EPA Gives Status of RRP Training and Certification Counts at June LEHA Workshop

The Lead and Environmental Hazard Association (LEHA) has been conducting a series of workshops across the country.   I attended the June 22, 2010 workshop held in Marlboro MA.  The workshops bring together representatives from federal, state and local agencies to discuss the RRP rule with interested parties including renovation contractors, lead inspectors and others in the industry providing services and or products related to the RRP.  The workshop was well attended and very informative.   The state of Massachusetts' Department of Occupational Safety (DOS) has taken delegated authority and enforcement of the rule from EPA.  Several representatives from DOS and the state were in attendance and participated in the workshop as panelists.

David Merrick, NARI Government Affairs Committee Chairman, and several others from NARI attended one of the workshops on Friday, July 23 in Baltimore.   Also present at that workshop was the region 3 EPA Regional Lead Enforcement Coordinator, Annie Skidmore.

 
At the meeting EPA's Annie Skidmore brought everyone up-to-date with the latest numbers (as of the June 22nd workshop) from the EPA regarding the RRP.  Thanks to David Merrick for sharing this information with me:

• 411,000 people have completed RRP Certified Renovator training.

• 40,000 firms have completed firm certification with 10-20,000 applications in the pipeline.

• EPA acknowledged that their initial estimate of the number of firms that will need to be certified and the number of workers that will need to be trained was way off the mark.  The EPA now says the 40,000 firms that are certified represent about 20% of the firms that will need to be certified.

• There are a total of 282 Certified Training Providers, many of which travel and train nationally.

• A total of 17,800 training courses have been held.

On July 9th, 2010 The Massachusetts Department of Occupational Safety took over administration and enforcement of the RRP rule from the EPA.  Although similar to the EPA rule, the MA RRP rule does differ in many ways.  Contractors doing RRP related work in MA should read the MA Regulations to understand the differences.

To do RRP work in MA, renovators should first become licensed to do so.  There could be some confusion about this if you are already a Certified Firm through the EPA.  Here is some clarification from the MA DOS web site's FAQ page:

Question: How much will I have to pay for a “Lead-Safe Renovation Contractor License?”

DOS Responds: As of July 9, 2010, the fee charged for a Lead-Safe Renovation Contractor License pursuant to 454 CMR 22.00 and 801 CMR 4.02 is $300 plus $75 in surcharges for a five-year license. Fees are set periodically by the Executive Office for Administration and Finance

Question: I applied to EPA for certification as a “Certified Firm” before DOS began enforcing its RRP-related requirements.  Will I have to get another license from DOS in order to perform RRP-related work in Massachusetts?

DOS Responds: If you submitted an application to EPA to become certified as a “Certified Firm” before July 9, 2010, you will not need to obtain a “Lead-Safe Renovation Contractor License” from DOS until the certification that you received from EPA expires.  Save mailing receipts. As provided by 454 CMR 22.03(3)(b) and 22.04(3), you will need to apply for a Contractor Licensing Waiver in order to legally perform Renovation Work in Massachusetts, however. You will not be required to pay another licensing fee in order to get this waiver.  If you applied for EPA certification after July 9, 2010, you will need to become licensed as a “Lead-Safe Renovation Contractor” pursuant to 454 CMR 22.00 in order to perform RRP-related work in Massachusetts.

You can view or print all of the available the MA Lead related licence applications here.   For RRP related work choose the "Lead-Safe Renovator Contractor" application.  If already a certified firm through the EPA, choose the "Lead-Safe Renovation Contractor Licensing Waiver" application.

On Friday June 18, 2010 the EPA announced a delay in the enforcement of the firm and worker certification requirements under the EPA RRP rule.

The agency acknowledged the need for additional time for renovation firms and workers to become trained and certified under the new Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule.

The rule took effect April 22, but in the June 18th memo from EPA Assistant Administrator Cynthia Giles, EPA announced it is delaying enforcement, acknowledging concerns raised by many trade association including NARI.

The announcement left a few open questions, both sent to me by Andy Ault of Little River Carpentery:

(1) How do you know how to perform the practices if you haven't been trained?

(2) What about the record keeping and reporting requirements?  Do you have to do those too even if you haven't been trained?

It is with mixed feelings that I post this announcement.  EPA's lack of an effective strategy to get an adequate number of firms and workers certified does make it difficult or even impossible in some areas for consumers to hire only certified firms and workers.  On the other hand, those renovators who did get certified on time under the rule are essentually losing what should have been an advantage to them and their businesses.  Remember when a rule used to be a rule and only those who didn't follow the rules got punished?  

Some Details about the announcement: 

Until Oct. 1, 2010, the EPA will not take enforcement action for violations of the RRP Rule's firm certification requirement.

For violations of the RRP Rule's renovation worker certification requirement, the EPA will not enforce against individual renovation workers if the person has applied to enroll in, or has enrolled in, by no later than Sept. 30, 2010, a certified renovator class to train contractors in practices necessary for compliance with the final rules. Renovators must complete the training by Dec. 31, 2010.

In the announcement the EPA makes it clear that it will still be enforcing the required lead-safe work practices.

The official announcement by the EPA can be downloaded here.

Here is the latest listing of EPA RRP Certified Firms as of May 19th, 2010

Click here to locate specific names and addresses for Certified Firms by state, town or zip code

Keep in mind that The EPA has been processing about 1,000 Firm applications per day so these numbers will be higher.

