Lead Paint Recertification Rule Change Aids 380,000 Remodelers Nationwide

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator has signed a final rule extending certain renovator certifications under the Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) program.

EPA estimates that the rule, which went into effect the same day it was published in the Federal Register (April 16), will affect up to 380,000 certified renovators.

Under the final rule:

• Remodelers and other contractors who got their EPA Lead-Safe Certified Renovator certifications on or before March 31, 2010, now have until March 31, 2016, to get recertified.
• Remodelers who got their certifications between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011, will have one year added to their five-year certification.
• Once they get re-certified, remodelers will have another five years before they have to re-up.

At your HBA’s urging, EPA extended these certifications because they would otherwise have expired before planned improvements to the RRP rule could be made. EPA proposed anamendment to remove the hands-on training requirement for the RRP refresher training course in January, but is unlikely to be finalized before November.

Without the certainty provided by the extension, almost half of all certified renovators would have been shut out of the opportunity to take advantage of the savings offered by this proposal.

• The EPA extension of certifications will not affect all certified renovators:
• The 5-year certification remains in effect for renovators who received their original certification after March 31, 2011.
• The extension does not apply to renovators operating under one of the 14 state authorized programs regardless of when they originally received certification. (See map)

Also, the rule only applies to individual, not firm certifications.

For more information, visit A Remodeler’s Guide to EPA Lead-Safe Certified Renovator Recertification. Learn more about the EPA Lead Paint rule at nahb.org/leadpaint