Benchmark International is uniquely posed to take on auditing, monitoring, quality control, laboratory testing throughout the world. We have team members posted on four continents ready to take on your next big task. Whether is be compliance, regulatory requirements, or just oversight, keep in mind that Benchmark is ready to assist you.

Sometimes, we find news articles that aren’t always about regulations, legality, or chemicals. West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with funding from The Myles Family foundation, have created a series of articles and broadcasts related to the timber industry in West Virginia. The series can be found here. IIt includes lumber, flooring and other parts of the timber industry.

In the forest products industry and beyond, there are a lot of acronyms that we see used over and over again. We use them to save space, talk quickly about a subject, or simply because we know what they mean, but not what they stand for. Below is a small list of acronyms that are seen most often and what they stand for:

CAR– Corrective Action Report

CARB– California Air Resources Board

COB– Close of Business

COC or CoC– Chain of Custody

CWP– Composite Wood Product

ASTM– American Section of the International Association for Testing Materials

EPA– U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

FSC– Forest Stewardship Council

HWPW-CC– Hardwood Plywood Composite Core

HWPW-VC– Hardwood Plywood Veneer Core

ISO– International Organization of Standardization

JAS– Japanese Agricultural Standard

SFI– Sustainable Forestry Initiative

TPC– Third Party Certifier

TSCA– Toxic Substance Control Act

What acronyms do you use? Email us your acronyms to add to the list.

From the EPA:

EPA is publishing a direct final rule to update several voluntary consensus standards listed at 40 CFR § 770.99 and incorporated by reference in the Formaldehyde Emission Standards for Composite Wood Products rule.

These updates apply to emission testing methods and regulated composite wood product construction characteristics. Several of those voluntary consensus standards (i.e. technical specifications for products or processes developed by standards-setting bodies) were updated, withdrawn, and/or superseded through the normal course of business by these various bodies to take into account new information, technology, and methodology.

Additionally, this direct final rule corrects the rule at 40 CFR § 770.20(b) by allowing the formaldehyde emissions mill quality control test methods to correlate to either the ASTM E1333-14 test method or, upon a showing of equivalence, the ASTM D6007-14 test method. This correlation was inadvertently omitted from the original final rule. The correction aligns the mill quality control testing requirements with the California Air Resources Board standards allowing mill quality control tests to be correlated to the less expensive ASTM D6007-14 test method.

In the event that EPA receives an adverse comment on the direct final rule and must publish a proposal, EPA also published a companion notice of proposed rule making to update the voluntary consensus standards. If EPA receives no adverse comment on the direct final rule or proposed rule, then the Agency will take no further action on the proposed rule and the direct final rule will become effective 45 days after publication of the direct final rule. If EPA receives relevant, adverse comment, then the Agency will withdraw the direct final rule and proceed with the proposed rule through the normal rulemaking process.

Read the direct final rule to update the voluntary consensus standards which is up for public inspection in the Federal Register.

Also note that on September 25, 2017, EPA issued a final rule to extend the compliance dates for the December 12, 2016 final Formaldehyde Emissions Standards for Composite Wood Products Rule. Read more about this action on EPA’s website.

Visit the EPA’s formaldehyde website for additional information on TSCA Title VI final rule.