SCAQMD Considers Amendments to Rule 1106 for Marine and Pleasure Craft Coating Operations

California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) recently issued Proposed Amended Rule 1106 – Marine and Pleasure Craft Coating Operations and hosted a working group meeting for interested stakeholders.

The district is accepting stakeholder comments on its proposal through Feb. 26, 2019. The SCAQMD Governing Board will consider the proposed amendment and rescission at a Public Hearing on May 3, 2019.

The proposed amendments will affect two rules, Proposed Amended Rule 1106 and Rule 1106.1.  Staff proposes to subsume the requirements of Rule 1106.1 into Proposed Amended Rule 1106 – Marine and Pleasure Craft Coating Operations and rescind Rule 1106.1 – Pleasure Craft Coating Operations.  Additionally, to align VOC limits with other California air districts and the U.S. EPA Control Techniques Guidelines, the proposal will revise the VOC content limits for pretreatment wash primers, and antenna, repair and maintenance thermoplastic, inorganic zinc, and specialty marking coatings. New coating categories for marine aluminum antifoulant, mist, nonskid and organic zinc coatings and marine deck primer sealant will also be added. The proposed amendment will include provisions for pollution prevention measures, enhanced enforceability, and for the promotion of clarity and consistency.

ACA is drafting industry comments for the comment deadline. ACA’s comments will focus on supporting SCAQMD’s efforts to improve air quality while ensuring that top quality marine coatings products are available for customers in the South Coast basin.

Inclusion of a One-year Compliance Date

Once Amended Rule 1106 is finalized, all its requirements will go into effect immediately. ACA would like the air district to include a one-year effective date from the date of amendment adoption in its proposed rule so that industry has enough time to comply with new provisions. For example, there are new labeling requirements in paragraph (g)(1) that apply to all marine coating manufacturers. In the current Rule 1106.1, there are no labeling requirements for pleasure craft coating manufacturers, which means that those entities will need to adjust their supply chain processes to ensure appropriate labels are prepared and placed on their products. As a result, those affected manufacturers will need time to properly implement the new labeling requirements before the compliance date goes into effect.

Similarly, there are new provisions in section (e) regarding prohibitions on possession, specification, and sale of products that are not in compliance with certain requirements in the rule. Marine coatings manufacturers will need a reasonable amount of lead time to ensure that any non-compliant products are not in their possession nor being sold within the District’s jurisdiction.

Addition of a Three-year Sell-through provision

Because there are new requirements that will alter the way marine coatings manufacturers assemble and supply their products, ACA will urge SCAQMD to add a three-year sell-through provision to Amended Rule 1106. A sell-through provision would allow companies to continue selling regulated, unlabeled products that were manufactured prior to the amended rule’s effective date for a set period after the amended rule’s effective date. This would give industry time to sell through their existing inventory while reducing the amount of waste that would occur if no sell-through provision was included in the amended rule. The addition of a sell through provision would also be consistent with SCAQMD’s longstanding practice of including a sell-through provision in its rules.

Modification of the Most Restrictive VOC Limit Provision

The amended rule proposal paragraph (d)(4) states that, if a coatings product “meets the definition of or is recommended for use for more than one of the marine coating categories listed in paragraph (d)(1) or the pleasure craft coating categories listed in paragraph (d)(2), or the low-solids coating category listed in paragraph (d)(3), then the lowest VOC content limit shall apply.” ACA plans to underscore to SCAQMD that the problem with combining the marine coatings and pleasure craft coatings rules together as the district is proposing, is that companies may sell products that can be used on both pleasure craft and marine vessels. According to paragraph (d)(1), these products would be subject to the lowest limit of both tables.

For example, under the current regulations, companies that sell high gloss products intended for pleasure craft (i.e. wood, fiberglass, or metal substrates) must meet the 420 g/L limit pursuant to Rule 1106.1. Inversely, companies that sell high gloss products intended for marine vessels must meet the 340 g/L limit pursuant to Rule 1106. Under Proposed Amended Rule 1106, companies would either have to market two separate products (one for marine and one for pleasure craft) or apply the 340 g/L limit according to the most restrictive VOC limit provision in paragraph (d)(4). The same issue arises for antifoulant, pretreatment wash primer, and “any other coating type” categories. As written, this new provision would be extremely burdensome on both industry and SCAQMD because it would cause a great deal of regulatory confusion and uncertainty.

In the alternative, ACA will suggest that SCAQMD modify this provision in Amended Rule 1106 so that the most restrictive VOC limit would apply separately to Marine Coatings Categories in Table of Standards I and Pleasure Craft Coatings Categories in Table of Standards II instead of across both tables. This would eliminate the expected confusion that would undoubtedly arise.

ACA will remain engaged with the air district throughout its rule amendment process.

Contact ACA’s Rhett Cash or Raleigh Davis for more information.

 

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from American Coatings Association https://www.paint.org/rule-1106/
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