In a big victory for the apartment industry, on July 15 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rejected a rule it proposed that would have mandated additional responsibilities for property owners and managers under the Lead Renovation Repair and Painting (RRP) rule.
The proposal would have required on-site maintenance staff and third-party contractors who engage in activities that disturb surfaces that may contain lead to replace simple post-renovation field tests with more expensive requirements to submit dust samples to an EPA-accredited lab for lead testing.
In comments on the original proposal, NAA/NMHC argued that the existing lead-safe work practices and detailed clean-up requirements, which went into effect in 2010, are sufficient.
The EPA’s own studies concurred, and the agency has thus allowed the existing field test protocol to remain in place. Information, including the final amendment and a link to an NAA/NMHC RRP guidance document, is available at
http://tinyurl.com/4td5kr.