Something to consider - will home oil changes be banned too?
Stan
>From Hemmings weekly eNewsletter:
Legislation
Hobbyists May Be Banned From Buying Paint
If you're planning on refinishing your car somewhere down the line, you
might want to think about buying your paint today.
Addressing the Collision Industry Conference on November 1, 2005, held at
the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Los Vegas in conjunction with the SEMA show, EPA
Environmental Protection Surface Coating Specialist Kim Teal outlined some
of her agency's plans for their next air-pollution rule from automotive
surface coating.
The last version of this rule, issued in February, 2004, was focused
primarily on bodyshops, but the new regulations, scheduled for release in
2007 and adoption in August, 2011, are far more sweeping.
"The rule will impact everyone, no matter how much you use," she is
reported as saying in Automotive Body Repair News. That may have a major
effect on the hobby, as "the rule will attempt to restrict sales of paint
to people who are not certified users."
This language has some powerful support. In a letter to Teal dated October
26, 2005,representatives from the Automotive Service Association (ASA) and
National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), recommended steps that
sound uncannily like Teal's remarks just a few days later.
The letter, which suggests measures to be incorporated in the proposed
rule, suggests that "Prospective purchasers and users of automotive
refinishing products would need to be employed by a certified
shop...Clearly, reasonable controls on the purchase and use of automotive
refinishing products is key to helping eliminate unnecessary VOC emissions..."
We'll let you draw your own conclusions about the EPA's, ASAs and NADA's
intentions, but if there was ever a piece of car-related legislation about
which to write your legislator, this is it. Kim Teal's contact information
can be found at www.epa.gov and your legislators at www.senate.gov and
www.house.gov. The original letter from ASA and NADA is available at
www.asashop.org.
- By David B. Traver Adolphus
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