§ 59.203 - Standards for consumer products.

§ 59.203 Standards for consumer products.

(a) The manufacturer or importer of any consumer product subject to this subpart small ensure that the VOC content levels in table 1 of this subpart and HVOC content levels in table 2 of this subpart are not exceeded for any consumer product manufactured or imported on or after December 10, 1998, except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, or in §§ 59.204 or 59.206.

(b) For consumer products for which the label, packaging, or accompanying literature specifically states that the product should be diluted prior to use, the VOC content limits specified in paragraph (a) of this section shall apply to the product only after the minimum recommended dilution has taken place. For purposes of this paragraph, “minimum recommended dilution” shall not include recommendations for incidental use of a concentrated product to deal with limited special applications such as hard-to-remove soils or stains.

(c) For those consumer products that are registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. section 136-136y) (FIFRA), the compliance date of the VOC standards specified in paragraph (a) of this section is December 10, 1999.

(d) The provisions specified in paragraphs (d)(1) through (d)(4) of this section apply to charcoal lighter materials.

(1) No person shall manufacture or import any charcoal lighter material after December 10, 1998 that emits, on average, greater than 9 grams of VOC per start, as determined by the procedures specified in § 59.208.

(2) The regulated entity for a charcoal lighter material shall label the product with usage directions that specify the quantity of charcoal lighter material per pound of charcoal that was used in the testing protocol specified in § 59.208 for that product unless the provisions in either paragraph (e)(2)(i) or (e)(2)(ii) of this section apply.

(i) The charcoal lighter material is intended to be used in fixed amounts independent of the amount of charcoal used, such as paraffin cubes; or

(ii) The charcoal lighter material is already incorporated into the charcoal, such as certain “bag light,” “instant light,” or “match light” products.

(3) Records of emission testing results for all charcoal lighter materials must be made available upon request to the Administrator for enforcement purposes within 30 days of receipt of such requests.

(4) If a manufacturer or importer has submitted records of emission testing of a charcoal lighter material to a State or local regulatory agency, such existing records may be submitted under paragraph (d)(3) of this section in lieu of new test data, provided the product formulation is unchanged from that which was previously tested. Such previous testing must have been conducted in accordance with the test protocol described in § 59.208 or a test protocol that is approved by the Administrator as an alternate.

(e) Fragrances incorporated into a consumer product up to a combined level of 2 weight-percent shall not be included in the weight-percent VOC calculation.

(f) The VOC content limits in table 1 of this subpart shall not include any VOC that:

(1) Has a vapor pressure of less than 0.1 millimeters of mercury at 20 degrees Celsius; or

(2) Consists of more than 12 carbon atoms, if the vapor pressure is unknown; or

(3) Has a melting point higher than 20 degrees Celsius and does not sublime (i.e., does not change directly from a solid into a gas without melting), if the vapor pressure is unknown.

(g) The requirements of paragraph (a) of this Section shall not apply to those VOC in antiperspirants or deodorants that contain more than 10 carbon atoms per molecule and for which the vapor pressure is unknown, or that have a vapor pressure of 2 millimeters of mercury or less at 20 degrees Celsius.

(h) a manufacturer or importer may use the vapor pressure information provided by the raw material supplier as long as the supplier uses a method to determine vapor pressure that is generally accepted by the scientific community.

(i) For hydrocarbon solvents that are complex mixtures of many different compounds and that are supplied on a specification basis for use in a consumer product, the vapor pressure of the hydrocarbon blend may be used to demonstrate compliance with the VOC content limits of this section. Identification of the concentration and vapor pressure for each such component in the blend is not required for compliance with this subpart.