Planning renovations on your pre-1978 residence or the one your tenants occupy? You now face so much new red tape, thanks to the EPA's new layer of regs, that, Harold Shultz warns, "Bring your paint brush and your lawyer - you will need both." Shultz is Senior Fellow at the Citizens Housing and Planning Council [CHPC] in New York and concerned about this additional burden.
Those new regs, being phased in between June 23, 2008 and April 22, 2010, make the maze of information and testimony presented at the Rhode Island lead paint public nuisance trial II seem like a text message. There are not only a lot of them. They're confusing. And they actually add three categories of residential units which weren't previously been subject to lead-paint regulation, at least not in NY. Those three are:
- Pre-1978 units where there is no child under 6
- One and two family houses, and
- Owner occupied coops and condos.
You can read CHPC's deconstruction of this curve ball in lead-paint abatement here. It rightly decries that the regulations are so ponderous and ambiguous that they will have to be interpreted on a case-by-case basis. Think legal expenses. Think delay in renovations. But, most of all, think the children who won't be protected. This could represent a major setback in the public health success story of lead abatement.
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Harold M. Schultz, Senior Fellow, Citizens Housing and Planning Council, on EPA's new layer of lead-based paint rules, on the record:
"With the new EPA rules on repair and renovation of properties with lead paint, states and cities with their own lead paint laws now face a huge complicating factor in obtaining compliance. TSCA 404(e) allows states and cities to have their own laws if they are more 'stringent' an the federal laws.
"But in the already highly complicated world of lead paint compliance, how is the average owner to figure out in jurisdictions that have their own legal overlays? For instance, in NYC, if you start scraping and painting a post-1960 but pre-1978 apartment with a child under six, you are permitted to assume that the paint is not lead paint (NYC prohibited the use of lead paint in 1960). However, under the new EPA rules, you will be required to test. EPA rules will govern the testing since they are 'more stringent' than NYC in this instance. However, once you test in NYC you will then 'know' that there is lead paint in the apartment. Once you 'know' you will be required to follow the 'more stringent' NYC rules on work practices and clean up. Similar confusion will exist for coops and condos that are exempt from local law.
"So, if you want to paint an apartment in NYC, bring your paintbrush and your lawyer. You'll need both.
"Of course the real net effect of having two complex laws that interact in a confusing way is less compliance with both. To really protect children we need a simple, clear regimen that all can understand and comply with."
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Readers can reach the Citizens Housing & Planning Council [CHPC] at 42 Broadway, NY, NY 10004, 212-286-9211, info@chpccny.org. You can reach Harold Shultz at 212-286-9211, ext. 110, hshultz@chpcny.org
There are lot of them complicated in addition of three types of personal models which weren't formerly been topic to lead paint control.
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Posted by: supra for boy | October 28, 2011 at 10:38 AM
Repainting your homes is a good idea.It's like refreshing yourselves form the past and regain back the energy that you lost.
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Posted by: makati for rent | August 03, 2011 at 09:40 PM
Ahh..is it so ? I moved in New york last month . And I was thinking of re-painting of my new home. And I Love to buy some good furniture for my home. I will go to lawyer and discuss about it. Thank you for info.
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Posted by: David Alen | April 25, 2010 at 06:30 AM
Ahhh, Now i know painting an apartment neeeds a lawyer too.
-Sam
Posted by: fort worth apartments | November 11, 2009 at 09:10 AM
Hi,
Great article.Its very important to check the lead in the paint that we are used for our home.This will bring severe damage to us.
Posted by: exploration xrf | December 18, 2008 at 01:43 AM
Lead Tech
There's no objection to following the EPA regs in the 1960-78 building where there's lead. The objection is that it will take an expert to know that they will be superseded by the local laws. The average building owner (there are 3 million housing units in NYC, most of them rental) is not an expert in this field. Does everyone have to hire a consultant before every painting job? That's the result in NYC. Its not realistic, it won't happen and the result will be that the average owner does nothing. If there were one clear set of standards that everyone learns, then there is a much better likelihood that there will be compliance, which, after all, is the objective.
Posted by: Harold Shultz | August 01, 2008 at 09:52 AM
A point of order here. I'm all for clear, consumer-friendly rules and regulations. However, in the above example, where a property owner really "knows" that they have lead paint on a 1960-1978 building, what's wrong with taking the special precautions that the regulations require???
If this blog is truly about cost-effective lead poisoning prevention, then I am confused why you would not support requirements for taking appropriate safety measures when doing maintenance on a property known to contain toxic pollutant...hmmmm....
Posted by: Lead Tech | July 31, 2008 at 04:04 PM
Given the confusion that will occur from having a multiplicity of different rules, it's best if states and localities adopt the federal standards. That way trained workers can work in many communities to a single standard.
Posted by: Harold Shultz | July 31, 2008 at 02:16 PM