06/24/2010
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program rule (RRP rule) took effect on April 22, 2010, and established new requirements for firms and individuals performing renovations for compensation in pre-1978 residences, apartments, and child-occupied facilities, such as schools and day-care centers. The RRP rule applies to maintenance and repair activities with respect to target housing and child-occupied facilities where more than six square feet of lead-based paint in a room, or more than 20 square feet of lead-based paint on the exterior of a structure, will be disturbed.
The RRP rule requires firms and individuals performing renovations covered by the rule to be EPA lead-safe certified renovators before they commence renovation activities. The training and certification requirements have been implemented to ensure that renovation services are conducted in a manner that will minimize the risk of lead-based paint exposure to occupants of target housing and child-occupied facilities. Renovators subject to the rule are also obligated to deliver specific hazard information notices to owners and occupants of such target housing and child-occupied facilities, and to maintain detailed records of delivered notices.
Although the EPA can authorize states to administer their own Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting programs, only eight states presently administer their own programs. The states administering their own RRP programs, in lieu of the federal program, are Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Iowa, Rhode Island, Utah and Oregon.
Since Missouri has not been authorized to administer its own RRP program, renovators in Missouri must comply with the federal RRP rule. Renovators subject to the RRP rule who fail to comply with federal certification, notification, training, work practice and recordkeeping requirements risk incurring fines of up to $37,500 per day, per violation.
The RRP rule, which took effect on April 22, 2010, contained an "opt-out" provision, exempting a renovation contractor from the training and work practice requirements of the rule if the contractor obtained a signed statement from the owner of an owner-occupied residence, certifying that (1) no child under the age of six resides in the residence, (2) no pregnant woman resides there, (3) the house is not a child-occupied facility, and (4) the owner agrees that the contractor will not be required to use the lead-safe work practices prescribed by the RRP rule. However, on May 6, 2010, the EPA amended the RRP rule, eliminating the "opt-out" provision effective as of July 6, 2010. The revisions to the RRP rule that take effect July 6, 2010, also require a renovation contractor to post notices during renovation and provide copies of its RRP training and work practice compliance records to the owner and occupant of the renovated building or the operator of the renovated child-occupied facility.
In an effort to provide renovation firms and workers with sufficient time in which to obtain the training and certifications mandated by the RRP rule, the EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance issued, on June 18, 2010, an Implementation Guidance Memorandum (Memorandum) indicating that the EPA will not take enforcement action for violations of the RRP rule's firm certification requirement until October 1, 2010. However, it is important to note that the EPA has up to 90 days following its receipt of a completed request for certification in which to approve or disapprove the application. Therefore, firms subject to the RRP rule need to apply for certification immediately. The Memorandum also states that the EPA will not take enforcement action against individual workers for violation of the RRP rule's renovation worker certification requirement so long as the person has applied to enroll in, or has enrolled in, by September 30, 2010, a certified renovator class, and the training is completed by December 31, 2010.
A broad range of renovation contractors, subcontractors, painters and trades people are subject to the requirements of the RRP rule. If you think that you or your firm may be subject to the RRP rule, you can obtain information regarding the rule by accessing the EPA's website, or by contacting an attorney in our real estate practice division.