SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The revised staff report entitled "Environmental Impact Assessment of Tertiary-Butyl Acetate (TBAC)" was recently completed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) staff, in conjunction with staff from Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Toxic Substances Control in coordination with other stakeholders. The report reflects revisions to the March 2002 draft.

The primary revision to the March 2002 report includes the addition of an ozone health-benefit analysis associated with a potential reduction in ozone due to increased use of TBAC. Based on a comprehensive multi-agency review, the staff recommends that TBAC be excluded from the definition of VOCs in the California Consumer Products Regulations. The staff recommendation in the report is as follows:

"Staff recommends exempting TBAC from the definition of VOC from the California Consumer Products Regulations based on its low reactivity. However, staff will further evaluate appropriate consumer-products categories that are most likely to use TBAC to determine whether or not use in these products could pose unacceptable exposures." Visit http://www.arb. ca.gov/research/reactivity/tbac1.pdf for a copy of the recent draft.