Final Report
Project Title: VOC Reduction: Paint and Body Shop Owner Training in Cd. Juárez
SCERP Project Number: AQ94-OF-7
Principal Investigator: Jan Hartman
University of Texas at El Paso
Goal: To train paint and body shop owners in Cd. Juárez in the use and record keeping of
less polluting products to reduce VOCs in the airshed.
Rationale: El Paso and Cd. Juárez share a common airshed and must work binationally
to reduce VOC production caused by activities such as auto paint and body work.
Training materials in Spanish will be helpful to other border cities encountering similar
air contamination.
Approach: The project was a binational effort focusing on paint/body shop owner
training. The purpose was to reduce the ozone-related volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) produced by the numerous paint and body shops that operate without emission
controls throughout Juarez. The Center for Environmental Resource Management
(CERM) at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) was responsible for coordination
of the project and development of project materials. The Environmental Defense Fund
(EDF) assisted in coordinating the participating agencies in Mexico including: Direccion
Municipal de Desarrollo Urbano y Ecologia, Instituto Technologico y de Estudios
Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), Procuraduria Federal para la Proteccion del Medio
Ambiente (PROFEPA), and Instituto Nacional de Ecologia (INE).
Status: Completed
PRETRAINING ACTIVITIES
May 1995
CERM (Jan Hartman) worked with Direccion Municipal de Desarrollo Urbano y
Ecologia (Abraham Aguino) and Environmental Defense Fund (Carlos Rincon) to
arrange VOC reduction training.
June - July 1995
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Met with technical advisors from ITESM, Monterrey to coordinate efforts.
Finalized content, materials with environmental officials from PROFEPA (Ing.
Quim. Pilar Leal, subdelegate), CERM at UTEP (Jan Hartman), Environmental
Defense Fund (Carlos Rincon), EL Paso City County Health and Environment
District (Jesus Reynosa), INE (Dr. Paramo), Junta Municipal de Agua y
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Saneamiento (Biol. Francisco Nunez), Direccion General de Comercio Municipal
(Ing. E. Bravo).
Ordered booklets for training.
Met with Canacintra (Juárez section of the Camara Nacional para la Industria de
la Transformacion - the small industry national chamber of commerce), officials
re outreach, logistics of workshop at their site.
Met with Juárez media to arrange paid, donated advertisements. (El Diario
newspaper, radio Globo FM 98).
Began preliminary discussions with Gilberto Porras, chair of paint and body shop
owner subcommittee at Canacintra.
August 1995
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Briefed Mexican regulators and technical advisors (INE, PROFEPA, ITESM,
Ecologia).
Proofed, edited booklets- met with vendor (Promarketing and Comercial
Industrial Printers) several times re content, graphics, color spread. Ordered 5000
booklets.
Ads placed El Diario to prepare citizens for overall approach to cleaner air,
negotiated PSA's with Globo FM radio.
Met with EDF staff re training specifics, negotiated training with Canacintra in
September or early October.
Contacted technical adviser in Chihuahua, (Dr. Albert Bustani, Dr. Aurelio
Alvarez) - sent copies of materials, government guidelines. Met with PROFEPA,
Junta, Ecologia, and University representatives to insure training is consistent
with government policy, regulations.
Arranged pre and post conference scheduling of public officials (INE,
PROFEPA).
September 1995
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Worked with EDF/CERM staff to finalize training plans. Date of training October
4, 1995.
Arranged for 500 invitations (printing at Commercial Impresora, Lic. Argumedo).
Arranged for 300 posters for Canacintra employees to distribute.
Added evaluation/follow-up component. PROFEPA, INE, and other
environmental leaders from Mexico City will meet twice a month in Juárez to call
on paint and body shop owners who attend the training.
Coordinated information from solvent/paint vendors National Paint Corporation
(U.S.), Dupont (Dallas and Juárez), APS Warehouse, Inc (Armando Azcarate and
George Yturralde) and Sherwin Williams (Juárez) for demonstration materials,
list of reduced VOC content materials, equipment (guns). Contacted Juan
Alvidrez, Dupont as possible speaker.
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Arranged travel for INE (Mexico City) and ITESM (Monterrey) speakers; hotel
accommodations at Villa del Sol, Juárez.
Finalized agenda.
Ordered invitations for training.
Made arrangements for hotel, airlines, for INE and ITESM speakers.
Arranged letters of transit for paint supplies to be transported.
Received overheads from INE delegate Jorge Sarmiento, made copies, inserted
into notebooks.
Continued briefing input process with Biologo Maria del Pilar Lopez Marco,
delegate to PROFEPA. Several meetings held.
Prepared diplomas with signatures from PROFEPA, Ecologia, and Canacintra.
Ordered 300 notebooks, collated materials.
Printed invitations, arranged distribution.
Obtained invitation list of paint and body Shop owners from Canacintra
committee, addressed 300 invitations.
Arranged last minute details for workshop: ground transportation for guests,
invoices prepared, registration procedures for trainees, final logistics at
Canacintra.
October 1995
Initial training conducted at Canacintra in Cd. Juárez. About 100 paint and body shop
owners attended the four-hour workshop. Presenters included representatives from INE,
Mexico City; PROFEPA, Cd. Juárez; Instituto Superiores de Estudios Technologicos de
Monterrey; and the private sector (Dupont Paint).
A planning committee for future small group trainings was formed: Carlos Rincon,
Environmental Defense Fund; Abraham Aquino, Direccion Municipal de Desarrollo
Urbano y Ecologia; Gilberto Porras, committee chair of paint and body shop owners at
Canacintra; Octavio Chavez, ITESM; and Jan Hartman, project manager CERM, UTEP.
