EPA postpones lead paint rule for commercial buildings

According to a release from the NAHB, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) postponed its expansion of the Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule for public and commercial buildings to July 1, 2015.

The EPA entered into a legal settlement with environmental groups in 2009, in which they proposed the expansion of the rule. The expansion included the removal of the provision that allowed homeowners without children who lived in homes built before 1978 to choose to opt out of certain work practices by remodelers. The EPA required remodelers working in houses build before 1978 to conduct third-party lead dust testing, but the proposal was withdrawn after action taken by the NAHB.

Finally, the settlement required the EPA to develop and introduce a commercial buildings rule by September 2012.

This expansion of the current rule was postponed after trade organizations pointed out that the EPA had not performed research on the effects of lead dust exposure to adults during renovations in buildings constructed before 1978. Under federal law, the EPA is required to perform such studies prior to proposing a commercial buildings rule.