If state air regulators have their way, changes will soon be coming to a wide range of consumer products, from deodorants and hairsprays to carpet cleaners, insecticides and paint solvents.

The state Air Resources Board is in the midst of drafting regulations to reduce emissions of smog-forming organic gases from hundreds of consumer products sold in California. These compounds are typically used either as cleansers in consumer products or as aerosols to help propel the contents out of cans.

The crackdown stems from the state’s 2003 air pollution control plan, which mandates sweeping reductions in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) across the state.

There have been previous rounds of regulation of VOCs that have reduced the total emissions to 240 tons per day last year from 320 tons per day in 1990 with many of the proposals opposed by manufacturers. In the South Coast air basin, which includes Los Angeles and Orange counties and the Inland Empire, VOC emissions fell to 105 tons last year from 142 tons per day in 1990.

But without further regulation, VOC emissions are projected to head back up again to nearly 300 tons per day by 2020 statewide and 121 tons per day in the South Coast air basin as a growing population uses more of these consumer products.

As a result, the 2003 air plan sets a timetable for additional VOC emission reductions to be implemented. The first phase is being implemented this year and includes first-time regulations on a number of products, from nail polishes to graffiti removal solvents. These regulations are projected to result in an immediate reduction of 5 tons per day.

Air Resources Board staff is now drawing up the emission reduction regulations for the second phase, which will be presented to the governing board in November. A workshop is scheduled for June 1 in Sacramento.

In materials for the last workshop in March, ARB staff warned: “There is a great need for reductions. A large number of categories will likely see new VOC limits It will be a tough challenge and communication is essential.”

A consultant representing several consumer product manufacturers said the biggest concern with this round of regulations is that they will be hitting many products that already have had their VOC emissions reduced.

“We may be reaching the limits on how far these products can be reformulated,” said Doug Raymond, who specifically cited hair spray as a product that has seen repeated reductions.

For more information on the workshop, log onto the Air Resources Board site with the link arb.ca.gov/consprod/regact/cpwg2006/cpwg2006.htm.

New Fax Rules


Last summer, President Bush signed a law limiting the distribution of “junk faxes.” Now, with the Aug. 1 deadline approaching, federal regulators have spelled out its enforcement.

Among the new rules from the Federal Communications Commission: senders of fax advertisements must include a notice on the fax allowing recipients to contact the sender and have their name removed from the sender’s mass-fax list. Upon receipt of such an opt-out request, the sender has 30 days to remove the person or entity from their list.

The law signed last summer exempts faxes sent to someone who has an “established business relationship” with the sender. Under the FCC rules, there must be some sort of contractual arrangement made at least every 90 days in order to meet this criterion.

This interpretation has upset small business, which backed an earlier proposal that required renewing contractual arrangements after 18 months. The complaint is new FCC rule will place additional burdens on small business owners to send out contractual notices to their customers every 90 days.

For the FCC report on the “junk fax” rules, log onto http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-06-42A1.pdf.

Sales Tax Exemption


Backers of a state sales tax exemption on manufacturing equipment are hoping that word of an unanticipated $7.5 billion revenue windfall to state coffers will aid their cause.

Ever since the manufacturers’ tax credit was eliminated four years ago, the California Manufacturers and Technology Association has been pushing for either its reinstatement or the enactment of alternative tax exemptions.

This year, the CMTA sponsored AB 2218, which is being carried by Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Newark. The bill calls for a 10-year state sales tax exemption on purchases of equipment used in the manufacturing, high tech, biotech and nanotech industries.

In past years as the state has faced record budget deficits such proposals were dead on arrival. But at the Torrico bill’s first hearing earlier this month, the CMTA achieved mixed results.

Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee chairman Johan Klehs, D-San Leandro, proposed narrowing the bill’s scope to fewer categories, but the committee did not kill the bill. The committee is expected to take the measure up again in the next few weeks as part of budget negotiations.

Minimum Wage Update


As discussed in the last Regulation Watch column, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week did indeed petition the Industrial Welfare Commission to raise the state’s minimum wage by $1 – to $7.75 an hour – over the next year.

Schwarzenegger acted on the suggestion from Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, to revive the defunct commission and have it consider an immediate hike in the minimum wage. Maldonado made the suggestion after his minimum wage legislation was rejected by the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee because it did not contain a provision to annually index the minimum wage to inflation.

Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached by phone at (323) 549-5225, ext. 227, or by e-mail at

[email protected]

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