L. A. air quality regulators may ban aerosol paints.

L.A. air quality regulators may ban aerosol paints

Regional air quality officials were expected to decide at their Nov. 2 meeting whether to ban the use of a wide class of aerosol paints in Southern California.

The regulation, developed by the staff of the South Coast Air Quality Management District during the last six months, would eliminate exemptions previously given to scores of paints and coatings applied on everything from buildings and automobiles to wood products and adhesives.

Slated to go into effect in 1994, the sweeping regulation would slash emissions of volatile organic compounds generated by spray paints and coatings from 11.5 tons a day to .6 tons, or nearly 95 percent. While the district in recent years has imposed tough rules on coatings applied by brushes, rollers and specialized industrial nozzles, this is the first time it has gone after aerosols.

Southland companies that produce and packages the aerosols would be forced to reformulate their products to meet the new standards, or stop selling them altogether in the four-county South Coast basin. The major Southland aerosol-paint manufacturers include Sherwin Williams and Major Paints Co., a division of Torrance-based Standard Brands.

Volatile organic compounds, when combined with nitrogen oxide in sunlight, form smog.

"The question before the board is whether to regulate aerosols so tightly that a technological breakthrough is needed, or to regulate them just a little bit," said AQMD spokesman Bill Kelly.

The new guideline would cost the spray paint industry $11.2 million in lost revenues and reduce job growth in the industry by 169 jobs annually, according to an AQMD economic analysis.

"At stake with this rule is a very viable industry that produces a valuable, and in many instances, essentially irreplaceable product," said Ray Robinson, executive director of Southern California Paint and Coatings Association's environmental arm. Robinson said that many industries, especially those involved in defense work, need aerosol paints to cover surfaces not accessible with conventional brushes or rollers.

"The AQMD staff report was written deliberately to ban the aerosols in spite of industry input," Robinson added. "The aerosol industry has never been regulated and now the AQMD is proposing, not just to regulate it, but to ban it outright."

The paint industry has put forth a counter-proposal that would reduce emissions to 3.25 tons a day by 1991, similar to a measure in effect in the San Francisco area, through reformulated paints.

AQMD's Kelly conceded the rule could conceivably ban aerosols, but said emission reductions are needed for the district to meet state and federal clean air standards.

"The regulation is important because the amount of emissions (from aerosol paints) is equal to pollutants from the area's three biggest refineries," Kelly said.

Of the 1,246 tons of pollution released into the Southland's air each day, roughly 218 tons are generated by paints.

Robinson said he doubted the paint companies could reformulate their products to meet AQMD's new standards.