Alliance Achieves Breakthrough in Cleaning Solvent Air Pollution Control Limits for the Printing Industry
There are times in the regulatory rule development process where opportunities arise that allow for rules to be made that can have an impact for decades to come. The printing industry just experienced one of those moments with the recent changes to South Coast Air Quality Management District’s (SCAQMD) Rule 1171. The rule sets limits on volatile organic compounds (VOC) to control emissions for cleaning solvents.
SCAQMD is the agency that regulates air pollution emissions in the Los Angeles area. The rule change is one of the most significant revisions that solves a 20-year problem of offset, letterpress, and screen printers struggling to clean their presses. It will also have a long-term impact on all of these printing processes throughout the state and perhaps the remainder of the country.
PRINTING United Alliance successfully negotiated with the SCAQMD to revise their cleaning solvent rule to include an alternative VOC limit. This breakthrough will have significant benefits for the printing industry, and the alternative limit, based on a concept of Maximum Incremental Reactivity (MIR), will make these solutions more effective and economical.
Gary A. Jones is the Vice President of Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Affairs at PRINTING United Alliance. His primary responsibility is to monitor and analyze EHS and sustainability related legislative and regulatory activities at the federal and state levels, including some international actions. He provides representation on behalf of the printing, packaging, and graphic arts industry. Mr. Jones works closely with the federal and state-level Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA), Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA), Department of Transportation (DOT), and other agencies. He also provides membership assistance on EHS compliance and sustainability programs through a variety of approaches including responding to inquiries, presentations, writing, and consulting services.
Mr. Jones is also supporting PRINTING United Alliance’s efforts for the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP). SGP is dedicated to assisting printing operations respond to customer demands for sustainable printing.
He holds a BS in biology from LaRoche College and an MS in chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh.
