PF Podcast Discusses CARB Hex Chrome Phase-out Deadlines

Products Finishing has released two episodes from its On the Line podcast series that focus on an important current topic for the surface finishing community. The two-part story discusses the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) recently proposed deadlines for transitioning away from hexavalent chromium-based metal finishing technologies. Effectively the proposed deadlines would phase-out the use of hexavalent chromium finishing technologies for decorative use by 2023, for functional (hard chrome) applications by 2027 and for chromic acid anodizing by 2032.

CARB is holding its virtual Technical Working Group Meeting #5  to discuss amendments for the Airborne Toxics Control Measure for Chrome Plating and Chromic Acid Anodizing Facilities (Chrome Plating ATCM) on May 26 at 2 p.m. PST. The meeting is open to the public.

On the Line approaches the story from a couple of angles, first speaking with Mark Schario, Mark Schario, executive vice president with Columbia Chemical (Brunswick, Ohio), who offers some background on trivalent chromium as an alternative to hex chrome plating. Schario discusses recent tri-chrome innovations that may help plating operations facing a phase-out of hex chrome technologies, including the company’s latest tri-chrome technology TriCol Reclaim. Listen to the story here:

Transitioning Hexavalent Chromium to Trivalent, Part 1

The story continues in Part 2 with a discussion with two representatives from the Metal Finishers Association of California (MFACA): MFACA executive director and manager of K&L Anodizing (Burbank, Calif.) Bryan Leiker and Justin Guzman, president of the Metal Finishing Associations of Southern California and president of Aircraft X-Ray Laboratories (Los Angeles, Calif.). The pair paint a picture of what the proposed CARB ruling could mean for California-based finishers and the potential impacts of such changes for the industry as a whole. Listen to the story here:

Transitioning Hexavalent Chromium to Trivalent, Part 2

The proposed ruling would affect not only decorative chromium applications, but also aerospace, automotive and defense sectors. On the Line approaches the topic from a couple of points of view and Products Finishing will continue to report on the evolving story. 

“We may add further parts to this podcast story as things develop with the CARB ruling,” says Products Finishing editor-in-chief Scott Francis. “From my point of view, our job at PF is to help the finishing community understand the full ramifications of what such a ruling means, what alternatives are currently available and to try to help finishers navigate this situation in the best way possible as the industry adapts to the changing regulatory landscape.”