National Clothesline

With a major deadline looming in California’s perc phase-out schedule, one regional air district is telling cleaners they can buy some time — literally — for removing their perc equipment.

Under the state-mandated July 1 deadline, all perc machines manufactured before July 1, 1995, are to be removed from service. The deadline also applies to any perc machine with an unknown date of manufacture, all machines located in co-residential facilities and all perc machines that have been converted from vented to closed-loop.

Last month the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) issued a compliance advisory that suggests cleaners will be able to buy some time if they are willing to pay quarterly fines in each month that their perc machine remains in service. BAAQMD is responsible for enforcement in the San Francisco area that includes the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, southwestern Solano, and southern Sonoma counties.

“The Air District will take enforcement action on those drycleaners not in compliance by the deadline and they will be issued a citation,” BAAQMD said. ”However, some non-complying drycleaners will be allowed to operate up to July 1, 2011 while working toward compliance.”

Before that can happen, however, the owner must contact the district’s legal division and enter into a Compliance and Settlement Agreement. In exchange for extending the deadline to complete the phase-out of perc machines, the owner would agree to a series of quarterly fines for each month that the perc equipment continues to operate.

The fines would escalate each quarter, starting at $250, then progressing to $500, $750 and $1,000 for subsequent quarters. The fines would be cumulative, making the maximum penalty for a full year of non-compliance $2,500.

BAAQMD warned that failure to meet the extended deadlines or to comply with the compliance schedule can result in higher penalties. The district also reserves the right to change or modify the enforcement procedures at any time and without prior notification.

The air district also noted that the extension is unavailable to machines in co-residential locations — facilities that share a wall with, or are located in the same building, as a residence.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted the perc phase-out plan in 2007, banning the sale of new perc machines as of 2008 and setting a timetable for removal of existing machines that would see the last of perc drycleaning by 2023. CARB left enforcement of the phase-out to the 35 regional air districts and it remains to be seen how they will proceed following the July 1 deadline.

The Bay Area district has gone back and forth in its approach to the phase-out over the last year. A year ago, the district began discussion of proposals to shorten the phase-out timeline. One plan would have ended the use of perc as early as 2015. The district eventually settled on a plan that basically maintains the state schedule except that perc would be eliminated by 2020, three years sooner than the state guidelines. There are believed to be three perc machines in the district that would have to shut down earlier under the 2020 schedule.

BAAQMD has estimated that there are 405 perc machines operating in the district. Of those, 205 would reach their 15-year life limit this July 1. Another 15 would cross the 15-year threshold by July 1, 2011, making a total of 220 machines that could possibly be extended in the coming year.

Meanwhile, CARB, BAAQMD and the City of San Francisco are offering incentives to encourage cleaners to shift to 100-percent wetcleaning. Grants of up to $20,000 are available to those who make the switch.

That includes $10,000 grants from the statewide Non-Toxic Dry Cleaning Incentive Program for replacing perc machines with non-toxic, non-smog forming systems; $5,000 grants from the San Francisco Department of Environment; and $5,000 grants for participating in a wetcleaning demonstration program.

The demonstration programs are conducted through the UCLA Sustainable Technology & Policy Program at various wetcleaning shops around the state. The next scheduled demonstration will be June 6 from 1 to 4 p.m at Bay Breeze Cleaners, 1018 Hyde St. in San Francisco.

The workshop will include live demonstrations by the wetcleaning operator, stain removal techniques, discussion of training and maintenance and question and answer time with the operator. Information on the grant programs will be available.

The workshops are free, but those who want to attend should call (310) 206-2090 to make a reservation.

Information on the grant programs and demonstration sites is also available on the CARB web site, www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/dryclean/ab998.htm.