Formaldehyde Emissions Standard Enacted in California

Following six years of cooperative work between agency staff and industry, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has finalized the toughest production standard in the world for formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products.

“This is a sound regulation, and this is an appropriate time to do it,” says the Composite Panel Association (CPA) chairman Darrell Keeling of Roseburg Forest Products. “I am proud of how our industry has embraced this rule, and it is gratifying to hear the CARB staff publicly recognize the cooperative spirit we brought to the rulemaking process. Our products are made almost entirely from recycled wood waste, making them one of the greenest building materials available to consumers. In addition, our industry has voluntarily reduced the formaldehyde emission levels in our products by 80 percent over the last 30 years. While tough, this new regulation is simply the natural continuation of the great work our industry has been doing to produce high quality, environmentally responsible products.”

The CARB regulation applies to all panels made for sale or use in California, whether as raw panels or as a component of a downstream consumer product such as a kitchen or bath cabinet, a door or a piece of furniture. Any manufacturer, foreign or domestic, producing products for sale or use in California will be governed by the new rule.

“This new rule balances the technological capabilities of industry with the health requirements of the people of California,” says Tom Julia, CPA president. “Now we need to continue to work with the CARB staff to ensure that it is enforced equally across all manufacturers around the world. By virtue of its rigorous certification and enforcement provisions combined with low emissions requirements, this rule creates the toughest production standard in the world for formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products. Our North American manufacturers are prepared to meet the requirements in the rule, and we look forward to working with CARB to ensure that offshore manufacturers are held to the same standard.”

The rule is now subject to a 45–day legal review by California’s Office of Administration Law. The first stage of its implementation is January 1, 2009.

Click Here for more information from CPA on this new standard.

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