VBRA slams EC test plan
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• Concerned that new EC proposals will impose what it terms as "meaningless" atmospheric testing on paintshops, the VBRA has submitted counter proposals for a solvent tax to the EC and DOE.
The EC consultative document proposes regular measurements of solvent levels in paintshops. The VBRA says: "The nature of the body repair process makes it impossible to make meaningful and effective measurement the levels of solvent in the air."
The association has returned to its initial stance that all solvent users should be licensed and the purchase of solvent products be restricted to licence holders. Licences would be restricted to companies able to use and dispose of solvent safely and responsibly.
To finance the scheme the VBRA believes a tax should be levied on solvent products, in proportion to the percentage of solvent they contain.
As low-solvent materials are introduced this income Would decline, but by that time new environmental concerns could arise which would be regulated through the same mechanism.
The association has also atiticised the use of local government to police the environmental protection act because the fees collected go into the general budget and are not spent on policing the EPA.