This group met several times, evaluating further training needs and strategies. The next
trainings will be in small groups of about 30 for three days in November and groups of
about 10 people in December. Additional training for the whole group will occur in
January; EDF and Ecologia will meet with owners who were not present at the initial
training to give them one-on-one updates.
November 1995
The first series of small group meetings were conducted on November 29, 30 and
December 1. The planning committee focused on compliance with INE VOC emission
reporting and record keeping. In the four hour session, the forms for small businesses
were reviewed. The form for larger businesses was discussed in depth. The small group
meeting format insured allowance for questions and answers, of which there were many.
Canacintra personnel were on hand to explain how they would assist the workshop
participants with forms and procedures.
JANUARY 31, 1996 - TRAINING
The El Paso Independent School District offered its classroom facilities for a hands-on
meeting for El Paso and Juarez paint and body shop owners. Held at the Technical Center
in El Paso, the vocational classroom featured a painting booth equipped with all EPA
approved components. This model was especially important as it introduced lower cost
booths ($12-$20K vs. $40-$70K). Vendors, technicians and trainers were on hand to
explain financing and general use.
The following day, the Paso del Norte Air Quality Task Force met at the Vocational
Technical Center to be updated on the VOC training and to offer their continued support.
The binational Task Force is made up of governmental (EPA, Juarez City Planning
Department, Direccion de Ecologia, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission,
New Mexico Environment District, Los Alamos National Laboratories, El Paso City
County Health Department), corporate (Asarco, EDM), NGO's (Environmental Defense
Fund, Physicians for Social Responsibility), academia (UTEP, NMSU, Universidad de
Autonoma de Cd. Juarez) and interested citizens.
APRIL 17, 1996 - TRAINING
The final training was held at Canacintra in Juarez with Jorge Sarmiento (INE) and Dr.
Aurelio Alvarez from Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores concluding what they
had begun in October. Held from 4-8, the training reinforced different methodologies for
reducing VOC concentrations. The following day, a closing meeting of the planners and
presenters (Sarmiento and Alvarez) was held to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of the
program.
Strengths
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A basic training manual in Spanish has been produced and available to interested
parties
A model is in place which can be replicated in other areas of Mexico
A model is in place which can be replicated to other industries regulated for air
contaminants (e.g., dry cleaners, printers, fueling stations)
A synergistic project was identified: Octavio Chavez received funds to conduct a
GIS of air contaminant sources in Juarez, including paint and body shops
An emissions inventory for paint/body shop owners is on file at Direccion de
Ecologia
A significant "task force" is in place within the paint and body shop owners who
are members of Canacintra, the Mexican Chamber of Commerce - ongoing
problem solving occurs here
Concomitantly, the Air Quality Task Force was successful in completing a three
year goal of creating an Air Quality Management District (approved June 1996 by
the U.S. State Department and INE). This joint advisory council will make
recommendations to the Air Quality Work Group under the La Paz Agreement,
especially in areas outlined below.
Weaknesses
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Economic incentives to use less polluting supplies/equipment would be helpful
(emissions trading, others have been discussed)
Less polluting paints, solvents etc. still remain high priced
Large scale equipment such as painting booths remain prohibitively expensive
(>U.S.$10,000 ).
RESULTS
100 paint and body shop owners received initial training in regulatory and technical
aspects of VOC reduction in October. Three follow-up sessions were held in November
in groups of about 30 participants each to review initial training materials and for
intensive study of the Emissions Inventory forms needed for licensing by INE. Forms for
both small (five employees and under) and large companies were thoroughly reviewed
each session. Further training occurred in a state-of-the-art paint and body training school
(at The El Paso ISD Technical Center), with final training at Canacintra.
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a basic manual has been assembled
an emissions inventory is on file with Direccion de Ecologia
100+ paint and body shop owners have been trained in filling out the paperwork
for emissions inventory/licensing; using less polluting paints and solvents.
Practical Use: The paint and body shop committee of Canacintra has accepted
responsibility for further training and assistance. Canacintra has offered to find hazardous
waste depositories for the group. The intended users are the paint and body shop owners
in Juarez as well as the air quality control departments (i.e. Direccion Municipal de
Desarrollo Urbano y Ecologia) who will continue to assist with implementation of use of
less polluting materials. A manual has been developed that can be replicated in other
parts of Mexico. A model has been developed that can be replicated to other small
business segments (e.g., print shops, gas stations, laundries.)
A Steering Committee is in place to continue work towards VOC reduction. This group is
also beginning the process of establishing a regional VOC standard. (Presently Mexico
uses standards set by the United Nations chartered World Environment Organization.)
Members of the Steering Committee include:
Federal Government (INE) - Jorge Sarmiento
State Government - SEMARNAP
Local Government - Direccion de Ecologia - Abraham Aquino; Direccion Municipal de
Desarrollo Urbano y Ecologia - Gerardo Tarin
NGOs- Carlos Rincon, the Environmental Defense Fund
SCERP - Jan Hartman, University of Texas at El Paso and Octavio Chavez, ITESM
Academia - Dr. Aurelio Alvarez, ITESM
Wholesale suppliers - Sherwin Williams
Private sector - Mr. Gilberto Porras, Canacintra, Paint and Body Shop Committee
Other Personnel: Jorge Sarmiento, INE, Mexico City
Dr. Aurelio Alvarez, ITESM, Monterrey
Juan Alvidrez, Dupont Paint, Juárez and Dallas, Texas
Dr. Carlos Rincon, the Environmental Defense Fund, El Paso, Texas
Ing. Abraham Aquino, head of the air quality section, Direccion Municipal de Desarrollo
Urbano y Ecologia, City of Juárez
Dr. Octavio Chavez, ITESM, Juárez
Mr. Gilberto Porras, chair of paint and body shop committee, Canacintra
Ing. Javier Ybarra, PROFEPA