Treated Wood Industry In Transition

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Wood preservatives are registered as pesticides and fall under the jurisdiction of the EPA. To receive registration for a new pesticide could take as little as two years (assuming the registrant had all of its data completed in a fashion acceptable to the EPA). However, the data required for registration typically takes many years and hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of dollars to complete.

What does this bill $pan to treaters and dealers? Treaters and dealers in Califomia need to be awars of this legislation as it can eflect product curently in the distribution stream. lf these products are determined to be hazardous waste, frnsumers may not want t0 buy them even if the ban is etfective at a later date. lf the legislation becomes eftective January 1, 2003, dealers would have approximate' ly eight mmths to prepare forthe transition.

What are the chances that this bill will become law? Industry insiders believe that the bill has a good chance to become law' although modifications to the bill are likely. The industry is aggres' sively wotking together to oppose this legislation, focusing on the,slg nificdrnt costs associated with the classification ol the CCA and ACZA treated wood as hazardous waste. lt you would like to participate wilh the industry to defeat this legislation, please call the Westem Wood Preservers Instilute at (360) 693-9958 tor additional infomation.

How can 1,, register my opinion on this lqislation? Please send your letters to The Honomble Gloria Homero, State Capitol' Room 4062, Sacramento, Ca. 95814, via Fax to 916'445 0485, with copies to AF&PA lobbyist Kathryn Lynch (Fax 916-443 7353, email lynch@sl.net) and AWPI's Mel Pine (Fax 703'204'0500, email mpine@awpi.org).

Alternative wood preservatives have been used for several years in the U.S. The most common alternatives are ACQ Preserve, NatureWood, Natural Select and TimBor. Costs for the alternative treated wood products range from about the same as CCA (for TimBor, which is for interior use only) to somewhat higher for ACQ or CBA.

The next several months and years should prove to be uncertain and turbulent, and will at times provide new opportunities for the treated wood industry. We predict the successful companies will be technically astute, spend money on research and development, and seek out lowenvironmental impact, low-cost wood preservative opportunities.

Quality control and industry standards will become even more vital, as most alternative wood preservatives don't have the forgiving qualities of CCA. Treaters and their dealers who are used to allowing ..Treatins to Refusal" or are not subjecting their producls to third-party inspection will suffer failures that will over time harm their reputations, their customers' reputations, and the treated wood industry in general. In addition, these failures could lead to claims of liability and lawsuits. Manufacturer warranties are typically invalid without third party inspection, so unsuspecting dealers should be aware. Dealers and treaters willing to treat and sell products not fully evaluated and without prerequisite scientific peer review will do so at their own peril.

Opportunities abound for companies willing to open their minds to the possibilities that lie ahead. yes, it will

U.t. Senate Bill

What On February 15,2W2, Sen. BillNetson (O.Fla.) introdrrced legislation (S. 1963) to prohibit the use ol lumber treated witr CCA in the manufacture of playground equipment, children's products, fences, walkways, decks, and all other residential purposes (as opposed to the iust the manulacture of the wood, as provided for in the EPA decision). The legislation would also attect the la,beling ol trealed wood. The billwould also require that the EPA promulgate rcgulatioffi to phase out he production of the Ueated wood wilhin one year of enactment. lt also provides for strong disposal requirements for COA-treated lumber (dspmal in lined landfills trat have a l€achate system and groundrlater nonitoring).

Waste Disposal lssue: The language in tris bill requiring that CCA and ACZA treated wood be disposed of in lardfifls with lined and leachate collection systems with nonitoringf is what the West Coast industry supports and is cunently a standard reqdrem€nt in place in tl?.ygJl.r U.S., including Califonria, according to Dennis Hayward of WWPI.

What are the chances that this bill will become law? Industry insiders believe that it is unlikely that this billwillbecome law.

be more complicated, and it will not be "business as usual." Dealers will need to rely on the technical skills and integrity of their treater and its salespeople. If not already involved, treaters will need to join and become active participants in industry organizations, such as the American Wood-Preservers' Association, American Wood Preservers Institute and Western Wood Preservers Institute. Nimble and forward thinking companies can and will benefit from the challenges that lie ahead for the treated wood industry.

il /fY

IYIFAVORITE newspaper headline is not about toads, it is about termites. It is from a supermarket tabloid and reads. "Man with Wooden Leg Eaten Alive by Termites!" I wish the editor had added, "Too Bad He Didn't Have a CCA Treated Wooden Leg-He'd Have Survived the Attack!"

I'm the owner/operator of a CCA treating plant, and I don't like the effects of the bad press that CCA has been getting. Sensationalist stories have aided a propaganda attack by environmentalists and their lawyers against wood preservatives that contain arsenic and other metals. This negative publicity has been instrumental in initiating a phase-out of CCA treated wood around residences and in playgrounds.

The media constantly attempt to agitate us. If it's not their man-eating termites or wood preservatives, it's Y2K, or asteroids crashing into the Earth, no possibility of winning whatever war we happen to be fighting at the moment, or toad licking (more on that later-be patient), or killer bees.

At least the old killer bee story contained a grain of truth: Some years ago, a vigorous African strain of honeybees had been released accidentally in Brazrl and was "headed north." The press loved it. Story after story reported how the stinging little rascals might make it unsafe even to go outside. I mentioned the killer bee stories to an anthropologist friend who had lived for years in rural Africa. He laughed and said that he had spent nights in village huts with colonies of African honeybees living in the rafters, but nobody paid much