohibit most production of HCFC-22 and HCFC-142b by 2010. Interest in accelerating global action on HCFCs had increased in recent months as a result of mounting evidence of the large benefit of ozone replenishment to slowing climate change.

The Parties failed to reach a conclusion about the need to control production of certain short-lived compounds with small, but measurable ODP, like n-propyl bromide. A decision on these chemicals likely will be deferred until after a scientific review planned for 2010.

Court Sets Drycleaning Briefing Schedule

Under the briefing schedule established by the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, initial briefs in the industry and Sierra Club challenges of EPA’s amendments to the national emission standard (NESHAP) for perchloroethylene drycleaning are due by December 19. According to the DC Circuit schedule, EPA’s response is due March 4, 2008 and the deadline for the New York State Attorney General, who notified the DC Circuit that it intends to file amicus briefs in the lawsuits in support of EPA’s decision, is March 31. Final briefs from the parties must be submitted by April 28, 2008.

HSIA, IFI, NCA, and TCATA filed a joint petition for review in the DC Circuit challenging EPA’s legal authority for imposing a phaseout on co-residential drycleaners as part of amendments to the drycleaning NESHAP promulgated in July 2006. Sierra Club also filed a petition for review of the July 2006 rule in the DC Circuit challenging the Agency’s decision not to require phaseout of perchloroethylene equipment in locations other than co-residential settings. The two cases were consolidated last fall.

The DC Circuit ordered that the consolidated case be held in abeyance until EPA reached a decision on a petition for reconsideration filed by Sierra Club. The Sierra Club filed the administrative petition shortly after it filed for judicial review contending that the Agency’s final amendments raised issues that were not addressed in EPA’s original proposal. As reported previously in the Solvents Update, EPA rejected the Sierra Club petition in April. That decision cleared the way for the Court to establish the briefing schedule for the Sierra Club and industry challenges to the 2006 drycleaning amendments. The Court’s decision in the case is now expected sometime in mid to late 2008.

Information in this Update is believed to be correct as of the date of publication, but HSIA cannot guarantee its completeness or accuracy.  In publishing this information, HSIA is not providing legal advice and does not assume or undertake any duty imposed by law or regulation.  Mention of particular products, practices, or services does not constitute HSIA endorsement.