Painting Projects to Feel Pinch of New Smog Rules

Weekend painters around the state may find it more difficult and expensive to touch up their house trim, varnish their decks or stain their wood floors beginning Sept. 1 because of new regulations designed to reduce air pollution.

The new rules, which mandate lower levels of solvents in certain oil-base paints and other coatings, have left many paint manufacturers, retailers and contractors confused and angry. But air pollution regulators argue that the industry should be able to make and use acceptable products as part of California’s battle against smog.

For do-it-yourselfers who use oil-base enamels, varnishes, waterproof sealers and about 28 other coatings, the new regulations could result in products that cost more and are harder to apply and less durable. Some merchandise may be available only in quart-size cans, which would cause the price of a large job to rise, and a few items could disappear altogether, the industry contends.

“The (federal) government and the state are lousing up the paint industry,” complained Arnold Hoffman, vice president of Standard Brands’ paint manufacturing subsidiary.

“The word is out that we’ve banned oil-base paint,” groused Paul Brand, a public information officer for the San Francisco Bay Area Air Quality Management District, one of 23 of the state’s 41 local districts--including Southern California’s--that are adopting the restrictions.

“We’re getting calls from people asking, ‘How come we’re not going to be allowed to paint anymore?’ ” Brand said. “It’s like saying because gasoline has been reformulated (to reduce lead) there will be no more driving.”

The new rules are part of a patchwork of regulations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and some local air pollution control districts to limit how much solvent is in paint and other so-called “architectural coatings.”

All paints contain petroleum solvents that release hydrocarbons into the air as the paints dry. Hydrocarbons, whether from a painted surface or the tailpipe of a car, combine with other contaminants to form ozone, the major component of smog.

California is the only state that regulates paint and other coatings as part of its air pollution control efforts. Emissions from surface coatings and solvents are not insignificant contributors to pollution, officials insist.

Limits Already in Effect

Most types of paints, including such popular items as flat wall paint and latex semi-gloss enamels, already have had solvent limits phased in since the state took on the task in the mid-1970s. Water-base paints contain much lower levels of solvents than oil-base paints and other coatings.

One of the new rules affects the sale of non-flat paints--the high-gloss and semi-gloss enamels used on house trim, kitchens and bathrooms. A separate regulation places various restrictions on solvents in about 30 “specialty coatings,” such as varnishes, lacquers, wood stains, waterproof sealers and roofing mastic.

Specifically, in many parts of California, oil-base enamels cannot be sold legally in sizes larger than one liter (about a quart) after Sept. 1, if the level of solvents exceeds 250 grams per liter compared to the previous level of 380 grams per liter. Painting contractors generally will not be able to use the old products that they already have on hand after the first of the year.

For specialty coatings, manufacturers will not be allowed to make products in sizes larger than one liter after Sept. 1 that do not meet the solvent limits, which vary widely from product to product. However, retailers can still sell and contractors can still use specialty coatings manufactured before Sept. 1 until their inventories run out. (To add to the confusion, the rules vary slightly around the state with respect to compliance dates, coating categories and which agency will enforce the rules.)

But, in an exemption aimed at helping small do-it-yourselfers, the old oil-base enamels and specialty coatings can continue to be sold legally in containers of one liter or less even after the new rules are in force.

Paint industry officials acknowledge that they don’t know how new and reformulated products that meet the standards will perform over time, but they fear that they will be more expensive, may cover less surface, may not flow as well, may leave brush and roller marks more easily and may not last as long, which will mean more frequent repainting. That could produce even more hydrocarbons than using the old products, they say.

“There’s a real danger that the public is going to end up the loser on this thing,” said Donald Curl, legislative chairman of the Southern California Paint & Coatings Assn.

For their part, the Environmental Protection Agency and other regulators contend that acceptable products can and will be manufactured that meet the new limits.

In fact, at least one paint company is already selling reformulated gloss enamels, said David Howecamp, director of the air management division for the EPA region that includes California. Unfortunately, the EPA cannot reveal the company’s name because the manufacturer claims it is confidential business information, Howecamp said, noting that the paint industry is extremely competitive and companies jealously guard paint formulas and other secrets.

“If one company is marketing it, then everybody should be able to do it,” Howecamp said. That was the EPA’s reasoning when it denied the industry’s request for a two-year extension on the non-flat-paint rule, he said. The industry subsequently lost a request for a preliminary injunction blocking implementation of the rule.

Both sides acknowledge that professional contractors will be affected by the rule much more than the weekend painter. Nearly three-quarters of the paint sold today is water-base, which consumers prefer because it is easy to use and to clean up, Curl said.

