About Tert Butyl Acetate

In December 2004, the U.S. EPA grantedLyondell Chemical Company's 1997 petition to add TBAC to the list of VOC-exemptcompounds.1 This action ended an eight-year process during which the companywas asked to demonstrate that TBAC not only had negligible photochemicalreactivity, the official requirement for exemption, but that it also had lowtoxicity and was not likely to have other adverse environmental impacts.

With its final rule, the EPA created a new class of VOCsfor low-reactivity compounds like TBAC. This new category of exempt compoundsrequires users to report their emissions, but does not limit their use of thesolvent. Fortunately, this requirement does not create a significant reportingburden for companies, since most are already required to report their VOCemissions. It has, however, complicated the state exemption process. Forexample, some states that made reference to the federal definition to automaticallyadd new exempt compounds, now have to undertake rulemaking to add TBAC.

The federal exemption lastDecember marked the beginning of a similar and, fortunately, more expeditiousprocess at the state level. This article attempts to bring the readerup-to-date on the current status of the TBAC exemption and provides a technicaloverview of the coating technologies where TBAC will likely become an importantHAP and VOC compliance tool.