WASHINGTON - EPA issued yesterday a proposed Direct Final Rule, concerning formaldehyde emission standards for composite wood products, extending all of the TSCA Title VI compliance deadlines to account for the delays to the originally published effective date. The rule will be published in the Federal Register today, May 24. The new compliance dates are as follows:

 

The rule also proposes to extend the transitional period for CARB-certified third-party certifiers (TPCs) to March 22, 2019. 

 

This proposed rule will enter into effect within 45 days of publication in the Federal Register if EPA does not receive any adverse comment within 15 days. See the full Proposed Direct Final Rule here.

 

ARTICLE What woodworkers need to know about the EPA formaldehyde regulation The federal regulation that addresses formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products sold in the U.S. was published Dec. 12. Here's what you need to know.

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The federal regulation that definitively addresses formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products sold in the United States was first published in the Federal Register on Dec. 12, 2016, by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  If properly enforced, the regulation can ensure that all products – both domestic and imported composite wood panels and the finished products containing them – meet the world’s most stringent standards for formaldehyde emissions.  It also marks the culmination of over 30 years of product stewardship by the composite wood industry, which through voluntary efforts and consistent and progressive work with regulators, has successfully developed products that consistently meet or exceed these tough standards. - Jackson Morill, president of the Composite Panel Association.