2016-09-29 15:44:01
REGULATIONS
EPA's Unpopular Lead Paint Rule Faces Economic Review
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in June that it's reviewing the controversial Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule (RRP), which has been deeply unpopular among door and window installers since it went into effect in April 2010.
The RRP rule is being examined under Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, which requires the agency to take a look at the economic effects of a regulation within ten years of its enactment. Although the agency only has to deal with the 2008 RRP Rule, the notice says it will also consider comments to the 2010 and 2011 amendments.
"This is really good news for us," says Kevin McKenney, the director of government affairs for the Window and Door Manufacturers Association (WDMA). "We actually requested that EPA undertake this review. In our comments this past February, we urged them to immediately start that 610 review, mostly because of the lack of a commercially available test kit, but also because all of EPA's original data is flawed."
The test-kit problem could be solved soon, however. In August 2016, ASTM International reported that it is working on a new standard that includes a highly accurate test for lead.
The RRP rule requires any renovation work–such as door and window replacements–that disturbs more than six square feet of a pre-1978 home's interior to follow rigorous and costly work practices to protect residents from exposure to lead, which is especially dangerous for young children. The work must be supervised by an EPAcertified renovator and performed by an EPA-certified renovation firm.
In July 2010, EPA removed the "optout provision" from the rule, which allowed homeowners without children under six or pregnant women residing in the home to allow their contractor to bypass lead-safe work practices. By removing this, EPA more than doubled the number of homes subject to the RRP rule.
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