Brake manufacturers named an official registrar to show compliance with new rules in California and Washington limiting the amount of copper and other materials used in brake friction products.

The Brake Manufacturers Council of the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association and the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association named NSF International to serve as its official registrar.

The California and Washington regulations are scheduled to begin in 2014 and will be in full effect by 2025. Both states require a third-party registrar to verify friction materials do not exceed the allowable amount of regulated material and to publicly list friction materials complying with the laws.

"The BMC is committed to reducing the role of copper and constituents contained in brake friction material," said Brake Manufacturers Council Chairman Bob Wilkes. "Over the last several years, the council appointed a committee which developed certification guidelines, product and packaging marking and worked with the Society of Automobile Engineers to create material testing standards."

The BMC issued a call for proposals, which led to the selection of NSF International to be its registrar of record.

To allow consumers to know which of the three levels of compliance a brake pad has reached, compliance level information will be marked on the brake pads. The BMC has also created a new set of trademarks (the Leaf Marks), which will appear on brake packaging. There are three different LeafMarks one for each level:
- Level A regulates cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, and asbestos.
- Level B is the same as A but copper must be less than 5 weight percent.
- Level N is the same as B but copper must be less than 0.5 weight percent.

NSF International has been granted the right to authorize the use of the BMC's LeafMark to manufacturers in compliance through stringent testing standards.

NSF International tests and certifies auto parts with its Automotive Collision Replacement Parts Certification Program; including; reinforcement bars, steel bumpers, step bumpers, brackets, absorbers, external vehicle lighting, and other parts.

Complementing this program, the NSF Automotive Collision Parts Distributor Certification Program helps close the gap in the supply chain between parts manufacturers and body shops and was developed to meet the needs of collision repair shops, insurers as well as consumers. NSF will use the knowledge and systems from these programs to begin registering friction material.