Real Estate Journal — Green Buildings — February 26 - March 10, 2016 — 11B
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G reen B uildings & E nvironmental S ervices By Lee Wasserman, LEW Corporation Lead Poisoning, Flint, Michigan, and EPA’s Renovation, Repair & Painting Rule
R
ight now is the time for you and your staff to f ind your Envi -
Declares a state of emergency due to dangerous levels of lead in water. EPA says it “did its job” despite not telling Flint its water was contaminated. EPA officials knew as early as April 2015 that state regula- tors were not using the correct standards for preventing lead contamination, but instead of publicizing the news, the agen- cy quietly prodded state regu- lators and waited on a legal opinion that did not come for months. “The stated mission of the EPA is to protect human health and the environment, yet the agency’s failure to no- tify Flint residents that their
drinking water was unsafe is a clear deviation from that mis- sion.” Senator David Vitter of Louisiana further writes that EPA administrator, Gina Mc- Carthy, put all the blame for the agency’s failures on the region administrator.” In April 2016, EPA’s RRP recertification extension will begin to expire. Approximately half a million tradespeople will be required to complete a four hour refresher class and resubmit a firm certification to EPA along with licensure fee prior to the expiration if not already done or run the risk of being in violation of EPA’s fed-
eral lead based paint law. For recertification EPA requests 90 days prior to your current certification’s expiration date plus add the one year exten- sion to obtain your current expiration date. Prior to the Flint, Michigan lead in water situation, EPA was being heavily influenced by several national trade as- sociations and politicians to, “eliminate,” the RRP Rule or to substantially relax its lead safe work practice require- ments. Eliminating basic lead safety procedures and prac- tices from the curriculum and again, EPA putting millions
of homeowners, children, and trades people at risk of lead poisoning and unnecessary litigation, just like they knew and did to the residents of Flint. Maybe because they did not want an issue with their “Environmental Political Agenda.” Additionally, EPA may be amending the rule during the first quarter of 2016 to require those in the trades who historically learn best from touching and doing, to now be able to take their refresher, 100% on line, which is clearly political Influence vs. good public health policy. continued on page 18B
r onmen t a l Pr o t e c t i on A g e n c y ’ s , (EPA) lead- based paint Renovation, Repair, and P a i n t i n g (RRP) Rule course com-
Lee Wasserman
pletion certification and deter- mine when it expires. The next step is to schedule to refresh (www.RRPTrainer.com). What has occurred since your initial RRP course in 2010? In April 2014, Lowe’s Home Improvement agreed to implement a comprehen- sive corporate-wide lead RRP compliance program of 1,700+ stores nationwide to ensure that the contractors they hire to performworkminimize lead dust from home renovation activities. Lowes also agreed to pay $500,000 in civil penal- ties for this violation. To date, this is the largest enforcement action of the RRP Rule. In April 2015, EPA, under pressure from several large trade associations, political action committees, and sev- eral senators, became the En- vironmental Political Agency and provided a one year ex- tension on EPA’s RRP Rule of completing a four hour refresher course versus taking the course on the 5th year of expiration as initially regu- lated. Why? To provide them more time to reduce or elimi- nate the rule’s requirements because of political influence. In October 2015 EPA an- nounced 75 enforcement ac- tions for violations of the rule. “Ensuring that lead-based paint is properly removed and handled helps protect children’s health when repairs or renovations are performed in older housing, particularly where kids live,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforce- ment and Compliance Assur- ance. “These cases show that EPA is serious about making sure companies that break the law are held accountable when they undercut responsible businesses and put public health at risk.” According to an article writ- ten in The Daily Caller New Foundation, “On January 5, 2016, after one year of known lead in water problems, Gov- ernor Snyder of Michigan
HERE'S JUST A FEW REASONS WHY YOU WANT LEW CORPORATION TO TRAIN YOU: • With over 40,000 trained, LEW Corporation is the leading and most knowledgeable lead-based paint training,consulting and remediation company in the country! • Nationally recognized instructors with decades of real life and practical experience! • In person interactive training! • FREE compliance assistance and record retention CD ($50.00 VALUE) for each attending student! • English and Spanish Classes offered! • Morning, afternoon, and evening classes offered 7 DAYS A WEEK! Seats will fill up quickly; don’t wait until it’s too late. Register today at: www.RRPTrainer.com
To receive course schedules and EPA RRP Information, click the EPA logo to subscribe.
Is your RRP Renovator
license about to expire? Take the 4 hour refresher course with LEW Corporation
T: 800-783-0567 E: training@lewcorp.com www.LEWCorp.com
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