GA Home     |     FAQs     |     City Sign Ordinance    |    PPAR Members Home      |     RSC Homepage (MLS)

NEW EPA RULES FOR LEAD BASED PAINT
www.epa.gov/lead

FAQs on New Lead Based Paint Rule

EPA was required by Congress to develop this rule under the Residential Lead-based Hazard Reduction Act of 1992. The rule addresses Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) activities in single and multi-family housing built before 1978 and goes into effect April 22, 2010.  These rules require contractors to get trained and certified in EPA's new lead-based paint work practices.  The rules apply only to contractors, renovators, etc – do-it-yourselfers will still be able to do RRP work on their own without getting fined.  

Most of the responsibility is on contractors to get trained and certified.  Property managers, if they use their own in-house workers to do RRP work, will need those workers to take classes so they are certified to do the lead-safe work practices and to notify tenants.  If they have outside contractors doing the work, they will need to be trained and certified.  We are advising REALTORS® to make sure any contractors they work with on a regular basis or recommend to clients are trained and certified on the new rules. To allow more time for the EPA to educate the public about this new rule and other unexpected delays, the EPA will not take enforcement action against firms that have unable to obtain certification until October 1, 2010.

NAR has been working closely with the home builders to track how EPA is training contractors and possible enforcement concerns, and have been holding quarterly meetings with EPA on all of this.

NAR hosted a series of webinars in 2008 and 2009 to educate members on this new rule. There is a seperate webinar for REALTORS® and one for Property Managers. For additional info, you can also go to the Realtor.org lead paint web page and compliance guide for additional info, webinar recordings, powerpoints, and faq videos:

http://www.realtor.org/government_affairs/lead_paint_main

NAR also commented in opposition to the EPA Rule in 2006:

Lead based paint renovation letter (revised)

Lead based paint opt-out comment letter to EPA