State Mandates Less Polluting Spray Paint : Environment: Air Resources Board requires manufacturers to come up with formulas that are 60% cleaner by 2000. Some companies say they won’t be able to comply.

California’s air quality police turned their attention to makers of spray paints Thursday, adopting new rules requiring manufacturers to come up with low-polluting formulas by 2000.

Some spray-paint manufacturers said the standards could virtually drive their products off the shelves. But the state Air Resources Board pledged to work with the $135-million industry to ensure that its new rules are “technologically and commercially feasible.”

“We take the industry’s concerns very seriously,” Chairman John D. Dunlap III said after the board’s unanimous vote, “and we will monitor their hardships very closely.”

The regulations cover 35 categories of aerosol paints, lacquers and coatings sold and used in California. Under the new rules, manufacturers must cut the smog-forming chemicals in their products by 60% by 2000. A more modest reduction of about 12% is required beginning next year.

After 2000, paint not meeting the standards may not be used or sold in California. The rules grant an exemption for homeowners who want to use up an occasional can of old paint found in their garages.

Dunlap called Thursday’s vote an important step toward cleaning up California’s foul air. It represents the board’s first action on an ambitious new plan to battle smog, a blueprint approved in November and designed to bring California into compliance with federal clean-air mandates.

“This is significant,” Dunlap said. “These paints and other consumer products contribute more than a small amount” to the state’s air quality woes.

Aerosol spray paints, which emit smog-causing gases called volatile organic compounds, are the latest in a string of household products to be regulated by the air board. In 1989, California became the first state to adopt stiff smog standards for antiperspirants. Makers of hair spray, oven cleaners and various automotive products also have been forced to alter their formulas.

Household products account for about 300 tons of the 3,000 tons of volatile organic compounds spewed into the atmosphere each day from non-vehicular sources. Spray paints--including clear lacquers to protect artwork and finishes designed to resist high temperatures--account for about 31 tons a day.

The rules adopted Thursday will affect 58 companies, including 13 that are based in California. About 36 million cans of aerosol spray paint are sold in California each year.

In testimony Thursday, paint manufacturers said they can easily meet the short-term standards that take effect next year. But they warned that the technology does not yet exist to achieve the 60% reduction in emissions required by 2000.

“At this point, those standards are just impossible,” said Ed Majkrzak, technical director for Tru-Test Manufacturing Co., a leading maker of spray paint.

If the makers do manage to reformulate their products, Majkrzak said, consumers can expect higher prices and a paint that may be less durable and less convenient to apply.

In its report to the board, the ARB staff acknowledged that “significant research and development may be necessary” in order for companies to meet the new standards. But in response to industry fears, the report agreed to grant a five-year extension if manufacturers are not able to comply by 2000.

The staff estimated that complying with the new rules would cost the industry about $12 million and could result in a price increase of 30 cents per can for consumers.