Lead Paint Rule

by Joel Barkman

Remodeling members of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) have visited Capitol Hill and the White House in recent weeks in an effort to delay the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) implementation of new Lead Safe Work Practices for contractors working on older homes.

Earlier this month I wrote about a highly anticipated program that would make homes more energy efficient and provide a significant boost to the nation's struggling economy. The Home Star program, dubbed 'Cash for Caulkers' could get derailed before it even starts because of this new regulation that will affect contractors working on older homes.

As of April 22, EPA will require all contractors working in homes built before lead paint was banned in 1978 to be trained and certified under the Lead Paint: Renovation, Repair and Painting rule (LRRP). Contractors subject to the rule include remodelers, carpenters, plumbers, heating and air conditioning workers, window installers and others.

Owners of homes constructed before 1978 will need to ask their remodeler if they are an "EPA Lead Safe Certified Firm" because only certified firms will be able to work legally in those homes after the LRRP rule goes into effect

According to many remodelers these new rules will prevent meaningful retrofit work from being done because there won't be enough certified renovation contractors trained in the federal Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) new Lead Safe Work Practices.

The Senate is considering legislation that includes the proposed Home Star program, designed to provide home owner incentives for insulation and other weatherization projects. NAHB strongly supports incentives to retrofit older homes and buildings to improve energy efficiency and performance, but to make such a program work, most remodelers feel that the April 22 deadline for compliance with the EPA lead rule must be extended.

Roughly 79 million homes constructed before 1978 are subject to the Lead Renovation, Repair and Repainting Rule. Renovations on these homes, including energy-efficiency upgrades, must be done by contractors who have been certified by EPA in lead-safe work practices.

However, EPA has not approved enough instructors for the required training programs and has not certified enough firms to do the renovation work that the proposed energy efficiency program would generate.

"Consumer awareness of this regulation is negligible at best," explains one remodeler before Congress earlier this month. "And with the intensive media coverage that will undoubtedly accompany Home Star, home owners will rush to call contractors to perform efficiency upgrades in older housing, not realizing that many of those contractors could be doing the work illegally if they are not EPA certified."

EPA has estimated that more than 236,000 remodelers, window installers, painters, heating and air-conditioning specialists and other trade contractors must be trained to ensure compliance with the rule. These contractors must complete eight hours of training, pay a certification fee, and employ lead-safe work practices in homes built before 1978.

However, EPA has been slow to approve trainers to offer the courses, and in some states there are still no approved trainers. As a result, only about 14,000 people have been certified to date.

The EPA only began certifying trainers for the regulation last July, and with the new rules set to go into effect in a matter of weeks there are still only a small number around the country who are qualified to teach contractors and their trade partners what they need to do to comply.

With only 135 firms throughout the country approved to offer the training courses, it will be impossible for the remaining contractors to complete the required training before the April 22 deadline. And an influx of new retrofit jobs under a Home Star-style program would only increase the demand for trained and certified contractors.

NAHB supports the intent of the rule to prevent childhood lead poisoning in homes built before 1978, and we've been working closely with EPA to educate contractors about lead-safe work practices.

But at present, it looks like the only way that many of our industry members will be able to comply is to avoid working in these older homes so we are not breaking the law. In an environment where improving energy efficiency and creating jobs are national priorities, to me and the other remodelers who testified before Congress, this makes very little sense at all.

Has the contractor working on your project been trained and certified to deal with lead paint and is the law being followed? Just "Ask a Builder."

As always e-mail your questions or comments to joel@goldenrulebuilders.com or write to "Ask a Builder" at P.O. box 294, Catlett, VA 20119.

Barkman is past president of the Fauquier Chapter of The Northern Virginia Building Industry Association.

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