United States
               Environmental Protection
               Agency
Air and Energy Engineering
Research Laboratory
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
               Research and Development
EPA/600/SR-92/159  December 1992
EPA       Project Summary
                Surface-coating-free  Materials
                Workshop  Summary  Report
               C. M. Northeim, M.W. Moore, and J.IL Warren
                 The report documents a pollution pre-
               vention workshop exploring the con-
               cept of surface-coating-free materials
               (SCFMs),  the potential impact of this
               type of material on volatile organic corn-
               pound (VOC) and air toxic emissions
               from surface coating operations, and
               the means for promoting the SCFM
               ethic. The purpose of the report is 1:o
               summarize and  present the  informa-
               tion as it was discussed at the work-
               shop.
                 This Project Summary was developed
               by EPA's Air and Energy Engineering
               Research Laboratory, Research Tri-
               angle Park, NC, to announce key find-
               ings of the research project that is fully
               documented in a separate report of the
               same title (see Project Report ordering
               information at back).

               Introduction
                 The national ambient air quality stan-
               dard for ozone (0.12 ppm) is exceeded in
               over 100 geographic areas throughout the
               U.S.   Extensive reduction of volatile or-
               ganic compound (VOC) emissions  is ro-
               quired for attainment.  The difficulty of
               dealing with stationary area sources has
               been a major obstacle to attaining  these
               reductions.
                 Surface coating operations release ap-
               proximately 15 % of stationary area VOC
               emissions as estimated by the 1985 Na-
               tional Acid Precipitation Assessment Pro-
               gram  (NAPAP) emissions inventor/.
               Emissions occur during initial coating, as
               well as each time that a surface is recoated
               during the life of the object or structure. If
               materials or products could be developed
               that do not need coating  during  either
manufacture or use (SCFMs), it is antici-
pated that VOC emissions could be re-
duced.  Many of the VOC and other emis-
sions from surface coating operations are
also air toxics with additional impacts on
human health and the environment.
  The workshop consisted of two parts:
technical paper presentations and brain-
storming sessions. Technical papers were
presented by representatives of varied in-
dustries that currently use or are develop-
ing SCFMs. The papers  were grouped
into five sessions:
  • Architectural Products,
  • Applications for Uncoated Metals,
  • Plastic Materials and Films,
  • Development of Materials for High
   Temperature Applications, and
  • Regulatory Perspective.

  The focus of the small group brainstorm-
ing sessions was to discuss topics related
to the use of SCFMs.  A major objective
of these sessions was to identify and de-
velop pollution prevention research con-
cepts and recommendations for consider-
ation  by EPA that could expand the use of
SCFMs. The brainstorming session topics
were:
  • Barriers to technology innovation and
   regulatory and  economic incentives.
   The purpose  of this session was to
   focus first on barriers to technology
   innovation and then on potential regu-
   lator/ and  economic incentives  that
   could break down these barriers and
   encourage the use of SCFMs. Major
   barriers  that  were  identified at the
   workshop were:
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   - High development costs,
   - New product uncertainty,
   - Regulatory uncertainty,
   - Corporate bureaucracies,
   - Technology transfer,
   - Environmental life-cycle costs, and
   -  Military specifications.

   Regulatory and economic  incentives
   that were discussed were:
   - Tax incentives,
   - User tax,
   - Enhanced regulatory environment,
     and
   - Improved communications, EPA
     public relations,  and technology
     transfer.
Methods for enhancing  the appear-
ance and marketability of SCFMs.
This session focused on issues  re-
lated to developing SCFMs with ap-
pearance and quality similar to tradi-
tional materials requiring surface coat-
ing. The key topics that emerged from
the discussion groups were:
- Life-time of product,
- Quality of final product,
- Differences among markets,
- Appearance/marketability issues,
'- Management issues, and
- Regulatory environment.

Potential pollution  prevention  re-
search, development, and demonstra-
tion projects*   One  of: 4he  primary
goals of this workshop was to identify
potential research projects related to
the use of SCFMs.    In addition to
   C. M. Northeim, M. W. Moore andJ.L Warren are with Research Triangle Institute,
     Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
   Michael Kosusko is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
   The complete report, entitled "Surface-coating-free Materials Workshop Summary
     Report," (Order No. PB93-101160/AS;  Cost: $26.00; subject to change) will be
     available only from:
          National Technical Information Service
          5285 Port Royal Road
          Springfield, VA 22161
          Telephone: -703-487-4650
   The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
          Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory
          U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
          Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
    the identification and potential use of
    SCFM research projects, a significant
    amount of time was spent discussing
    potential research projects related to
    low-  and  no-VOC coatings.   Ail of
    these projects are listed  in  the full
    report.
  In conclusion, it was stated that,  al-
though a wide variety of materials are
currently  used uncoated,  the  concept of
increasing and encouraging their use as a
means for helping to reduce VOC emis-
sions from surface coating  operations is
new.  It was recommended that EPA con-
tinue to advance the concept through the
use of research and technology transfer.
In conjunction with the further develop-
ment of  the  concept of  SCFMs,  there
needs to be an  investigation  of the life-
cycle impacts of the use of specific mate-
rials.  Finally,  it was noted by several of
the workshop participants that coatings
serve many very important functions and
will continue to do so in the future. There-
fore, it was  recommend that  EPA focus
on the development and demonstration of
low- and no-VOC coatings  in  addition to
SCFMs.
  The workshop provided an  opportunity
for discussion of a new pollution  preven-
tion concept that could result  in reduced
VOC and air toxic emissions from coating
operations.  A wide variety of organiza-
tions/industries were represented.  This
diversity resulted in a unique forum for the
exchange of information and differing view-
points. The full  report summarizes the
background, methodology used in  plan-
ning the  workshop, discussions that took
place in the brainstorming sessions, and
recommendations from the workshop. Also
included  with the report are the technical
papers presented  as  part  of the  work-
shop.
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Center for Environmental Research Information
Cincinnati, OH 45268

Official Business
Penalty for Private Use
$300
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                                          POSTAGE & FEES PAID
                                                    EPA
                                             PERMIT No. G-35
EPA/600/SR-92/159

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