Paint Industry Sues Over Air Quality Regulations

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Paint Industry Sues Over Air Quality Regulations

June 16, 1999

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- Paint costs would soar and paint would be less

durable under new air quality restrictions on paint eliminating toxic

compounds thought to contribute to smog and ozone, according to a lawsuit

filed by paint manufacturers, dealers and contractors.

The plaintiffs sued Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court to invalidate

new restrictions on paint and coating contents adopted May 14 by the South

Coast Air Quality Management District. The ban on certain paint compounds is

scheduled to go into effect in two stages, beginning in 2002 with a final

reduction in 2006.

" These new regulations outlaw 90 percent of all paint currently on the

market, " said Jay Haines, board member of the Environmental Legislative and

Regulatory Advocacy Program of the California Paint and Coatings Industry

Alliance.

" The cost of a gallon of paint will increase between $6 to $12 per gallon,

yet the paint will not cover as well or have the durability of current

products, " Haines said of the regulations' effect on consumers.

The lawsuit claims the air quality district did not, as required by state

law, analyze the economic and environmental adverse impacts of its

rulemaking.

" The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency adopted national rules only last

year that require manufacturers to reformulate their products; however, the

SCAQMD has adopted limits many times lower which will destroy local

businesses and increase costs to every consumer, " said Smiland, an

attorney for the paint industry.

The regulations mandate that paint be made with low or zero organic content,

and the lawsuit claims the technology to make paint of high quality under

such guidelines does not exist.

Such " volatile organic compounds " are released as vapors as paint dries. The

compounds typically are found in highest quantities in glossy, oil-based

paints used to cover bridges, storage tanks and other outdoor structures. In

homes, such paints are often used on exterior doors, bathrooms and kitchens.

The paint industry estimates that it will cost $1.75 billion to reformulate

paint products, and said about 7,000 products now available would be banned

under the regulations.

Air quality officials said fumes from paint as now formulated are

responsible for putting 58 tons of pollutants into the air during the spring

and summer, which they said was more than the pollution produced by 1.8

million automobiles or all petroleum refining, storage and transfer activity

in the region. The regulations were designed to remove 22 tons of paint

pollutants from the air.

" As technology advances and good products become available, there isn't any

reason for other areas of the country not to use them, " Barry Wallerstein,

executive director of the SCAQMD, said last month as he rejected the

argument that Southern California regulations would be far more restrictive

than those elsewhere in the nation.