When the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California invalidated the Trump Administration’s attempted one-year delay of the EPA rule limiting formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products on February 16 (see this newsletter published March 14, 2018, found here), it stayed the effect of its Order until March 9 to allow the parties to attempt to reach a settlement on the effective date of the emissions limits. The parties did reach agreement on March 9, and an Order was entered on March 13, establishing that the formaldehyde emissions limits in EPA’s rule become effective on June 1, 2018. EPA’s Federal Register Notice implementing the new effective date can be found here.  The settlement, Order, and Notice mean that all composite wood products manufactured in or imported into the United States must meet the formaldehyde emissions limits set in the original 2016 final rule by no later than June 1 of this year.

For more information, please contact Steve O’Day.