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Senate bill would ease EPA paint rule

comments (4) March 12th, 2013 in Blogs

Scott Gibson, contributing writer

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Builders and remodelers who have been chafing under the Environmental Protection Agency's lead-paint rules may find some relief in a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate that would restore an opt-out provision the EPA dropped nearly three years ago.

The legislation, called the Lead Exposure Reduction Amendments Act of 2013, was introduced by Sen. Jim Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, and co-sponsored by seven other Republican senators from the Midwest and South.

If it clears Congress, the measure would allow homeowners without small children or pregnant women in the house to opt out of requirements of the EPA's Lead: Renovation, Repair, and Painting rules. The rules, which apply to homes built before 1978 when lead paint was common, require renovators to be trained in work practices that minimize exposure to lead.

S. 484 also would allow remodelers to correct errors in paperwork without facing the full penalties of the law and would provide exemptions for emergency renovations, according to the National Association of Home Builders. In addition, NAHB said, the bill would eliminate a requirement that remodelers seeking recertification travel to distant training facilities for hands-on coursework.

NAHB, which supports the bill, said the EPA's 2010 decision to remove the opt-out clause "more than doubled the number of homes subject to the LRRP rule, adding an estimated $336 million per year in compliance costs to the remodeling community without making young children any safer."

The bill was referred to committee on March 6.

Editor's note: Get the information you need to work safely at Finehomebuilding,com's Lead Paint Remodeling Center.

posted in: Blogs, painting

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Comments (4)

starlette writes: I am renovating my century old home. Ive tested exterior and interior paint and it all contains lead. I take basic precautions for my own benefit but I simply cant go overboard otherwise the project would be insurmountable. Concern with lead dust is amusing when I consider all the floor boards and worn stairs are painted with lead based paint. Can you imagine the years of abrasive dust sifting through the carpet and slowly "sanding" the the lead paint underfoot? Every footfall or passage of the vacuum over the carpet would put this dust into the air, especially dangerous for those low to the floor? If the rules are too burdensome, I would imagine that instead of renovating the surface, homeowners would just put down new carpet--not solving the problem at all.
Posted: 8:54 am on March 29th

TheTimberTailor writes: I agree: "reasonable level of training" being the main point.
The current level of training and procedures is beyond reasonable IMHO.
Renovators may have more than a reasonable level of knowledge of dangers of cigarette smoke which clearly has equal, if not greater, hazardous effect than potential lead paint exposure. Does that mean the EPA should require contractors to monitor exposure of their customers and families to cigarette smoke as well? Seriously.
Posted: 11:56 pm on March 16th

nickjiw writes: I believe that all renovators should have a reasonable level of training in the safe procedures when dealing with any hazardous materials. Without such knowledge they would present a danger to their customers and families but also to themselves , their families and the neighbors on the job sites
Nickjiw
Posted: 10:30 am on March 13th

TheTimberTailor writes: Let's hope this bill passes to bring some sensibility back to the remodeling industry.
Posted: 5:03 pm on March 12th

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