EPA Lead Based Paint RRP Training Certification

Do you have plans to renovate your home this summer? If you have an older home, the Cayuga County Health Department has some tips for your safety. Projects that disturb lead-based paint can create dust and endanger you and your family. Lead-based paint was used in millions of homes until it was banned in 1978. If your home was built before then, here are some facts you should know:

• Lead can affect a child’s brain and developing nervous system, causing reduced IQ and learning disabilities. Children younger than 6 are most at risk.

• Lead exposure can cause behavioral problems.

• Lead in dust is the most common way people are exposed to lead. Lead dust comes from deteriorating lead-based paint and may be difficult to see. You can get lead in your body by breathing or swallowing lead dust, or by eating soil or paint chips containing lead.

• Children who seem healthy can have high levels of lead in their bodies.

These same facts apply to child care facilities or any building built before 1978. If renovation is taking place in your day care center or your home, the work areas should not be accessible while the work is being done and the area should be contained so that dust and debris cannot escape the work area. You may even want to move out of your home temporarily while all or part of the work is being done.

Federal law requires contractors – who are hired for renovations, repairs and painting in homes, child care centers and schools built before 1978 that disturb painted surfaces – to be certified and follow specific practices to prevent lead contamination. Landlords who do renovations, repairs and painting must also be certified.

If you suspect that your house has lead hazards, here are some important things you can do to protect your family:

• If you rent, call the landlord immediately to report peeling or chipping paint.

• Regularly wet clean floors, windowsills and other surfaces with a general all-purpose cleaner.

• Wash children’s hands, bottles, pacifiers and toys often.

• Keep children away from chipping paint and prevent destructive behaviors like chewing on painted surfaces.

• Make sure children eat a healthy, nutritious diet that provides some protection from the effects of lead.

• Talk to your pediatrician about having your children tested for lead poisoning.

• Always hire certified contractors for work that will disrupt paint in housing or child-occupied facilities built before 1978, or get properly trained and certified yourself. You can search for a certified firm at http://cfpub.epa.gov/flpp/searchrrp_firm.htm.

• Call the health department at 253-1405 for advice on reducing and eliminating exposures to lead inside and outside your home.

Remember, lead can also be dangerous for adults. Lead exposure can cause reproductive problems for men and women, high blood pressure and hypertension, nerve disorders, memory and concentration problems, and muscle and joint pain.

For more information about the Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule (RRP), visit the Environmental Protection Agency website.

For more information about renovating right and about the dangers of lead exposure to children and adults, call the Cayuga County Health Department at 253-1560.

Elane Daly is director of health and human services for Cayuga County. She can be reached at 253-1560 or cchealth@dfa.state.ny.us

Read more: http://auburnpub.com/lifestyles/article_7c0e3354-b713-11e0-b644-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1TGuNJMGM

After carefully weighing all available information and considering the public comments, EPA has concluded it is not necessary to impose new lead-dust sampling and laboratory analysis, known as the clearance requirements, as part of the Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (LRRP) rule. The Agency believes that the existing lead-safe work practices and clean up requirements — which went into place in 2010 — will protect people from lead dust hazards created during renovations jobs without the need for additional clearance requirements. Nothing in today’s action will hamper implementation of the tough protections already in place. EPA determined that the lead-safe work practices will protect human health without imposing additional regulatory burdens and costs associated with taking dust samples and obtaining laboratory analyses.

“We’re pleased that the EPA listened to the concerns of remodelers about the extreme costs the proposed clearance testing would have imposed,” said Bob Peterson, NAHB Remodelers chair and a remodeler from Fort Collins, Colo. “Home owners are saved from spending a great deal of money on lead testing. If remodeling is more affordable, home owners will be able to hire an EPA-certified renovator to keep them safe from lead dust hazards during renovation.”

At NAHB’s request this regulation was selected for review by the EPA under the Presidential Executive Order for Regulatory Review (Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review, 76 FR 3821 issued on Jan. 21) concerning the impact of federal rules on small businesses and job creation.

