ENVIRONMENT

AQMD Gives Aerospace Firms More Time: Agreeing that the technology is not far enough advanced to allow a switch to lower-polluting substances, the South Coast Air Quality Management District decided to give aerospace companies an extra year before they must begin to use new adhesive bond primers, wire coatings, fuel tank coatings and fastener lubricative coatings. “Coatings for aircraft and satellites must meet tougher performance demands than coatings for cars and trucks, for example,” AQMD Executive Officer James Lents said. The postponement “will help ensure that the coatings developed to meet AQMD standards also meet aerospace performance standards,” Lents explained. The deadline had originally been set for Jan. 1.