REGULATORY Experts weigh in on 2020 and beyond… Ava Caridad, Editorial Director
As we delve fully into 2020, regulatory concerns
continue to be at the forefront for marketers and
suppliers. In an effort to bring readers a variety of
perspectives, SPRAY surveyed experts to bring together
a comprehensive look at what lies ahead for the aerosol product
and related industries.
Doug Raymond, Raymond Regulatory Resources (3R), LLC
VOC Regulations
As always, the California Air Resources
Board (CARB) is at the forefront of
Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions
activities. CARB began the current
rulemaking process in April 2019 and it
will continue through the end of 2020.
CARB is currently developing regulations
on six categories of products, plus
proposing to eliminate the 2% Fragrance
exemption in the late 2020s. This rule
development should achieve 2.5–5 tons
per day (tpd) of VOC emission reductions
in 2023 and a total of 9.5–12 tpd by 2031. This is the largest rulemaking
that CARB has undertaken in close to a decade. In addition,
CARB is in the process of changing numerous definitions
that could alter the way products are regulated.
We spend an enormous amount of time
on CARB rule developments because these
rules spread throughout the U.S. and now
to Canada. Make sure you watch this rulemaking
14 Spray April 2020
closely.
A few other States— such as New York
and New Jersey—will likely update their VOC
regulations this year, but there is no timeline yet.
Canada
Canada has been working on a Consumer Product VOC regulation
for years. It appears that they are getting closer to proposing
the regulation. The good news is the VOC limits are the same as
CARB regulations. The bad news is that Canada does not want
to adopt the CARB product category definitions, which are the
backbone of the regulation. We will need to wait and see what
happens with this regulation.
HFC State regulations
There has been a flurry of States enacting hydrofluorocarbon
(HFC) regulations on aerosol products. Since the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) Significant New Alternative
Policy (SNAP) rule was overturned in the courts, States have
been waiting for EPA to re-establish a new regulation. EPA has
not released a new regulation, therefore last year and this year
numerous States have either started legislation or regulatory
action to develop regulations on aerosols containing HFCs. We
need to monitor these regulations because some have unintended
consequences, such as label provisioning. Currently, 15 States are
working on regulations.
This will be a busy year!
Nicole Quiñonez, industry lobbyist and partner at Madden
Quinonez Advocacy, consultant to the National Aerosol Association
(NAA) and Household & Commercial Products Association (HCPA)
Legislative climate in California
The second year of California’s two-year legislative session is
underway. Legislation introduced last year that didn’t make it to
the Governor’s desk for a signature or veto is still in play this year,
along with all of the new bills introduced. Over 2,300 bills are
currently before the legislature.
SB 54 and AB 1080, identical bills introduced last year, are still
alive and kicking this year. These bills
would require all single-use packaging
to be 100% recyclable or compostable
by 2030, meet a 75% recycling rate
by 2030, and source-reduce to the
“maximum extent feasible.” The definition
of “single-use packaging” covers
all packaging that is not reusable, so
aerosol containers are very much in
scope. When determining if single-use
packaging is reaching the mandated recycling
rate, the CA Dept. of Resources,
Recycling & Recovery (CalRecycle) will
base its measurements on material type.
As we know, metal is recycled at relatively high levels, but many
plastics are not. In the event a manufacturer is using a material
that has not reached the mandated recycling rate, it will be on the
hook for $50,000 per day/per
violation fines.
The legislation would
likely push manufacturers into
creating product stewardship
organizations based on packaging
material types to raise funds
and invest in programs to increase recycling rates or take back
packaging to control its end-of-life management. A broad industry
coalition is working with the legislature to get amendments to the
bills to make them more implementable for businesses, however
little progress has been made to date to address our concerns.
Another piece of legislation, SB 732, would have allowed the
South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) to levy
its own sales tax on products sold within the district. The money
raised through the sales tax would have been spent on projects to
Raymond
Quiñonez