The lead rule applies to homes built before 1978 and requires renovator training and certification, following lead-safe work practices, containing and cleaning dust, and record keeping.

Although EPA is not imposing clearance requirements, the final rule clarifies and strengthens the current lead-safe work practices, including requiring that a vertical containment system or equivalent measures be used when outside renovations are performed within 10 feet of a property line, and that HEPA-vacuum filters be changed at regular intervals.

Please visit www.epa.gov/lead for a copy of this final rule or for additional information on the LRRP requirements.

Source: http://www.buildingonline.com/news/viewnews.pl?id=10756&subcategory=108

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday that it has rejected a proposed ruling to add further testing requirements to an existing lead-paint rule.

Business-advocacy groups such as the National Association of Home Builders and the National Federation of Independent Business applauded the decision.

“We are pleased to see that the EPA listened to small-business owners in this instance,” said Dan Bosch, manager of regulatory policy for NFIB, in a statement. But he added that additional steps are still needed to relieve owners from complying with the existing rule.

In effect since May 2010, the rule requires businesses that repair or renovate older buildings—specifically homes, schools and daycare centers built prior to 1978—to adhere to strict lead-safe work practices. (For more on the rule, please read “New Lead-Paint Law Heavy on Budgets.”) The proposal shot down on Friday would have required contractors to take additional steps to demonstrate that dust-lead levels remaining in the work area are below regulatory levels.

In a statement, Bob Peterson, a spokesman for NAHB, said trained professional remodelers already use lead-safe work practices, and the existing clean-up method “has been shown to successfully minimize lead hazards and protect individuals from lead exposure.” The group is pleased that the EPA has maintained a “common sense approach to keeping families safe during renovation,” he said.

Last month, an online survey of 1,500 contractors indicated that the proposed additional steps would cost on average an extra $100 to $500 per project. It further suggested that passing this expense onto customers could hurt business for contractors since more than three-quarters of respondents said that their homeowner clients already look for ways to avoid compliance costs.

The EPA’s final ruling on Friday notes that the agency is promulgating several other revisions to the lead-paint rule, including a provision allowing a certified renovator to collect a paint chip sample and send it to a recognized laboratory for analysis in lieu of using a lead test kit.

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/in-charge/2011/07/18/epa-rejects-additional-lead-paint-rule/?mod=google_news_blog

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) July 07, 2011

Clearly, breaking the new law can hurt both RRP firms and their clients. Seattle-based painting contractor Shearer Painting announces it is EPA lead-safe certified and consistently employs the agency’s approved work methods. Shearer conducts lead-based repair, renovation, and house painting activities and has fall protection in compliance with OSHA. The company handles both interior and exterior painting projects with a deep dedication to environmentally sensitive practices. Find out how to find a certified lead renovator.

The Environmental Protection Agency reports on their press release website that significant fines have been levied against contractors not conducting lead safe practices as mandated by law. In April 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency formulated a new policy regarding firms that specialize in repair, renovation, or house painting. The RRP Rule, which took effect in April 2010, is designed to minimize both worker and client exposure to lead paint flakes or dust.

In buildings constructed before 1978, when the U.S. banned lead paint, RRP workers tend to generate a significant amount of lead debris. Those who work on apartment buildings, houses, child-care centers, and some schools must be trained in lead-safe practices, and their employer must be certified according to EPA requirements. The maximum fine for violating the law is $37,500 per violation per day. The RRP Rule requires workers to contain their work area, minimize dust, clean up thoroughly, and provide appropriate literature regarding lead safety to tenants or homeowners.

Although these demands seem like common sense, some firms still run afoul of the new law, usually to cut corners and save money. As reported by EPA inspector David Deegan, (617) 918-1017, through the EPA website; A contractor in Rockland, Maine, currently faces penalties for violating the RRP Rule during an October 2010 repainting project. According to inspectors from the EPA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the contractor’s workers didn’t contain the debris created by their removal of lead paint. In addition, though he attended an EPA-approved eight-hour training course, the contractor failed to properly train and supervise his employees.

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