The proposal is still in its early stages, and no fee amounts have been specified. In principle, the district has indicated that the fee schedule would favor low volatile organic compound (VOC) and ultralow-VOC products, with higher fees being charged for the higher VOC products. The potential impact on such programs as the small-container exemption (which allows high-VOC products exceeding the SCAQMD’s VOC limits) is unclear at this stage, but it is not expected to go unscathed by it.

Contact NPCA’s Jim Sell at jsell@paint.org for more information.