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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 08-240

NOTICES

INDEPENDENT REGULATORY REVIEW COMMISSION

Notice of Comments Issued

[38 Pa.B. 850]
[Saturday, February 9, 2008]

   Section 5(g) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5(g)) provides that the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (Commission) may issue comments within 30 days of the close of the public comment period. The Commission comments are based upon the criteria contained in section 5.2 of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5b).

   The Commission has issued comments on the following proposed regulation. The agency must consider these comments in preparing the final-form regulation. The final-form regulation must be submitted within 2 years of the close of the public comment period or it will be deemed withdrawn.

Reg. No.Agency/TitleClose of the Public Comment Period IRRC Comments Issued
7-416Environmental
   Quality Board
Consumer Products
37 Pa.B. 5117
(September 15, 2007)		12/26/071/25/08

____

Environmental Quality Board
Regulation #7-416 (IRRC #2636)

Consumer Products

January 25, 2008

   We submit for your consideration the following comments on the proposed rulemaking published in the September 15, 2007 Pennsylvania Bulletin. Our comments are based on criteria in section 5.2 of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5b). Section 5.1(a) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5a(a)) directs the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) to respond to all comments received from us or any other source.

1.  General--Implementation procedures; Economic impact; Reasonableness; Feasibility.

Uniform regulations throughout the Ozone Transport Region

   In the Preamble, the EQB states:

This proposed rulemaking is consistent with regulatory initiatives that will be undertaken in other jurisdictions in the Ozone Transport Region to address regional transport of ozone precursor emissions.

   Commentators commend the EQB for the promulgation of a regulation that is consistent with other regulations being implemented throughout the Ozone Transport Region. We agree that this will minimize the impact of the regulation on businesses and competition. However, the EQB is not in control of the actions taken in the other Ozone Transport Region jurisdictions. If other jurisdictions were to implement different regulations or do their regulations on a different timetable, Pennsylvania businesses and consumers could be disadvantaged. Therefore, in the final-form submittal of this regulation, the EQB should explain the following:

*  The status of the implementation in other Ozone Transport Region jurisdictions;
*  A comparison of the content of the regulations promulgated by other Ozone Transport Region jurisdictions with the Commonwealth's final-form regulation; and
*  How Pennsylvania's final-form regulation minimizes the economic impact on the Commonwealth businesses and consumers.

   The EQB's responses will be used in our consideration of whether the final-form regulation is in the public interest.

Effective Date of January 1, 2009

   As of the date of these comments, the regulation requires compliance in less than a year. The EQB should explain how the effective date of January 1, 2009, is reasonable and feasible for businesses and consumers.

2.  Section 130.202. Definitions.--Reasonableness; Clarity.

Exemptions

   The definition of ''Construction, panel and floor covering adhesive'' exempts products that ''weigh more than 1 pound and consist of more that 16 fluid ounces, less packaging.'' There are similar exemptions in the definitions of ''Contact adhesive'' and ''General purpose adhesive.'' Why did the EQB place no limit on the VOC content of large containers of these products, but then place the limits in Section 130.211 on the identical product in a smaller container? The EQB should explain why these exemptions are reasonable and will not adversely affect the stated goal to reduce VOCs emitted from consumer products.

Deodorant body spray

   Paragraphs (i) and (ii) of this definition refer to a ''product with 20% or less fragrance.'' It is not clear how to apply the 20% figure. For example, the ''Table of Standards'' in Section 130.211 uses ''percent VOC by weight.'' (Emphasis added.) The regulation should specify what the 20% figure is related to, such as weight or volume.

3.  Section 130.452. Exemption.--Reasonableness; Economic impact.

   The Consumer Specialty Products Association believes that, as written, the regulation may have the unintended effect of limiting the environmental benefits of the regulation. The commentator suggests adding the phrase ''used for emission credits'' to this section so that the first sentence of this section in the final regulation would end: '' . . . provided that all ACP products used for emission credits within the CARB ACP agreement are contained in § 130.211.'' (Emphasis added.) The EQB should consider including this phrase in the final-form regulation.

ARTHUR COCCODRILLI,   
Chairperson

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 08-240. Filed for public inspection February 8, 2008, 9:00 a.m.]


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