SACRAMENTO, CALIF.—The California Air Resources Board (CARB) recently announced new regulations on foreign and domestic composite wood product manufacturers—including flooring— which will require stricter standards on formaldehyde emissions.

Concerning flooring, the law will focus heavily on monitoring products coming from other countries. To ease the transition, the Imported Wood Products Association (IWPA), has said it is in support of the CARB initiative, which will be implemented on Jan. 1, 2009.

“IWPA members and their suppliers are proud to provide products to U.S. manufacturers, distributors and consumers that meet these strict new standards,” said Brent McClendon, executive vice president, IWPA. “We want a seam less transition to this new standard and uninterrupted supply lines for the California industries that base their global competitiveness on the quality, availability and value provided by imported composite wood products.”

The new measure will apply to composite wood products that are sold, supplied, offered for sale, used or manufactured for sale in California. Under the regulations separate limits will be established for different types of composite wood products, which will again be lowered in a second-round of regulations to hit by 2010. The proposed rules will also create new requirements for compliance testing, third-party certification and product labeling regulations for manufacturers.

Industry leaders say imported products from other countries are the true concern when it comes to flooring, as U.S. manufacturers have not used formaldehyde in 10 to 15 years. Ed Korczak, executive director of the National Wood Flooring Association ( NWFA), said, “What the California law will do is allow imported wood to be monitored overseas. It gives more ammunition to companies to check on the entire process.”

The law has already started to receive national recognition, as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced it will study the potential health risks associated with the use of formaldehyde pressed wood products. The organization plans to issue an advance notice of proposed regulations this fall.

For more, please visit IWPA’s Web site at www.IWPAwood.org, or CARB’s site at www.arb.ca.gov.