Technology Limited

But for certain applications--where a high gloss or especially durable finish is required and under certain weather conditions--the industry says, oil-base enamels are necessary. And in some cases the technology has not yet been developed to make low-solvent products that are as good as current paints, they say.

In the case of some specialty coatings, new products may not be available to professionals and consumers alike. Curl said manufacturers cannot meet the new limits on about 10 of the 30 coating categories, including varnishes, semitransparent stains and wood preservatives, and therefore need more research time.

“We’re not the bad guys out here trying to poison the world,” Curl said. “We don’t have a different set of lungs. We have to breathe the same smog. If we knew how to make all this out of water, we would do it. We wouldn’t need regulations or anything else.”

Los Angeles homeowner Jerry Scurlock, who regularly uses oil-base enamels and some specialty coatings on his own home and three rental properties, doesn’t like the idea of new products that don’t work as well or might not be as readily available.

“I like to use oil base,” Scurlock said. “I like to do the best job I can.”

But Culver City resident Steve Leon, a member of the Sierra Club, said he would not miss the old products. “I would like to see them take more crap out of the air,” he said.

Many large manufacturers are ready with new reformulated enamels but are still working on some of their specialty coatings. Glidden, for example, is “fine-tuning” two of its varnishes before the company puts them on the market in California, said Bob Minucciani, a scientist for regulatory affairs at Glidden’s San Francisco office.

Some Lines Dropped

At the other end of the industry, some small manufacturers without the money to spend on researching new products are having to discontinue some of their paint lines.

Life Paint of Santa Fe Springs, for one, will stop making about 30 products, representing about 40% of the small, independent company’s product line, said manager Jerry Muluix.

“We will continue, of course, to work to try to conform,” Muluix said. But “we’re a small company and we don’t have the technology.”

Some other examples:

- At Dunn-Edwards Corp., “we’re not going out of business, that’s for sure,” said Jack Wood, vice president of corporate development. The company has developed new products, but “when you’re forced to reformulate and try something different when the technology is not there, it’s just a gamble. . . . But that doesn’t mean (the new products) won’t be as good forever. We hope to be able to improve them as we go along.”

- Flecto Co. of Oakland is working overtime to produce extra “Varathane,” as the company’s varnish line is called, said Stephen S. Depetris, technical and production manager. The extra products will give the company’s suppliers more time to develop ingredients that will allow Flecto to make a product that complies with the rules. “We want to meet the rules but we also want to make a good product,” Depetris said.

- E. A. Thompson Co., manufacturer of the popular Thompson’s Water Seal, said that its wood preservatives and stains either meet the rules now or are being reformulated to comply. But reformulating Thompson’s Water Seal presents a problem because “you’re asking a water-base product mixed with water, once it’s dried, to not like water,” a spokesman said. Thompson is seeking a variance while it tries to develop an acceptable water-base waterproofer, he said.

Contractors fear that their reputations will suffer if the new products do not work as well. And they say their prices probably will rise on jobs where they once would have used oil-base enamels because they will have to use more coats of paint, take more time preparing some surfaces and buy more expensive materials.

Painting contractor Bob Berg, executive vice president and co-owner of G. C. Hewitt Co. of Los Angeles, said the new rules are “going to make it impossible for people to afford painters. The price is going to go up because, unfortunately, our production will go down (because the new paints may not go as far and take more preparation work).”

Burbank-based contractor Paul Mazzeo, who has been experimenting with some of the new enamels, acknowledged that “some of the new ones work pretty good.”

“We have to use the new ones, so we’re just going to do it and get used to it, but if we had our druthers, we’d stick with the old paints and formulas.”

Contractors also will be faced with the prospect of disposing of old enamel paints after the first of the year, when it will be considered nothing more than hazardous waste. The price of getting rid of the paint runs about $4 a gallon, Berg said.

Professionals and homeowners can still do big jobs with the old materials if they buy lots of quart cans, but that could substantially raise the cost, perhaps even doubling or tripling the price compared with buying gallon cans, according to industry estimates. For example, Flecto Varathane costs $32 in a gallon can and $12 in a quart can so that buying four quart cans would hike the cost by $16.

Going out of the regulated areas to buy products that don’t comply with the rules would be a clear violation, air pollution officials said.

Those who violate the law can be fined $25,000 per day per violation and, depending on which agency is enforcing the law in the part of the state where the violation occurs, jail time could also be required.

But despite the fact that inspectors will begin taking samples from paint cans at stores and job sites in September, homeowners have little worry of being caught no matter what type of products they use, said William Wruble, an EPA environmental engineer.

“The (ban on) application applies to everyone, but I doubt the EPA would ever enforce against a homeowner painting his own building,” Wruble said. “We’re interested in the professional painting contractors.”