Anyone who represents contractors (including painters, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, etc) and landlords/property managers who perform their own work, will, as of April 22 EPA rules require them to be certified to work on certain properties built before 1978.
On April 22, 2010, the rule becomes effective and firms performing renovation, repair and painting projects that disturb lead-based paint in homes, child care facilities, and schools built before 1978 must be certified, individual renovators must be trained by an EPA-accredited training provider, and the firms and renovators must follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination.
From the EPA website: http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/lscp-press.htm:
These new regulations may greatly increase the cost of renovating the 1954 Churchill Park Property, wiping out any savings to the Glen Ellyn Park District as the result of re-bidding the project during the economic downturn.
Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Implementation Progress
Background
Lead paint poisoning affects over one million children today. Adverse health effects include learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and speech delays. If not done in a lead-safe manner, renovations and repair activities that disturb lead-based paint can expose children, as well as adults, to harmful levels of lead dust.
On April 22, 2008, EPA issued a rule requiring the use of lead-safe work practices aimed at preventing lead poisoning in children. On April 22, 2010, the rule becomes effective and firms performing renovation, repair and painting projects that disturb lead-based paint in homes, child care facilities, and schools built before 1978 must be certified, individual renovators must be trained by an EPA-accredited training provider, and the firms and renovators must follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination. EPA estimates that the costs to contractors to follow the work practices will range from $8 to $167 per job, with the exception of those exterior jobs where vertical containment would be required.
To become a certified renovator, individuals are required to take eight hours of training, of which two hours must be hands-on training, to become certified. This training is good for five years. The cost of this training is set by individual training providers, not by EPA. In addition, renovation firms must be certified by EPA or by a state authorized by EPA to administer its own program. Firm certification is easy; firms need to send in a two-page application to EPA and pay a fee of $300. Certification is good for five years.
Training Capacity
EPA has approved 190 training providers. Of these training providers, more than 90 are accredited to provide training in multiple states. A number of industry organizations are accredited training providers and are expected to train large numbers of renovators in their industry sector. For example:
- A large window manufacturer and installer is an EPA-accredited training provider and has scheduled trainings in multiple states.
- A number of non-governmental organizations and private vendors are EPA-accredited training providers and conduct trainings in multiple states across the country.
Even states that do not yet have fixed training providers in their state have had multiple training courses offered in their state.
As of April 5, 2010, training providers have reported that there have been more than 4,900 training courses offered, and EPA estimates that more than 100,000 renovators have been trained. EPA projects that by the April 22 deadline, an additional 1,000 courses will be completed and an additional 25,000 renovators will be trained, bringing the number of trained renovators to more than 125,000 by that time.
In addition, EPA continues to evaluate training provider applications and this number will continue to grow. In particular, EPA has been working with the Laborers' International Union of North America (LiUNA) to accredit their local affiliates as RRP training providers. LiUNA has estimated that they can easily train more than 50,000 additional renovators. EPA's estimate of more than 200,000 renovators that will conduct renovation jobs in pre-1978 housing and in child-care facilities and schools is based on the total number of renovation jobs that EPA projected would occur between April 22, 2010, and April 22, 2011. EPA expects that even greater numbers of renovators will seek and obtain training once the rule has been implemented.
The next Board Meeting of the Glen Ellyn Park District is scheduled for Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 7:00 PM. The meetings are held at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center (SARC) 185 Spring Avenue. As with all meetings, the public is invited and welcome to attend
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Disclaimer:
The Glen Ellyn Park Bench is not affiliated with the Glen Ellyn Park District. The Glen Ellyn Park Bench is a citizen initiative to provide up to date information and insight on matters pertaining to the Glen Ellyn Park District. This is information from their Board Meetings, Workshop Meetings and events.