Price tag for collision repair shops to limit VOC compounds estimated at $322 million

Environment Canada has released new regulations for limiting concentrations of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) in the use of automotive refinishing products such as paint.

The proposed VOC concentration limits for automotive refinishing products are anticipated to result in a cumulative reduction of 71.2 kilotonnes in VOC emissions over 25 years, the government notes in its newly published regulations.

The regulations are modeled on the standards developed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

“Developing regulations in Canada that are aligned with CARB limits was considered to be the most practical and effective way of reducing VOC emissions,” the government states in its regulations. “Being mandatory, regulatory measures would provide the required level of certainty.”

The government estimates Canadian repair shops will have to spend a total of $322 million to become compliant with the new regulations. (The total will be discounted at five per cent over the 25-year time period it takes to implement the new regulations).

“The present value of total incremental one-time equipment costs to industry is estimated to be $141.6 million and $125.3 million for automotive refinishing products,” the regulations state. “The industry is also estimated to incur an incremental cost of $55.1 million for training over the 25-year period.”

The government has determined approximately 34 per cent and 25 per cent of the total costs will be borne by the repair shops in Ontario and Quebec, respectively.

The value of federal government enforcement and compliance costs over the 25-year time frame to implement the regulations is estimated to be [Cdn]$4.9 million.

The complete set of regulations (which begin at Paragraph 71) can be found at: http://canadagazette. gc.ca/partI/2008/20080426/pdf/g1-14217.pdf.