New Jersey Air Pollution Control Regulations

New Jersey has amended its graphic arts rules to include references to the screen- printing industry. Rule 7:27-16.7 governs VOC emissions from screen printing facilities. Facilities with the potential to emit three pounds per hour or more of VOC are subject to the rules' requirements. If you fall under this rule, inks with no more than 3.3 pounds of VOC per gallon, less water and exempt solvents are to be used on all substrate categories except fabric, which has a level of 2.9 pounds of VOC per gallon; conductive inks which have a level of 8.5 pounds of VOC per gallon; and special purpose screen printing inks and coatings which have a level of 6.7 pounds of VOC per gallon.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has adopted new requirements that impact screen and digital printing facilities that use cleaning solvents.  Any facility that purchases for use more than 855 gallons of industrial cleaning solvents, in aggregate, during any 12 consecutive months is impacted by this rule.  Please read on for the requirements for both screen and digital printing operations.

Screen Printing

Screen printing facilities that meet this threshold requirement must use only industrial cleaning solvents that have composite vapor pressures equal to or less than eight millimeters of mercury (mmHg) at 20 degrees Celsius; or solvents with a maximum VOC content of 500 grams per liter.  There is also an option for screen operations to install, operate, and maintain, in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations, air pollution control equipment that reduces uncontrolled VOC emissions to the atmosphere from industrial cleaning by an overall control efficiency of 85 percent or more.

Digital Printing

The NJ Department exempted solvents used for the cleaning of digital printing operations from the VOC content limit since very little solvent is used to clean the parts.  Digital printing operations that meet the threshold of using more than 855 gallons of industrial cleaning solvents, in aggregate, during any consecutive 12 months then the following best management practices and recordkeeping requirements apply.

Screen and Digital Printing

Screen and digital printing facilities that use more than 855 gallons the following best management practices must be followed and documented:

1. Keep all VOC-containing cleaning materials and VOC-containing used shop towels in closed containers when not in use
2. Keep each container of VOC-containing cleaning materials closed except when adding or removing materials
3. Any spill of VOC-containing coatings, thinners, or cleaning materials must be immediately cleaned up
4. VOC-containing cleaning materials must be moved in in closed containers.

There are also record keeping requirements that must be followed if your screen printing facility is subject to these requirements. You must maintain on site a record of all purchased industrial cleaning solvents that includes:

• The name and address of the person selling the industrial cleaning solvent and the date of the sale.  An invoice, bill of sale, or a certificate that corresponds to one or more sales may be used to satisfy if it includes the seller’s name and address; 
• A list of VOCs and information concerning their concentration in the industrial cleaning solvent; 
• The safety data sheet (SDS) for each industrial cleaning solvent purchased;
• The product number assigned to the industrial cleaning solvent by the manufacturer; and 
• For each industrial cleaning solvent purchased, either:
  • The vapor pressure of the industrial cleaning solvent measured in millimeters of mercury at 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit); or
  • The VOC content in grams per liter.