Lead Paint Regulations Stalled in House of Representatives
Controversial lead-paint regulations have been stalled in the House of Representatives, for the time being, at least. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently announced that until the Environmental Protections Agency (EPA) meets obligations to provide information and equipment that would enable businesses to comply with the proposed Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (LRRP) rules, the House would prohibit the implementation of new regulations[1]. The proposal would have required contractors to test dust to prove the absence of lead following renovations[2]. The EPA has since announced that it has decided against this rule as well.
Critics of LRRP say that it will “put an undue economic burden on contractors,” although public health advocates insist that the costs are well worth it. Lead in homes can “pose significant health risks to the nervous system, particularly in children,” they point out. Lead is most likely to be present in homes built before 1978, when a ban was placed on the use of lead paint and other substances in home construction. Although the EPA has abandoned the dust testing requirement, it has made some other changes to LRRP that are likely to ultimately pass congressional scrutiny, including requiring contractors to build plastic-sheeting containment walls to limit the potential spread of lead dust and making lead-safe training mandatory.
Do you think that lead dust testing should be mandatory? Should the NAR have lobbied against these proposed regulations?
