RVIA Adopts New California Formaldehyde Standard for RVs

The RVIA Board of Directors unanimously voted the proposed California Air Resources Board (CARB) formaldehyde emission level standards for wood products to become an RVIA membership requirement with an effective date to be determined at the next Board of Directors meeting on June 12 at Committee Week.

The CARB standard will replace the HUD standard for formaldehyde emission levels adopted earlier this year as a requirement for association membership.

The CARB regulation establishes a new formaldehyde emission standard in two phases for three composite wood products – hardwood plywood, particleboard, and medium density fiberboard – utilized in finished goods or products -- including RVs -- 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 January 1, 2009. Composite core materials must meet the same level by June 1, 2009. Fabricators, which includes RV manufacturers, building products to sell in California, no matter where they are manufactured or assembled, will have until July 1, 2010 to begin using 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 actions at their March 1 meeting at the association’s Annual Meeting, the RVIA Board of Directors 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.

* CEO and chairman of the board of Newmar, on the Board of Directors. Miller will serve the remainder of the fiscal year and run for re-election during the association elections this summer.

* Required 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, effective June 2, 2008.

* Endorsed publishing and distributing to the industry the final recommendations from the Committee on Excellence Task Forces examining customer satisfaction issues.

(March 10, 2008)