California's 35 local Air Districts are responsible for regional air quality planning, monitoring, and stationary source and facility permitting. The districts administer air quality improvement grant programs and are CARB's primary partners in efforts to ensure that all Californians breathe clean air.
CARB defines "VOC exempt" compounds as those not expected to meaningfully contribute to ozone formation due to their low reactivity in the atmosphere. Obtaining a “VOC exemption” means that CARB will add the compound to the list of exempt compounds in the VOC definition for the applicable regulation.
A list of chemicals exempted from the definition of VOC in consumer products can be found in Article 2 of the Consumer Product Regulations, § 94508. Definitions. 131.
A list of chemicals exempted from the definition of VOC in architectural coatings can be found in the Final Approved 2020 SCM, 4. Definitions. 4.66.
Coatings - Architectural Coatings
The last inventory update for the Consumer Products Emissions Inventory was conducted in 2020 and was largely based on the most extensive consumer products survey ever conducted by CARB which accounts for products sold in California during the 2013 through 2015 calendar years.
Speciation profiles provide estimates of the chemical composition of emissions and are used in the emission inventory and air quality models. The organic gas speciation profiles for consumer products based on the CARB 2013-2015 survey data were also updated in 2020 and are available at the link below:
CARB's Emissions Inventory section maintains a Consolidated List for Speciation Profiles. Item number 101 on that list contains documentation of the development of the updated organic gas speciation profiles for consumer products.
Temporal profiles provide estimates of diurnal emissions and are used in the emission inventory and air quality models. The temporal profiles for consumer products were updated in 2021 based on current research. The rationale, data sources, and methodology used to assign updated temporal profiles to the Consumer Product Emission Inventory Categories (EICs) and Aerosol Coatings EICs used by CARB are documented here:
