National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Assn. welcomes US Senate's proposed reform to EPA's rule on lead in renovation and painting, citing rule's 'burden' on residential remodeling market; compliance costs estimated at more than US$336M/year

Allison Oesterle

WASHINGTON , March 7, 2013 (press release) – The National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) applauded introduction of legislation last night in the U.S. Senate that would reform the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting (LRRP) Rule. This bill would reduce the burden the rule has placed on lumber & building material (LBM) dealers in the home retrofit market, and also protect pregnant women and small children from lead hazards. The Lead Exposure Reduction Amendments Act of 2013 (S. 484) was introduced by Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) and six cosponsors. NLBMDA has sought re-introduction of this reform bill in the Senate following the introduction of a similar Senate bill in 2012 that expired with the last session of congress.

"Over the last several years of the housing industry downturn, the remodeling and retrofit market has been a key source of business for LBM dealers, either through their installed sales operations, serving remodelers, or both," said NLBMDA Chairman Chuck Bankston, president of Bankston Lumber in Barnesville, Ga. "While we support the goal of protecting pregnant women and small children from lead hazards, EPA's effort to expand the Lead Rule beyond its original intent, its aggressive pursuit of paperwork violations, and its failure to approve a lead test kit meeting its own rule has been an extreme burden on a residential market that is just starting to recover from the recession. We commend Sen. Inhofe for his continuing leadership on this issue and will make the legislation a focus of our upcoming Legislative Conference in Washington."

In July 2010, the EPA removed the "opt-out provision" from the LRRP rule which granted homeowners the right to forego the use of rigorous LRRP work practices if pregnant women or children under six did not live in the home. The LRRP rule requires that renovation work disturbing more than six interior square feet and work replacing doors or window in a pre-1978 home to follow burdensome and costly work practices. These projects must also be supervised by an EPA-certified renovator and be performed by an EPA-certified construction company.

EPA more than doubled the number of homes subject to the LRRP Rule by dropping the opt-out provision and the EPA has estimated that their amendment adds more than $336 million per year in compliance costs to the regulated community, which includes homeowners.

In addition, despite EPA stating a commercially available test kit producing no more than 10 percent false positives would be on the market when the rule took effect in 2010, no test kit on the market meets this standard. The lack of EPA approved test kits meeting the rule's standard for false positives has added millions in compliance costs with consumers paying for unnecessary work because of false positive test results.

Among its key provisions, S. 484 would restore the "opt-out" clause, suspend the rule for owner-occupied housing built between 1960 and 1978 when a small child or pregnant woman does not live in the home (if EPA cannot approve a test kit meeting its own standard for false positives), it would prohibit expansion of the rule to commercial buildings until EPA conducts a study demonstrating the need for such action, and provide a de minimis exemption for first-time paperwork violations.

In addition to Senator Inhofe, the original cosponsors of S. 484 are Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Charles Grassley (R-IA), and David Vitter (R-LA). NLBMDA has made passage of S. 484 a top legislative priority.

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The National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) represents its members in the national public policy arena, with emphasis on efforts to 1) promote the industry and educate legislators and public policy personnel; and 2) assist legislative, regulatory, standard-setting and other government or private bodies in the development of laws, regulations and policies affecting lumber and building material dealers, its customers and suppliers. Founded in 1917, the association has over 6,000 members operating single or multiple lumber yards and component plants serving homebuilders, subcontractors, general contractors, and consumers in the new construction, repair and remodeling of residential and light commercial.

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