Time is running out to comply with the lead paint Renovation, Repair and Painting compliance

A new federal law, the Renovation, Repair and Painting rule became nationally effective this past April 22, 2010. As a nationally respected lead-paint subject matter expert with almost 20 years of nationally recognized involvement, I am extremely concerned that this law has substantial risk of penalties and litigation to any entity that disturbs painted surfaces in Pre-1978 residential and child occupied facilities. What you may not be aware of, is that on June 18, (in part due to pressure from congress and concerns from many organizations that EPA had not given adequate time for people to comply with the law), Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator from the Office of Enforcement and Compliance, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a memorandum that stated 1) EPA will NOT take any enforcement action for violations of the RRP until October 1 (less than 30 days away). 2) EPA will NOT enforce against individual renovation workers if they have enrolled in a certified renovator class (www.RRPTrainer.com) no later than September 30, and must complete training no later than December 31. However, recent documentation from EPA only further supports that once this grace period has run out, the EPA intends to enforce the law and the financial impact of non-compliance can be quite substantial. Why is time is running out? Just last month, EPA issued the "Consolidated Enforcement Response and Penalty Policy for the Pre-Renovation Education Rule; Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule; and Lead-Based Paint Activities Rule," (Interim Final Policy). This 44 page document specifically outlines EPA's Enforcement Response and ability to assess penalties. It includes such sections as; Civil Administrative Complaints, Notices of Non-Compliance, civil Judicial Referrals, Criminal proceedings, Parallel Criminal & Civil Proceedings, Computation of Penalty, Economic Benefit of Non-Compliance, as well as Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEP). This document pertains not only to the latest EPA rule, Renovation, Repair & Painting (4/22/10), but also applies to EPA's other lead-based paint laws and regulations inclusive of the Pre-Renovation Education Rule and EPA's Lead-Based Paint Activities Rule. Within the document there are 12 pages of tables listing actions and potential fines ranging per violation from $150 to $37,500 with the higher limits being the more common assessment when children are present. The policy clarifies a violation by sharing the example of a multifamily building. If a paint disturbance that would be regulated by this rule was to occur in 20 apartments, each apartment or owner must be notified. Failure to notify could result in 20 separate violations, each with a potential penalty of $37,500 for a grand total potential fine of $750,000 from just forgetting to notify the owner(s) and occupants prior to performing a window replacement or a bathroom upgrade. A further indication that fine and penalties are a real possibility is highlighted in Section 3: Assessing Civil Administrative Penalties (3), EPA further states that Penalty Inflation Increases occur periodically and are incorporated by reference into this rule. It is not the intent to overly scare people or cause unnecessary anxiety but I am sharing that you better act now. Ignorance of the law has never been a just defense and taking the time to be properly trained and understand how to comply with regulations is always a prudent approach to running any business. If you don't, it certainly appears EPA as well as other government entities are gearing up to enforce the laws of this land. During this very unusual and difficult economic climate for all of us in these lead-based paint impacted trades and industries you cannot afford to waste time or money or for that matter, reputation by not complying with all of the various lead-based paint laws. Just like most people will only hire licensed electricians or plumbers, over time many property owners will also most likely only hire properly licensed contractors, We have heard of instances where insurance coverage may not apply if someone uses/employs unlicensed professionals as well. Since there are a multitude of lead-based paint related laws that could impact your work; federal, state, & city, and since the risk of non-compliance can be costly, you only should consider getting your lead education from a training provider that knows lead-based paint versus a provider that just took the course 3 months ago and knows how to read EPA's slide presentation! In light of this new rule, hundreds of entities have been approved to train, but very, very few can honestly state; this is what they do and this is what they know. In light of EPA's most recent documents, the litigious nature of society and in light of the difficult economic climate, one should only be trained by an entity whose instructors and staff are experienced lead-based paint industry field practitioners who also know the law and the other lead-based paint laws. If you educate yourself with part-timers you will get a part time education. Although you can find a list of Training providers at EPA's website, to obtain a first quality education in the regulations and also a practical understanding of how to comply while mitigating your risks and liabilities you should be trained by seasoned industry lead-based paint professionals visit www.RRPTrainer.com. Lee Wasserman is the president of LEW Corporation, Mountainside, N.J.