That notation on every paint can in your shop that says, "For Professional Use Only," may soon hold some real meaning according to early indications about rule-making currently underway by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

"Point-of-sale restrictions [on paint products] are something we've heard a lot about," Kim Teal, an EPA environmental protection specialist, said at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) held in Las Vegas in early November. "The paint distributor, just like a bartender, should be asking for certification. They should not be selling it unless they see a certification." Such restrictions are not currently in place, but Teal indicated that new rules her office is expected to propose in 2007 may very well include stipulations about who can purchase or use automotive refinish products.

Teal said that the message her office is hearing from the industry is that new clean air rules on automotive refinishing should help create a level playing field by clamping down on "backyarders" and others often exempted under local or state rules because of the relative small amount of coatings they spray.

"The states wouldn't be allowed to have those minimums under this rule," Teal said. "If you're using auto refinish coatings, you'll be subject to the requirements."

She said the rule will likely include national requirements for paint booths and other equipment - but probably not a lot of required record-keeping for shops or paint jobbers." I expect the distributors to be honest people who know there's a requirement for someone to be using the material properly," Teal said.

But CIC participant Tony Passwater, an industry consultant, told Teal that record- keeping may need to be a part of any enforceable restriction on the sale or use of automotive refinish products. And Bob Keith, director of environment, safety and production for CARSTAR, questioned how such new rules will be enforced when regulators are unable to halt backyarders who do not comply with existing regulations.

"The states are frustrated because a lot of them don't have programs in place that they can enforce," Teal agreed. "As far as this rule goes, all it will take at that point is for you to pick up the phone."

She said she understands that enforcement of current regulations may also be hampered by local officials concerned about interacting with the "criminal element" involved in less reputable refinishing operations.

"There is an arm of our EPA that is armed and equipped to deal with this criminal element," she said.

The EPA will be gathering data and analyzing environmental and economic impacts of new refinish regulations over the coming months, before proposing the new rule in August of 2007. That rule would be finalized in 2009 and go into effect in 2011. That timeline could be sped up, however, based on the outcome of a lawsuit by environmental groups concerned that the EPA is already late in creating the rules.

CIC this fall re-established its Environmental Committee in part to address new air quality rules being created by the EPA and by air quality agencies in California.

Committees look at 'total loss' trends

Several committees at CIC in Las Vegas addressed what one called the "total loss crisis." Passwater moderated one of the panel discussions on the topic, opening the session with a compilation of charts showing statistics related to total losses.

Mitchell International, for example, reports that currently about 5 million vehicles - or about 20 percent of those involved in insurance claims - are declared total losses each year. CCC reported a similar percentage (19.5 percent) of total losses among estimates written by insurance appraisers in 2004 - nearly double the annual rate in 1997 through 2000. State Farm statistics also showed a continued rise in the percentage of total losses in first-party claims, from about 14 percent in 1998 to more than 19 percent in 2004; total losses now account for about 45 percent of claims dollars State Farm pays out.