According to the EPA's formaldehyde emission standards for composite wood products' final rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act, two voluntary consensus standards (TSCA) will be amended.
A new standard for formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products was established by the Formaldehyde Emission Standards for Composite Wood Products Act of 2010. EPA’s 2016 Formaldehyde Emission Standards for Composite Wood Products rule implemented provisions of the 2010 Act. U.S. manufacturers and importers of certain wood products were required to comply with these standards to reduce formaldehyde emissions.
.EPA opened a public comment period on proposed technical updates to the 2016 rule on March 2022. This rulemaking proposed to update several voluntary consensus standards to reflect current editions that are in use by regulated entities and industry stakeholders.
During the public comment period, which ended on April 28, 2022, the Composite Panel Association, commented that two of its standards would be updated shortly and recommended that EPA include these newly revised standards in the final rule. Because these two standards were published after the close of the public comment period, EPA is now issuing a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking. This notice will include these two recently updated standards. To maintain consistency with industry standards, these updates are necessary.
The two most recent voluntary consensus standards for dimensional tolerances, physical and mechanical qualities, and formaldehyde emissions are:
● Particleboard, as well as ways of identifying goods adhering to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard; and
● Medium Density fiberboard (MDF), as well as methods of identifying products according to the ANSI standard.
Reference: https://www.epa.gov/chemicals-under-tsca/epa-proposes-updates-formaldehyde-emission-standards-composite-wood-products
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