Lead Based Paint

CNY Central by Conor Wight Syracuse, NY

For the past year, the City of Syracuse Code Enforcement team has had the ability to cite lead paint issues. The head of the department said they’ve issued thousands of tickets as efforts continue to help prevent kids from becoming lead-poisoned. the city identified around 3,000 violations in about 1,600 properties since last autumn. Of those violations, he said about 61% — approximately 1,830 violations — are now closed. The Syracuse Common Council first passed the ordinance making lead paint a code violation in 2020; after delays attributed to red tape and the COVID-19 pandemic, enforcement began in August of 2022. For full text, click here.

EHS Daily Advisor by Lisa Whitley Coleman

The EPA recently released a new resource for federal, state, tribal, and local government enforcement practitioners to use during all stages of environmental enforcement and compliance monitoring activities designed to eliminate harmful exposures to lead paint in housing. The Environmental Justice Toolkit for Lead Paint Enforcement Programs is a compilation of best practices and supports commitments made in the EPA’s Lead Strategy, which seeks to reduce lead exposures locally, with a focus on underserved communities, and promote environmental justice through a whole of government approach. For the full text, click here.

San Francisco, CA -EPA announced settlements with three companies over claims of violations of federal law that protect the public from lead-based paint. The settlements address renovation, repair, and painting work performed by the companies – MCEC Inc., Kreative Paintworks, and ZPainters – at residential and commercial properties in the greater Los Angeles area. EPA claims the firms violated numerous provisions of EPA’s Lead-Based Paint (LBP) Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule. Two of the three cases against the companies were initiated by tips and/or complaints submitted by the public to the EPA. As part of the settlements, MCEC Inc. agreed to pay a $16,692 civil penalty, Kreative Paintworks agreed to a $10,000 civil penalty, and ZPainters agreed to pay a civil penalty of $3,053. For the full text, click here.

National –  As part of EPA’s efforts to reduce childhood lead exposure, and in accordance with a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 2021 opinion, EPA is proposing to lower the dust-lead hazard standards (DLHS) from 10 micrograms per square foot (mg/ft2) and 100 mg/ft2for floors and window sills to any reportable level as analyzed by a laboratory recognized by EPA’s National Lead Laboratory Accreditation Program. This is a non-numeric value that the Agency refers to as greater than zero mg/ ft2and may vary based on laboratory or test. EIA ENCOURAGES ALL MEMBERS TO REVIEW THESE PROPOSED CHANGES AND OFFER COMMENTS TO THE DOCKET. For the full proposed rule change, visit the Federal Register page at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-08-01/pdf/2023-15073.pdf 

National – EPA and HUD will hold a virtual public workshop to receive stakeholder input on the detection, measurement, and characterization of lead-based paint to support efforts to reduce lead exposure. EPA and HUD have subsequently identified that many stakeholders have a conflict with the original planned dates for the virtual workshop that was planned to be held on October 17 and 18, 2023. As such, EPA and HUD have determined to change the dates for the virtual workshop to November 1 and 2, 2023. In addition, the deadline for abstract submissions is changed to August 11, and the deadline for registration and special accommodation requests is now October 13. For the full announcement, click here. Abstract submission guidelines at https://files.mail-list.com/m/leadnet/48198161.html. Visit EPA’s 2023 Lead-Based Paint Technical Workshop page at https://www.epa.gov/lead/2023-lead-based-paint-technical-workshop

EPA

Washington, DC – EPA announced a proposal to strengthen requirements for the removal of lead-based paint hazards in pre-1978 buildings and child care facilities, known as abatement activities. The proposal would reduce the DLHS from 10 micrograms per square foot (µg/ft2) for floors and 100 µg/ft2 for window sills to any reportable level greater than zero in recognition of the fact that there is no level of lead in dust that has been found to be safe for children. Today’s proposal would lower the DLCL from 10 µg/ft2 to 3 µg/ft2 for floors, from 100 µg/ft2 to 20 µg/ft2 for window sills, and from 400 µg/ft2 to 25 µg/ft2 for window troughs, which are the lowest post-abatement dust-lead levels that the Agency believes can be reliably and effectively achieved. For the full EPA Press Release, click here.

Syracuse.com by Douglas Dowty

Syracuse, NY – The state Attorney General is suing a Syracuse landlord after 11 children living in his apartments have tested positive for lead poisoning since 2016. Todd L. Hobbs, of Van Buren, owns 18 properties scattered across some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods under TLH Holdings LLC. His business has ignored federal, state and local laws designed to protect tenants from the harms of chipped or airborne lead paint, according to the AG’s office. Lead dust and paint chips were often left in living areas, the AG alleges. For full text, click here.

HUD

National – On October 17 and 18, 2023, the EPA and HUD will hold a virtual public workshop to receive stakeholder input on the detection, measurement, and characterization of lead-based paint to support efforts to reduce lead exposure. They will use information received during the workshop to inform their joint effort to revisit the federal definition of lead-based paint and  propose and finalize a revised definition, if necessary. The workshop will  cover several topics related to low levels of lead in existing paint, including the potential health effects, the relationship between lead-based paint and dust-lead, possible exposure pathways, and more. EPA and HUD are seeking presenters with specific expertise for this workshop.

Abstract submission guidelines at https://files.mail-list.com/m/leadnet/48198161.html. Visit EPA’s 2023 Lead-Based Paint Technical Workshop page at https://www.epa.gov/lead/2023-lead-based-paint-technical-workshop

New York Times by Carol Davenport

Washington, DC – The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed to strengthen requirements for the removal of lead-based paint dust in homes and child care facilities built before 1978, an effort to eliminate exposure to lead that could require millions of property owners to pay for abatement. Under the proposed rules, any amount of lead dust in floors and window sills would qualify as “hazardous” and require abatement. Results that confirm the presence of any level of lead dust would require property owners to pay for clean up, E.P.A. officials said. “It dramatically increases the number of facilities that could be required to remediate lead paint hazards,” EPA’s assistant administrator said. For the full text of the article, click here.

Washington Post by Timothy Puko

Under the proposed rules, any amount of lead dust in floors and window sills would qualify as “hazardous” and require abatement.

Washington, DC – In one of its strongest measures yet against a contaminant that poisons children, the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed tougher standards on lead in paint in older homes and schools, potentially triggering its removal in millions of buildings. The new rules would almost completely prohibit lead dust in older buildings. The only contamination allowed would be the lowest levels that current removal efforts can’t eliminate, the agency said. Under the proposal, prompted by a lawsuit, inspections that find any level of lead in a home or child-care facility would require the location to be classified as a lead hazard. That would trigger requirements for disclosures to families or home buyers, and in some cases requirements for the paint or source of the lead to be removed. For the full text of the article, click here.