The NAHB has been really proactive in working to amend and correct the EPA’s Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting (LRRP) rule. Finally, the House of Representatives responded and added some bipartisan legislation to alter LRRP rule. It allows for exceptions and sensible exclusions to not stifle building and punish homeowners with older homes.
The whole lead paint detection and removal issue has been bubbling up for quite some time. Overly restrictive and detailed rules created lots of confusion in the areas of implementation, training, testing, and enforcement. In March of 2012, Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe introduced a lead paint opt-out bill. It would reinstate the “opt-out” provision and relieve remodelers and other contractors working in pre-1978 homes from undue burdens. Originally included in the EPA’s Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, the opt-out provision allows remodelers working in a home built before 1978 to forego the lead-safe work practices if no children under 6 or pregnant women resided there and the homeowner chose to “opt out” of having the remodeler follow them. The provision was removed from the EPA’s rule after a lawsuit by the Sierra Club.
Reintroducing the EPA Lead Paint Rule in the House
May 22, 2013, saw the EPA rule reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as the “Lead Exposure Reduction Amendments Act of 2013 (H.R. 2093)”. Nearly identical to the legislation introduced in the last session, the bill (thankfully) reinstates the LRRP Lead Paint Rule opt-out provision.
When the EPA rule removed the opt-out provision in the initial legislation, it doubled the number of homes that qualified for the rule. It also added over $300 million in annual compliance costs to the already-struggling remodeling industry. Since the opt-out was only valid for non-pregnant and child-free homes, it didn’t actually make any young children safer.
“We applaud Sen. Inhofe and his colleagues for sponsoring this bill to make much-needed improvements to EPA’s lead paint rule during this busy time in Congress. If this effort is successful, it will reduce the regulatory burden for remodelers facing costly penalties for first-time violations like misfiled paperwork and allow home owners to make the final decision about renovations in their homes.”
2012 NAHB Remodelers Chairman George “Geep” Moore Jr., GMB, CAPS, GMR
LRRP Lead Paint Rule Opt-out Provision Details
This LRRP rule opt-out provision allows homeowners without small children or pregnant women residing in the home to opt out of requiring contractors to work within LRRP compliance rules. This means remodelers can work on older homes without having to fill out the myriad of paperwork and face potential penalties. It also provides an exemption for “emergency” renovations. They also removed the “hands-on” requirement for recertification training. This means remodelers no longer have to attend remote training facilities just to keep up their certification.
Congress calls these “adjustments.” We call them “common sense.” In any case, it’s great to see the reintroduction of this new rule and amendment. We hope that logic will prevail. The current rule is far too punitive on homeowners not facing any serious issues for their family from lead paint. The resulting increase in costs and paperwork was more than a little unreasonable.
The bipartisan bill, companion legislation to S. 484, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), along with 21 original co-sponsors.
“H.R. 2093 [the LRRP Lead Paint Rule opt-out provision] will make common-sense improvements to the EPA’s lead paint rule for homeowners and remodelers who must comply with the regulation’s costly work practices and record keeping requirements.”
NAHB Remodelers Chairman Bill Shaw, GMR, GMB, CGP, a remodeler from Houston
The LRRP rule affects any renovation work done on homes built prior to 1978. It requires renovator training and also certification to train and ensure compliance with “lead-safe” work practices and record keeping.
For more information about remodeling, visit www.nahb.org.