   State               |  Certified Firms   

 --------------------+--------------------

   ALABAMA         |  158               

 --------------------+--------------------

   ALASKA           |  58                

 --------------------+--------------------

   ARIZONA         |  291               

 --------------------+--------------------

   ARKANSAS       |  84                

 --------------------+--------------------

   CALIFORNIA     |  2,016             

 --------------------+--------------------

   COLORADO      |  512               

 --------------------+--------------------

   CONNECTICUT  |  599               

 --------------------+--------------------

   DELAWARE       |  77                

 --------------------+--------------------

   District of        |  30                 

   Columbia                          

 --------------------+--------------------

   FLORIDA          |  852               

 --------------------+--------------------

   GEORGIA         |  418               

 --------------------+--------------------

   HAWAII           |  46                

 --------------------+--------------------

   IDAHO             |  163               

 --------------------+--------------------

   ILLINOIS         |  1,829             

 --------------------+--------------------

   INDIANA          |  564               

 --------------------+--------------------

   IOWA              |  35                

 --------------------+--------------------

   KANSAS           |  115               

 --------------------+--------------------

   KENTUCKY       |  338               

 --------------------+--------------------

   LOUISIANA      |  135               

 --------------------+--------------------

   MAINE             |  276               

 --------------------+--------------------

   MARYLAND       |  783               

 --------------------+--------------------

   MASSACHUSETTS    |  1,842             

 --------------------+--------------------

   MICHIGAN        |  1,198              

 --------------------+--------------------

   MINNESOTA     |  1,049             

 --------------------+--------------------

   MISSISSIPPI     |  42                

 --------------------+--------------------

   MISSOURI        |  544                

 --------------------+--------------------

   MONTANA        |  123               

 --------------------+--------------------

   NEBRASKA       |  304               

 --------------------+--------------------

   NEVADA          |  71                

 --------------------+--------------------

   NEW HAMPSHIRE   |  268               

 --------------------+--------------------

   NEW JERSEY    |  850               

 --------------------+--------------------

   NEW MEXICO   |  100               

 --------------------+--------------------

   NEW YORK      |  2,232             

 --------------------+--------------------

   NORTH CAROLINA    |  84                

 --------------------+--------------------

   NORTH DAKOTA      |  130               

 --------------------+--------------------

   OHIO              |  1,257             

 --------------------+--------------------

   OKLAHOMA      |  178               

 --------------------+--------------------

   OREGON          |  204               

 --------------------+--------------------

   PENNSYLVANIA   |  1,724             

 --------------------+--------------------

   PUERTO RICO   |  2                 

 --------------------+--------------------

   RHODE ISLAND    |  69                

 --------------------+--------------------

   SOUTH CAROLINA    |  172               

 --------------------+--------------------

   SOUTH DAKOTA      |  68                

 --------------------+--------------------

   TENNESSEE      |  386               

 --------------------+--------------------

   TEXAS             |  959               

 --------------------+--------------------

   UTAH              |  47                

 --------------------+--------------------

   VERMONT        |  119               

 --------------------+--------------------

   VIRGINIA         |  731               

 --------------------+--------------------

   WASHINGTON  |  530               

 --------------------+--------------------

   WEST VIRGINIA   |  65                

 --------------------+--------------------

   WISCONSIN     |  48                

 --------------------+--------------------

   WYOMING        |  29                 

 --------------------+--------------------

   Null                |  6                 

 --------------------+--------------------

   Guam              |  4                 

 --------------------+--------------------

   Puerto Rico      |  2                  

 --------------------+--------------------

   Total               |  24,816            

 --------------------+--------------------

In a letter dated 4/20/2010, the EPA announced that it does not intend to take enforcement actions against firms who applied for the required firm certification before April 22, 2010 and are just waiting for their paperwork.  

The RRP Rule requires that firms be certified with the EPA before offering or performing work that falls under the rule.  This fact is clearly stated in the rule and further explained in the FAQ section of the EPA website.   The rule also says that the EPA has up to 90 days to process firm applications.  Apparently, even though many businesses will be required to follow the RRP rule in its entirety, the EPA can decide which part(s) of the rule they will follow, or not.  In the letter, the EPA justifies not following the requirements of the RRP Rule in regards to the firm certification requirement as follows:

"The certification requirement is important to making sure that firms are protecting children and other residents while renovations are ongoing, but EPA does not wish to disrupt ongoing renovations for those firms that submitted applications on time."

The letter indicates that EPA expects to review all firm applications filed by April 22^nd by June, although they did not specify by when in June.  

The letter also makes it clear that the EPA will be enforcing the work practices and training requirements.

Click here to see which companies in your area are on the EPA's certified firms list  

On another note, the EPA did announce that the opt-out provision would be phased out and that it is proposing to add third party dust wipe testing.  The change in the rule regarding the opt-out will become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.  Click here for more on the opt-out and the proposed dust-wipe testing.

Question:

Will a renovator working for a firm that has submitted a certification application to EPA but has not received its certification be allowed to work on pre-1978 properties assuming compliance with all other requirement of the EPA RRP Rule?

According to the EPA web site:

"No.  Beginning April 22, 2010, no firm may perform, offer, or claim to perform renovations covered by the RRP Rule without certification from EPA"

NOTE:  If you are a Certified Renovator, acting as a subcontractor working for and being paid by a certified firm, you can work under the rule.   

NOTE: The fine for working without firm certification is $37,500 per violation per day.  Willful violation of the rule is subject to an additional fine of $37,000 and or prison time.