Deborah Rabin
Regulations Coordinator
Air and Radiation Management Administration
Department of the Environment
2500 Broening Highway
Baltimore, Maryland 21224

RE: Notice of Proposed Action under COMAR 26.11.03 Permits, Approvals, and Registration -- Part 70 Permits

Dear Ms. Rabin:

The Fluoropolymers Division of the Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI) is pleased to submit written comments regarding the Secretary of the Environment's Notice of Proposed Action that would establish federally enforceable procedures that may be used to reduce a source's potential to emit to below major source thresholds. Application of these procedures would allow exempt certain sources with a limited practical emission potential from the requirement to obtain a federally approved operating permit under Part 70 requirements.

SPI is the trade association representing the fourth-largest manufacturing industry in the United States. SPI's 2,000 members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw material suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.3 million workers and provides $274 billion in annual shipments. Founded in 1937, SPI is the voice of the plastics industry. Members of SPI's Fluoropolymers Division (FPD) are manufacturers and users of fluoropolymer resins, and include manufacturers and users of coatings systems that use fluoropolymers to impart significant and unique performance benefits to finished goods.

SPI supports the establishment of federally enforceable procedures that may be used to reduce a source's potential to emit below major source thresholds so that the sources can avoid Part 70 requirements. A significant number of SPI's Fluoropolymer Division members are small businesses for whom the various Clean Air Act regulations and permitting schemes present a significant regulatory compliance burden which provides little in the way of significant environmental improvement.

SPI, therefore, is pleased that the state is establishing alternative conditions and limitations that an existing source may use to maintain its actual emissions of regulated air pollutants and thus reduce its potential to emit to below the major source thresholds.

Extreme-performance fluoropolymer coatings are uniquely qualified as specialty coatings that should be treated in a separate, distinct category in this rulemaking. Most solvent-borne formulations used in the extreme performance application category contain no more that 7.4 pounds per gallon (lb/gal) of VOC's. We believe that 7.4 lb/gal reflects a reasonable and conservative figure for the Secretary of the Environment to use in establishing throughput / material usage limits for this special category. Assuming that all of the factors (with the exception of the VOC content of the coatings) used by the Secretary in establishing the limits for the miscellaneous metal coating source category remain valid, we calculate that the throughput limit for small fluoropolymer coaters would be approximately 870 gallons per 12 month period, while the throughput limit for non-major fluoropolymer coaters would be approximately 3,500 gallons per 12 month period. These throughput limits were calculated assuming the 7.4 pounds of VOC per gallon of coating material, as discussed above. Establishment of such limits could provide significant permitting relief for extreme-performance fluoropolymer coating sources in this special category.

In order to define the specific sources that might be covered by this special category, we recommend that the Secretary adopt a definition for extreme-performance fluoropolymer coatings identical to the definition we proposed to the USEPA in our comments on the planned rulemaking for miscellaneous metal parts coating. This definition reads:

Extreme-performance fluoropolymer coatings are formulated systems based on fluoropolymer resins which often contain "bonding" matrix polymers dissolved in non-aqueous solvents as well as other ingredients. Extreme-performance fluoropolymer coatings are typically used when one or more critical performance criteria are required including, but not limited to, a nonstick, low-energy surface; dry film lubrication; outstanding resistance to chemical attack; an extremely wide operating temperature range; superior electrical insulating properties, or that the surface comply with government (e.g., USDA, FDA, DOD MILSPEC) or third-party specifications (e.g. NSF) for health, safety, reliability, or performance. Once applied to a substrate, extreme-performance fluoropolymer coatings undergo a curing process that typically requires high temperatures, chemical reaction, or other specialized technology.

SPI appreciates the opportunity to comment on the notice of proposed action. SPI and the members of the Fluoropolymer Division remain available to discuss this letter, to respond to any questions you may have on these issues, or to arrange for visits to representative facilities. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to call if you require any additional documentation or if we can be of assistance in any way.

Respectfully submitted,

Lewis R. Freeman, Jr.
Vice President, Government Affairs

Of Counsel:
Jerome H. Heckman
David G. Sarvadi
Keller and Heckman
1001 G Street, N.W.
Suite 500 West
Washington, D.C. 20001
(202) 434-4100

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