California Air Board turns down second petition to delay phase-out
The California Air Resources Board has denied a petition from the state’s Korean American Cleaners Association to revise and delay implementation of the
statewide phase-out of perc.
The petition filed by the Korean cleaners group was their second attempt to get CARB to
change the perc phase-out which banned the sale of new perc equipment as of
last year and will eliminate perc use in co-residential locations next year,
the first steps toward a complete phase-out by 2023.
The first petition was turned down last year, but the association tried again in
December, this time adding two new arguments to their case: the tumbling
economy makes purchasing replacement equipment unaffordable and state fire
codes may require installation of sprinkler systems in locations that switch
from perc to hydrocarbon machines.
The petition failed to demonstrate that in the current economy implementation of
the phase-out would have adverse consequences for cleaners.
“The extent and impact this downturn has had on the drycleaners are not known and
the petitioner did not provide this information,” wrote CARB Executive Officer James N. Goldstone. “The petitioner has not provided any information on the economic loss suffered by
drycleaners in California or examples of the industry’s inability to purchase alternative drycleaning machines.
Goldstone noted that the most cleaners will have at least until July 2010 to
replace existing perc machines and some can keep operating them until 2023. The
phase-out lets cleaners continue using perc machines that were installed before
2008 until they are 15 years old.
On the fire code issue, Goldstone said that cleaners who installed hydrocarbon
or other high-flash solvent systems before January 2008 would not need to
install sprinkler systems as long as they store fewer than 330 gallons of
solvent on site.
New provisions of the California Fire Code that took effect in 2008 may require
cleaners to install a sprinkler system when putting in a new hydrocarbon
system. CARB believes that up to 2,500 cleaning plants could fall under the new
fire code provisions if they replace perc systems with hydrocarbon units.
The CARB staff estimated that the cost of adding a sprinkler system would range
from $4,000 to $8,000, which would increase the staff’s estimate cost of installing a new hydrocarbon machine to $81,000 from $75,000.
That $6,000 difference could be recovered by a price-per-garment increase of
five cents, the CARB staff said, which “is not sufficient to warrant changes to the regulation.”
Two other options are available to cleaners needing to meet new fire code
requirements, Goldstone noted.
One option to a sprinkler system which is allowed under the current code, he
said, is using an alternative method of fire protection if it provides
equivalent fire protection and local fire authorities agree and approve of the
alternative.
A second option is changing the current code. The state fire marshal is
reviewing possible code revisions that would allow other fire protection
features that could provide safety measures that are equivalent to a sprinkler
system, he said.
The next state fire code revision is scheduled for 2011, but the fire marshal’s office may expedite its consideration of alternative protection methods to
address the drycleaning industry’s concerns. Goldstone said industry members concerned about the fire code should
become involved in those discussions with the fire marshal.
