Important Information Regarding California Law Changes

The California Air Quality Districts are rapidly adopting and implementing air quality regulations for the purpose of limiting the emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from organic solvent cleaning and from the disposal of solvents and waste solvent materials.  Solvents are defined as any liquid containing a volatile organic compound which is used as a dissolver or cleaning agent.  The liquids are principally derived from petroleum and include chlorinated hydrocarbons, alcohols and mineral spirits.

 The rulings require that by specified dates, an owner or operator will not use organic solvents for cleaning operations that exceed set VOC content limits of 50 g/liter and in some cases 25 g/liter in repair and maintenance cleaning.  The South Coast Air Quality Management district was the first to adopt this rule in 1999 and has since changed the limitation to 25 g/liter.  The San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District implemented their ruling of 50 g/liter in late 2002.  Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District and Ventura County Air Pollution Control District all have issued similar rulings going into effect in mid 2003.  The Ventura District is considering starting their ruling at 25 g/liter.

In order to comply with the rules, the manufacturer of any organic cleaning fluid used in these Districts must supply, either on the container, or on a separate product data sheet, the name of the fluid, manufacturer’s name, the VOC content, density and other information as defined in the rule. 

 To determine the VOC content of the organic cleaning fluid, specified methods are described including those used by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) in the adoption of rules 1171 and 1122.  The SCAQMD determined the most common and effective cleaners that meeting these requirements are water-based or aqueous cleaners that contain little or no VOCs.  They created a new class of solvent called a Clean Air Solvent, which manufacturer’s can apply for certification provided the cleaning liquid meet certain criteria:  1. A VOC concentration of no more than 25 grams of VOC per liter, 2. Containing no compounds classified as Hazardous Air Pollutants, 3. A composite vapor pressure that is no more than 5 mm Hg of VOC at 68 °F and 4. Reactivity is not higher than toluene.  The analysis and approvals are performed by the SCAQMD laboratories. 

 OzzyJuice® cleaning fluids manufactured by ChemFree are SCAQMD Clean Air Certified and are therefore eligible under the Air Quality rulings to be sold to facilities in California.  For complete rule information and effective dates please visit the following web sites: