EPA Rule-Making Process Unfairly Targets Remodeling
There are times when you really have to scratch your head and wonder how policy gets made in Washington, D.C. Little more than a year ago, it became clear that remodelers were about to be tagged with a very onerous responsibility by the Environmental Protection Agency. Under the proposed rule, all professionals involved in residential repair and remodeling who work in homes built before 1978 (and that is more than 70 million units) would need to take a series of expensive steps to ensure that they were not distrubing lead paint and creating a hazard in homes where children were living.
The remodeling industry is not in favor of disturbing lead paint and creating health hazards, but the rule unfairly targets remodelers without a lot of clear evidence that this industry’s work practices are creating hazards. At this point, it is important to know that the rule has not been enacted yet, and that an extended comment period allowed time for the industry to marshall a game plan to combat the enactment. Many of the main opposition points to the lead based paint rule making are nicely summarized in an “Issue Briefing Paper” from the National Association of the Remodeling industry or NARI. NARI LBP Position
Just last month, the results of a professional study of work practices in removing lead-based paint was released by its sponsor, the Remodelors Council of the National Association of Home Builders, which also worked collaboratively with NARI on the study. The report’s findings were extremely favorable for remodelers. final-study-report.pdf Through its testing partner, Atrium Health & Environmental Services LLC of Reston, Va., the Remodelors Council took 342 air samples and 407 surface samples in five remodeling projects in pre-1978 homes around the United States. The samples were collected during 60 typical renovation and repair activities. Importantly, airborne lead testing was done before-and-after the remodeling project was completed. In all five sites there were was no significant increases in the prescence of lead. And in one test site in Newington, CT, the home was actually healthier after remodeling than prior.
“There are times when you really have to scratch your head and wonder how policy gets made in Washington” - At times some policy decisions by the government seem to create lot of problems for a particular industry. I totally agree with your points made in this posting.