members to maintain and create its
products.
The need for additional participation
in D-01 by industry specialists has
become increasingly critical but will
approach crisis proportions this summer as several in major leadership positions have stated their intention to
retire after very long service to the
organization. Septuagenarians and
octogenarians, these individuals continued their invaluable service long after
retirement believing that ASTM methods continue to be critical to the health
of the industry to which they devoted
careers. All have held their ASTM positions for decades. They witnessed first
hand the vital role of ASTM as society
began to impose environmental regulations on their industry. Often, ASTM
was the body that challenged the science of analytical methods that regulators might otherwise have mandated
for the industry. Aware of the importance of this past work many, although
long-retired from their companies, have
been the backbone of today’s Committee
D-01. They continued to serve ASTM,
attending the biannual work sessions at
their own expense.
It is not clear that those soon-to-be
empty positions will be quickly filled.
Support for D-01 has declined over the
last decade as attendance and other
support has declined, perhaps because
today’s business managers are unfamiliar with ASTM. A number of test
methods have been withdrawn because
the Committee has not had enough
workers to maintain them. For administrative funds, a voluntary donation is
solicited from attendees at its semiannual meetings, a rather sad state for
an organization so critical to the billion
dollar coatings industry.
Is ASTM a relic from an earlier
time? Is it obsolete? Manufacturers of
ultra high solids, multi-component
coatings would respond with a
resounding “NO!” ASTM’s reputation
and capabilities proved invaluable to
that segment of the coatings industry
in 2006 when a change of regulatory
limits for VOCs threatened essentially
all of its products. The industry segment sought and received assistance
from Committee D-01 for the develop-
ment of a new analytical method to
more accurately measure the VOC
released by these solventless products.
One regulatory agency joined ASTM to
work alongside those subcommittee
members who participated in the
effort. The result is a new test method
that more accurately measures actual
emissions from these coatings. The
Committee D-01 will reach a critical point at its June meeting in
Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada. Unknowingly, so will the
coatings industry. To remain a valuable asset to the industry, member
companies must infuse Committee D-
01 with volunteer technical talent
instructed to take leadership roles at
“The need for additional participation in D-01 by indus-
try specialists has become increasingly critical but will
approach crisis proportions this summer as several in
major leadership positions have stated their intention
to retire after very long service to the organization.”
test verifies that the threatened coatings products comply with the more
stringent limitations now in place.
“No” would also be the answer from
those aware of the newer relationship
between ASTM and the International
Standards Organization (ISO). Representatives of ISO have traveled to
the U.S. to meet with D-01 almost
annually for the last five years. The two
standards-setting organizations have
pledged to work towards mutual adoption of identical test methods for the
measurement of each coating and/or
raw material parameter. Different
parts of the globe currently rely on a
variety of test methods for measuring
the same coating parameter. To a manufacturer of coatings products sold
worldwide, the financial benefit of a
single set of test methods would be significant; no longer need the same
parameter be measured with different
methods depending on the part of the
world in which the coating is to be sold.
In conclusion, Committee D-01 continues to work for the benefit of the coatings
industry while the industry’s contributions to Committee D-01 have dwindled.
A selfless effort on the part of a few of our
industry’s retirees has masked the effect
of the seeming indifference of major portions of the coatings industry.
the bi-annual meetings. That talent
must be provided by the coatings
industry, either from within its own
organizations or by funding knowledgeable, specialized consultants
briefed in the interests of the employer to take on organizational responsibilities of Committee D-01.
What, then, is ASTM? To have any
meaning, ASTM must be defined as
you, your company and your industry.
Absent outside support, ASTM has no
resource to replace the technical
expertise provided by your industry
for the last century. CW
Several individuals in this generation of
spokesmen now leaving D-01 are those
that represented the coatings industry
in the mid-1970s when the U.S. EPA
announced plans to limit air emissions
from use of paint and coatings. They
subsequently incorporated oversight,
collaboration and communication with
EPA, and other regulatory agencies, into
the responsibilities of D-01.
The author, Jim Berry, is an environmental consultant and managed
the U.S. EPA’s program to reduce air
emissions from coatings from its inception until the late 1990s. He currently
serves as chair of the Environmental
Concerns Subcommittee of D-01.
