Friday, March 07, 2008
RVIA ADOPTS CALIFORNIA CODES FOR FORMALDEHYDE
RV Business
Friday, March 7, 2008
The Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) has tightened formaldehyde-emissions standards in wood products used to build RVs for the second time in six months.
The RVIA board, meeting March 1 during the association’s annual meeting on the Big Island in Hawaii, unanimously voted to adopt proposed requirements by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Those limits are more stringent than the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements for manufactured homes that RVIA adopted in September 2007, effective Jan. 1.
Meeting the new standard will be a requirement of RVIA membership, although the effective date will be determined during the board’s June 12 meeting during RVIA Committee Week.
The CARB regulation establishes a new formaldehyde-emissions standard in two phases for three composite wood products — hardwood plywood, particleboard and medium density fiberboard (MDF) used to make RVs and other finished goods or products that are offered for sale in California.
It is expected that California will issue a final rule authorizing the new regulation this spring.
The first phase of the CARB wood-products standard stipulates that veneer core and thin MDF meet an emission level of .08 parts per million by Jan. 1, 2009. Composite core materials must meet the same level by June 1, 2009. Fabricators, including RV manufacturers, building products for sale in California — no matter where they are manufactured or assembled — will have until July 1, 2010 to convert to CARB-certified wood products.
"We adopted the new CARB wood-product emission standard ahead of California’s official establishment of the regulation to underscore our commitment to our customers and their ability to use our products with confidence," said RVIA President Richard Coon. "We also wanted to give our members ample time for planning to meet the implementation date."
In other action board also:
— Approved supporting and endorsing the Motorcycle Industry Council’s Partners Standard Protocol (PSP) Implementation Project and providing staff resources to assist TranStand in identifying prospective RVIA members to participate in the project. PSP creates uniform standards for electronic communication and transactions between trading partners.
— Appointed Matthew Miller, president of Newmar Corp., to replace Dick Parks, CEO and chairman of the board of Newmar, on the RVIA board. Miller will serve the remainder of the fiscal year and run for re-election during the association elections this summer.
— Voted to require, effective June 2, that RV types not covered by the federal weight label requirements of FMVSS 110 or 120 to comply with the applicable FMVSS requirements as a condition of RVIA membership.
— Endorsed publishing and distributing to the industry the final recommendations from the Committee on Excellence Task Forces examining customer service.
— Voted to exclude park trailers from the National RV Trade Show at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky., and the California RV Show in Pomona, Calif.
— Extended RVIA’s contract with the KEC to host the National RV Trade Show through 2012, and directed that show space rates remain the same this year as in 2007.
Friday, March 7, 2008
The Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) has tightened formaldehyde-emissions standards in wood products used to build RVs for the second time in six months.
The RVIA board, meeting March 1 during the association’s annual meeting on the Big Island in Hawaii, unanimously voted to adopt proposed requirements by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Those limits are more stringent than the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements for manufactured homes that RVIA adopted in September 2007, effective Jan. 1.
Meeting the new standard will be a requirement of RVIA membership, although the effective date will be determined during the board’s June 12 meeting during RVIA Committee Week.
The CARB regulation establishes a new formaldehyde-emissions standard in two phases for three composite wood products — hardwood plywood, particleboard and medium density fiberboard (MDF) used to make RVs and other finished goods or products that are offered for sale in California.
It is expected that California will issue a final rule authorizing the new regulation this spring.
The first phase of the CARB wood-products standard stipulates that veneer core and thin MDF meet an emission level of .08 parts per million by Jan. 1, 2009. Composite core materials must meet the same level by June 1, 2009. Fabricators, including RV manufacturers, building products for sale in California — no matter where they are manufactured or assembled — will have until July 1, 2010 to convert to CARB-certified wood products.
"We adopted the new CARB wood-product emission standard ahead of California’s official establishment of the regulation to underscore our commitment to our customers and their ability to use our products with confidence," said RVIA President Richard Coon. "We also wanted to give our members ample time for planning to meet the implementation date."
In other action board also:
— Approved supporting and endorsing the Motorcycle Industry Council’s Partners Standard Protocol (PSP) Implementation Project and providing staff resources to assist TranStand in identifying prospective RVIA members to participate in the project. PSP creates uniform standards for electronic communication and transactions between trading partners.
— Appointed Matthew Miller, president of Newmar Corp., to replace Dick Parks, CEO and chairman of the board of Newmar, on the RVIA board. Miller will serve the remainder of the fiscal year and run for re-election during the association elections this summer.
— Voted to require, effective June 2, that RV types not covered by the federal weight label requirements of FMVSS 110 or 120 to comply with the applicable FMVSS requirements as a condition of RVIA membership.
— Endorsed publishing and distributing to the industry the final recommendations from the Committee on Excellence Task Forces examining customer service.
— Voted to exclude park trailers from the National RV Trade Show at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky., and the California RV Show in Pomona, Calif.
— Extended RVIA’s contract with the KEC to host the National RV Trade Show through 2012, and directed that show space rates remain the same this year as in 2007.
