National Clothesline

With an eye to a major deadline coming up next year, the California Air Resources Board is reminding cleaners of the statewide phase-out of perc drycleaning that was adopted by the board in early 2007.

In an advisory to drycleaners last month, CARB reiterated that as of July 1, 2010, all existing perc drycleaning machines at co-residential facilities and all perc drycleaning machines 15 years old or older must be removed from service.

The statewide phase-out was part of amendments to the Airborne Toxic Control Measure for drycleaning emissions approved by the air board despite industry opposition and in the face of differing opinion from the air board’s own staff. The staff originally proposed further restrictions on the use of perc but not a total phase-out. Board members, however, wanting total elimination of perc in drycleaning voted to start a phase-out program under which perc will be gone from California drycleaning plants by 2023.

The air board staff estimated in 2006 that there were 3,660 perc machines operating in California, a thousand fewer than just three years earlier, with an average age of eight years. Few if any perc machines have been sold in the state since then because the new rules outlawed their sale in the state as of Jan. 1, 2008.

How many perc machines remain in operation now, three years later, and how many will be affected by the July 1 deadline is not known. Recent estimates by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District indicated that 66 percent of the 500 machines in that district would reach the end of their statutory life at the July deadline. If that percentage held true statewide, 2,000 or more perc machines will face elimination next year.

In its October advisory, CARB noted that any of the 28 local air districts may adopt their own regulations which can be more stringent, but not less so, than the statewide rules. The Bay Area district, for example, is considering an accelerated phase-out schedule that could ban perc completely as early as 2016.

Drycleaning associations have twice appealed to CARB asking for a delay in the phase-out schedule, but CARB denied both appeals. The appeals cited the weak economy, which makes it difficult for cleaners to purchase new equipment, and issues with local fire codes, which can make it difficult and expensive to install equipment that uses high-flash point alternative solvents.

The CARB advisory noted that there are incentive programs to help cleaners replace perc equipment. The statewide Non-Toxic Dry Cleaning Incentive Program provides a $10,000 grant to California drycleaners who replace existing perc systems with “non toxic and non smog forming systems.” The program excludes hydrocarbon systems which have been most popular alternative choice for cleaners to date and is primarily intended to encourage wetcleaning and liquid carbon dioxide systems.

The grants are funded by a per-gallon fee on importers of perc. The fee began at $1 per gallon in 2004 and has increased by $1 each year, scheduled to top out at $12 per gallon in 2013.



		National Clothesline


California cleaners reminded of perc deadline




	With an eye to a major deadline coming up next year, the California Air Resources Board is reminding cleaners of the statewide phase-out of perc drycleaning that was adopted by the board in early 2007. In an advisory to drycleaners last month, CARB reiterated that as of July 1, 2010, all existing perc drycleaning machines at co-residential facilities and all perc drycleaning machines 15 years old or older must be removed from service. The statewide phase-out was part of amendments to the Airborne Toxic Control Measure for drycleaning emissions approved by the air board despite industry opposition and in the face of differing opinion from the air board’s own staff. The staff originally proposed further restrictions on the use of perc but not a total phase-out. Board members, however, wanting total elimination of perc in drycleaning voted to start a phase-out program under which perc will be gone from California drycleaning plants by 2023. The air board staff estimated in 2006 that there were 3,660 perc machines operating in California, a thousand fewer than just three years earlier, with an average age of eight years. Few if any perc machines have been sold in the state since then because the new rules outlawed their sale in the state as of Jan. 1, 2008. How many perc machines remain in operation now, three years later, and how many will be affected by the July 1 deadline is not known. Recent estimates by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District indicated that 66 percent of the 500 machines in that district would reach the end of their statutory life at the July deadline. If that percentage held true statewide, 2,000 or more perc machines will face elimination next year. In its October advisory, CARB noted that any of the 28 local air districts may adopt their own regulations which can be more stringent, but not less so, than the statewide rules. The Bay Area district, for example, is considering an accelerated phase-out schedule that could ban perc completely as early as 2016. Drycleaning associations have twice appealed to CARB asking for a delay in the phase-out schedule, but CARB denied both appeals. The appeals cited the weak economy, which makes it difficult for cleaners to purchase new equipment, and issues with local fire codes, which can make it difficult and expensive to install equipment that uses high-flash point alternative solvents. The CARB advisory noted that there are incentive programs to help cleaners replace perc equipment. The statewide Non-Toxic Dry Cleaning Incentive Program provides a $10,000 grant to California drycleaners who replace existing perc systems with “non toxic and non smog forming systems.” The program excludes hydrocarbon systems which have been most popular alternative choice for cleaners to date and is primarily intended to encourage wetcleaning and liquid carbon dioxide systems. The grants are funded by a per-gallon fee on importers of perc. The fee began at $1 per gallon in 2004 and has increased by $1 each year, scheduled to top out at $12 per gallon in 2013.