The effective date of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) formaldehyde rule has been delayed until May 22, 2017. The original date of implementation was to be March 21st. The rule, along with four other “Obama-era” regulations, has been delayed pursuant to the January 20th regulatory freeze memorandum that was issued by the Trump administration to temporarily postpone the effective dates of these regulations. According to the Federal Register, “The further temporary delay in effective date until May 22, 2017, is necessary to give Agency officials the opportunity to decide whether they would like to conduct a substantive review of the five regulations….”
The Formaldehyde Emission Standards for Composite Wood Products Act of 2010 established emission standards for formaldehyde from composite wood products and directed EPA to finalize a rule on implementing and enforcing a number of provisions covering composite wood products. The EPA Formaldehyde rule was subsequently published in the Federal Register on December 12, 2016 to reduce exposure to formaldehyde emissions from certain composite wood products produced domestically or imported into the United States. EPA worked with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to help ensure the final national rule was consistent with California’s requirements for composite wood products, which incorporates enforcement provisions that include requirements for chain of custody documentation and emissions testing.
Sources: ChemicalWatch; Federal Register; EPA; CA Air Resources Board
