WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved California’s regulations banning the use of perchloroethylene in drycleaning operations by 2023. As a result, the agency will enforce the regulation ahead of its own, less-stringent federal rules.
“We applaud California’s efforts to rid its drycleaning industry of this dangerous toxin,” says Jared Blumenfeld, administrator for the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region. “The state’s approach gives consumers healthier drycleaning alternatives.”
According to the California Air Resources Board (ARB), the estimated number of perc machines in use statewide has been dropping steadily, from 4,670 machines in 2003 to 2,000 machines in 2009.
Enacted in 2007, the state’s Airborne Toxic Control Measure (ATCM) for drycleaning operations banned the installation of new perc machinery beginning Jan. 1, 2008. Facilities “colocated” with residential properties were required to discontinue perc use by July 1, 2010.
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