EPA Releases Compliance Guides for New PCE Rule

Two guides published recently by EPA are intended to help workplaces comply with the agency’s new risk management rule for the solvent perchloroethylene (PCE), which will be effective tomorrow, Jan. 17. The compliance guides are specific to dry cleaning and energized electrical cleaners, two examples of entities that may continue using PCE for some time under the new rule. The rule requires most uses of PCE to be phased out in less than three years but allows for a 10-year phaseout for PCE’s uses in dry cleaning to allow small businesses time to transition away from the chemical. The use of PCE to clean and degrease energized electrical equipment will be allowed to continue “since there are no technical or economically feasible alternatives,” EPA says.

The compliance guide for dry cleaning (PDF) outlines the agency’s recordkeeping requirements for dry cleaners, compliance dates for already owned machines, and information to help businesses identify dry-cleaning machines that use PCE. The dry cleaning compliance guide is also available in Korean (PDF) and Spanish (PDF). The new compliance guide for the continued use of PCE in energized electrical cleaning (PDF) outlines workplace requirements, including a new inhalation exposure concentration limit, direct dermal contact controls, and other exposure controls. Additional topics discussed in the guide for energized electrical cleaning include requirements for downstream notification and labeling and self-certification requirements for owners and operators to attest that they are complying with the relevant provisions of the rule.

The PCE rule was published in the Federal Register in December. For more information, or to download the compliance guides, visit EPA’s risk management webpage on PCE.