EPA's Lead Renovation, Repair, and Painting Program (RRP) rule was fully implemented on April 22, 2010. Under the current rules, contractors who perform renovations, repairs and/or painting projects in most pre-1978 housing, child-care facilities and schools (i.e., that have, or are assumed to have, lead-based paint) must comply with federal accreditation, training, certification, and recordkeeping requirements, or risk fines of up to $37,500 per day per violation. AGC has distributed news articles that explain the legal requirements and contractor responsibilities - click here.
Note: EPA can authorize states to administer and enforce their own RRP programs. Several states have already done so (e.g., Kansas, Rhode Island, Utah, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Iowa and North Carolina), and several more have introduced legislation to take over the RRP rule.
Adding to the already complex regulatory regime, EPA has just taken three new actions that widen the rule's potential impact on the construction industry.
1. Most notably, in an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR), EPA announced its intention to apply lead-safe work practices and other requirements to renovations on the exteriors of public and commercial buildings. The advance notice also announces EPA's investigation into whether lead-based paint hazards are created by interior renovation, repair and painting projects in public and commercial buildings. If EPA determines that lead-based paint hazards are created by interior renovations, EPA will propose regulations at a later date to address the hazards.
2. EPA also has eliminated the so-called "opt-out" provision. (The RRP rule originally provided an exemption from the training and work requirements if the property owner certifies that no child under six and no pregnant woman resides in the subject premises.) This final rule also requires renovation firms to provide a copy of the records demonstrating compliance with the training and work practice requirements of the RRP rule to the owner (and to the occupant of the building being renovated or the operator of the child-occupied facility, if different).
3. In addition, EPA made a separate rulemaking proposal that would require contractors to perform "dust-wipe testing" after most renovation, repair, and painting activities covered by the RRP rule to show that dust-lead levels comply with EPA's regulatory standards. Regulated contractors would also need to provide the results of the testing to the owners and occupants of the building. For some of these renovations, the proposal would require that lead dust levels after the renovation be below the regulatory dust-lead hazard standards.
In related news, in response to an August 2009 petition submitted to EPA by the National Center for Healthy Housing, the Alliance for Healthy Homes and the Sierra Club, EPA has agreed to issue a proposal to (1) modify the regulatory definition of "lead-based paint" and (2) lower the regulatory dust-lead hazard standards. The Agency has not, however, committed to either a specific rulemaking outcome or a certain date for promulgation of a final rule.
To get the detailed story, please click here.
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