EPA is stretching out the compliance timetable for an update to regulations that limit smog-forming emissions from aerosol spray paint makers, processors and distributors.
In a reversal of its initial position, the agency is now allowing manufacturers until January 2027 to meet the amended standards for volatile organic compound emissions, according to an interim final rule published in Wednesday’s Federal Register. The deadline had been July 17.
In issuing the amended regulations in mid-January, just before President Joe Biden left office, EPA had rejected industry calls for a two-year compliance window on the grounds that “most, if not all manufacturers” already made products that met the relevant emission limits. Volatile organic compounds are one of the main ingredients in the formation of ground-level ozone, which in turn helps spawn lung-damaging smog.
But the rule published Wednesday cited an industry petition that “significantly more time is required to reformulate, relabel, and communicate with suppliers, customers, and distributors.”
