KPA Associates, Inc.

According to Matt Voors of law firm Frost Brown Todd, some contractors have already been fined by the EPA for violation of a recently enacted rule. The Environmental Protection Agency established a rule under the authority of the Toxic Substances Control Act which requires disclosure of lead hazards during renovation of certain structures constructed prior to 1978. In a post to Frost Brown Todd's Construction Law News entitled, Failure of Contractor to Provide Disclosure Goes Over Like a Lead Balloon, Voors states:

The rule requires that before a contractor performs any renovation work, it must provide the EPA's Renovate Right pamphlet to anyone who may be affected by the renovation work, such as the homeowner, any tenants, or parents of a child who attends the childcare facility. Among other things, the Renovate Right pamphlet provides information to these individuals on the dangers of lead based hazards, how the renovation work to be performed could expose an occupant to lead, how to protect themselves during performance of the renovation work, as well as confirms that the renovation work is being performed appropriately and safely. 

While the rule was only recently enacted, the EPA has moved to quickly enforce the rule and penalize those that do not comply. In San Francisco, for example, the EPA recently fined a painting contractor, that was hired to scrape, sand and strip paint from an older home, $10,000 for the contractor's failure to provide the required information. 

It is also important to note that as part of this ruling, the EPA will require a certification process for contractors:

Understand that after April 2010, federal law will require you to be certified and to use lead-safe work practices.

On its website the EPA has published quite a bit of information regarding this rule:

• Overview - Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting
• Regulations on Residential Property Renovation at 40 CFR 745.80, Subpart E
• Renovate Right Pamphlet (PDF)
• Small business handbook for compliance with the rule (PDF)
• Pre-renovation disclosure compliance form for contractors (PDF)