BIG PAINT CHANGE BLOCKED INDUSTRY WINS APPELLATE COURT RULING AGAINST TOUGH ANTI-POLLUTION RULE.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

A state appellate court has voided a proposed amendment to South Coast Air Quality Management District rules that would have eliminated tons of air pollution coming from house paints and other coatings.

The court ruled the amendment, which would impose stringent limits on volatile organic compounds allowed in paints and coatings, was adopted without proper public notification in May 1999.

``From a consumer's point of view, these rules would have outlawed 97 percent of the paints,'' said attorney William M. Smiland, who represents a group of paint and coating companies that filed the suit. ``This was not some tinkering at the edges. This was a very, very radical prohibition,'' added Smiland, who with his brother Bob owns Smiland Paint Co. in Los Angeles and Alhambra.

South Coast AQMD Executive Officer Barry Wallerstein said the agency plans to appeal the decision to the California Supreme Court.

``This is just another attempt by a recalcitrant industry that does not want to clean up its act relative to air pollution in Southern California,'' Wallerstein said.

Critics say the plan would have resulted in paints that are inferior in almost every way, leaving consumers with fewer colors and higher prices for a product that is harder to use and provides less coverage.

The changes were directed at the solvents used in paints. They are designed to reduce the amount of volatile organic compounds released into the air by an estimated 21.8 tons per day.

Some of these compounds, measured in grams per liter, react with other elements in the air to produce ozone, a component of smog that sears the lungs. The volatile organic compounds are found in such products as primers, sealers, rust coatings, waterproofing, gloss and semi-gloss paint and quick-dry enamels.

Regulators recommended a two-step reduction in the compounds. The first, gradual step would have occurred July 1, with the steeper and final cut coming in 2006.

``It's very important to note that coatings are a major source of volatile organic compounds that contribute to ozone (and) fine particles in the air and are the third largest source of pollution other than motor vehicles,'' Wallerstein said.

AQMD spokesman Sam Atwood said the Santa Clarita Valley had the worst air qualify of any area in Southern California this year, tying the San Bernardino Mountains for the number of unhealthy days and hitting number one for the highest one-hour measurement of ozone.

``The paint regulation is precisely the kind of regulation we need to reduce ozone levels across the region, but particularly in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys,'' Atwood said. ``This summer's high level in the Santa Clarita Valley is a reminder that we have to keep working to reduce emissions to protect public health.''

Smiland said the rule would have left consumers with two choices of paints.

``These would be two kinds of oddball products,'' he said. ``One are low-odor paints used primarily in hospitals and the other are two-component systems. In my mind, they are not even paint. It's where you get a can of one thing and a can of another, mix them in a third can and spray them.

``This is extremely difficult to handle - very costly - and nobody paints their house with a two-component system.''