EPA issued its Renovation, Repair and Painting Regulation (the RRP Rule) back in April 2008. This rule which became effective on April 22, 2010, intends to protect children during renovation, repair and painting projects in “target housing” and in pre-1978 “child-occupied facilities,” such as daycare centers, when lead-based paint will be affected by the work. The requirements are generally triggered when paint and other surface coatings, which have not previously been tested and found to be lead-free, are disturbed above certain “minor repair and maintenance activities” thresholds.

All legal entities (e.g., sole proprietors, partnerships, corporations, associations, nonprofit organizations and even governmental agencies) performing these regulated renovations must submit an application and fee to EPA to become a “Certified Firm.” Also, individuals who work for Certified Firms must be properly trained by EPA-accredited training providers as “Certified Renovators” or be trained in “lead-safe work practices” and supervised on the job by the firms’ Certified Renovators.

Owners and occupants of target housing and childoccupied facilities must receive information before the work can begin. Also, lead-safe work practice standards, including work site containment, dust control and clean-up, must be met during the work and a “cleaning verification” must be conducted before the work area can be reoccupied. Finally, certain work records must be created and maintained for no less than three years.

As of July 1, 2010, over 320,000 individuals have been trained as Certified Renovators by 254 training providers who have presented more than 16,000 courses.

Since EPA issued the RRP Rule back in April 2008, there have been a number of important changes and developments. These include the following:

• As of July 13, 2010, nine states (Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah and Wisconsin) have applied for and been authorized by EPA to run their own renovation, repair and painting programs.
• An RRP Rule amendment, which took effect on July 6, 2010, eliminated the so-called owner-occupant opt out provision. This provision previously permitted owner- occupants of target housing to “opt out” of having their contractors follow lead-safe work practices if owner- occupants would sign a form stating that there were no children under age six or pregnant women residing in the house and it was not being used as a child-occupied facility.
• A second RRP Rule amendment, which also took effect on July 6, 2010, added the requirement that, at final invoice or within 30 days of completing renovations, whichever is earlier, the Certified Firm must provide information demonstrating compliance with the leadsafe work practices and training requirements to the property owner and, when different, adult occupant or to the operator of a child-occupied facility. For work in common areas of multifamily housing or in child-occupied facilities, the firm must also post this information or advise others (i.e., tenants in multifamily housing, and parents and guardians of children attending childoccupied facilities) how to obtain this information.
• Because concerns have been raised regarding difficulties experienced in obtaining the required firm certification and Certified Renovator training, EPA announced (June 18, 2010) that it would not take enforcement action for violations of the RRP Rule’s firm certification requirement until October 1, 2010. Also, EPA will not enforce against individual renovation workers who apply for enrollment or are enrolled in a Certified Renovator training class by September 30, 2010, so long as the training is completed by December 31, 2010. However, EPA will continue to initiate enforcement actions against renovation firms and individuals who do not comply with the lead-safe work practices and associated recordkeeping requirements.
• In addition to these RRP Rule modifications, EPA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to require dust-wipe testing after most renovations and 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 renovations be below established regulatory hazard standards. EPA will take comment on the proposal up to August 6, 2010. Based on the results of this rulemaking, dust-wipe testing could be added to the regulation in 2011.
• EPA also issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to announce the agency’s intention to apply lead-safe work practice standards to renovations performed on public and commercial buildings. The notice also includes EPA’s investigation into lead-based paint hazards that may be created by renovations on the interior of these public and commercial buildings. If EPA determines that lead-based paint hazards are created by interior renovations, the agency will propose regulations to address the hazards.

All PDCA member companies are encouraged to display their EPA provided Certified Firm logo (including firm number) on all their marketing materials. The display of your EPA designation demonstrates your commitment to lead-safe work practice – Be that Valuable Resource for Success.