The EPA Issues More Fines!

EPA Fines Connecticut Dealer

A contractor specializing in spray-on vinyl siding and replacement windows and doors has agreed to pay $30,702 to settle claims by the New England office of the Environmental Protection Agency that it failed to provide lead hazard information to homeowners or occupants before doing renovations that may have disturbed surfaces coated with lead-based paint, EPA Reports.

The settlement resolves claims that Permanent Siding & Windows, based in Milford, Conn., failed to provide EPA’s lead hazard information pamphlet to at least 17 owners or occupants before the company began renovation activities. The violations in this case took place during renovation work done between January 2006 and March 2009.

Permanent Siding has certified that it is now in compliance with EPA’s Pre-Renovation rule and will submit a report to EPA later this year to demonstrate its continued compliance with this rule.

This is the second such settlement reported by EPA in recent weeks. It also settled a claim with Window World of St. Louis, which agreed to pay nearly $20,000 in fines and perform replacement window work for youth group homes in its area.

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EPA Enforcement Against Contractors Increasing

EPA enforcement of the recently enacted Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule ("RRP Rule") is finally becoming more common after a period of very little enforcement. NAPAC has reviewed a number of EPA enforcement-related actions against its members. The most common approach is for the EPA to send a simple letter advising that it is concerned about the contractor's compliance with the RRP Rule and is requesting documentation and information concerning the contractor's compliance. Of course, if the request for documentation and information is ignored, a formal government subpoena follows.

Aside from the obvious ruinous fines that the EPA can impose on a contractor for non-compliance with the RRP Rule ($37,500 per violation), an EPA request (via letter) or demand (via subpoena) is a tremendous burden on the contractor. In the EPA correspondence that NAPAC has reviewed, the EPA asks for a list of all jobs performed by the contractor, a list of each individual acting as a Certified Renovator on behalf of the contractor, the steps taken by the contractor to ensure that lead-safe work practices are being utilized in pre-1978 housing, etc. Any NAPAC member that has ever had to comply with a government subpoena can not only appreciate how much time it takes to compile the requested documentation and information, but also how costly it is to have legal counsel review all of the documentation and information first to make sure you are not blindly turning over documentation and information that makes it obvious that you violated the law.

How can NAPAC members avoid being targeted? First and foremost, you must comply with the RRP Rule. This is predicated on fully understanding the RRP Rule, whether the EPA rule or your state rule.

NAPAC's lead-based paint memos, which are available on www.NAPAC.net for FREE to NAPAC members, are the best place to learn what you must be doing to comply.

Leaving aside compliance, many contractors who have encountered run-ins with the EPA in the past can trace their problem to either a child testing for elevated blood levels or a disgruntled ex-employee or installer who has reported (ironically) his unlawful actions while he worked for the contractor. As NAPAC has noted before, ex-employees or installers know nearly everything about your business, and a disgruntled one is all too happy to "air your dirty laundry" to anyone who will listen. If it happens to be about your non-compliance with the RRP Rule, it can turn into a nightmare.

EPA Issues Fines for Lead Rule Violations

Replacement contractors pays nearly $20K in administrative action

Window World of St. Louis agreed on March 31 to pay a $19,529 civil penalty in connection with an administrative action by Region 7 of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The action cited Window World of St. Louis for failing to provide information — i.e., the agency's "Renovate Right" brochure — to "at least 20" owners and residents of St. Louis-area properties built before 1978. In addition to the fine, Window World agreed to supply $20,048 of in-kind services to nonprofit Youth in Need.

In January, officials of EPA Region 1, in New England, filed a Consent Agreement and Final Order in which Milford, Conn., contractor Permanent Siding & Windows agreed to pay a penalty of $30,702 for its failure to provide Renovate Right to 17 Connecticut property owners prior to performing renovations there.

In both cases, the companies were cited for failing to distribute the brochure as required rather than for ignoring specific steps and measures for containment and clean-up mandated by the EPA as of April 2009. Both cases involved a paperwork audit. According to a source at the EPA, the agency has yet to take legal action against contractors for specifically violating the Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) containment and clean-up rules.

The appearance of a press release regarding the Window World of St. Louis legal action on the EPA's website fed speculation that the agency may be stepping up audits and possibly even onsite inspections in connection with RRP enforcement. "I'm hearing grumblings," says Check for Lead's Scott Turman. On Monday, April 4, Check for Lead, a Florida-based online supplier of materials for contractors involved with lead-safe renovation, launched a new tool for contractors seeking solid information about EPA audits in their area. The online tool is a Google map flagging locations where EPA audits can be verified as having taken place.Turman says that 11 states are now administering their own audits. He plans to expand the sophistication of the map soon by adding Occupational Safety and Health Administration and state audits.

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College works painting pays $32,508 EPA penalty

College works painting pays $32,508 EPA penalty for failing to inform homeowners or residents of possible lead hazards

Seattle College Works Painting, a company operating in Oregon, has agreed to pay $32,508 penalty for alleged violations of the federal pre-renovation rule. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency alleged that the Irvine, California based company violated the federal pre-renovation rule while renovating nine properties in Portland, McMinnville, and Hillsboro, Oregon.

The federal Pre-Renovation Education Rule requires painters, contractors, carpenters, property-management companies and others involved in remodeling or renovation of pre-1978 housing to provide home owners and occupants with an EPA Renovate Right lead hazard information pamphlet. In 1978 lead was banned from paint used for housing.

This pamphlet educates home owners or occupants on how to minimize exposure to hazardous lead dust that is often generated during sanding, cutting, demolition or other renovation activities. The pamphlet also provides resources for more information about lead and minimizing lead hazards.

The violations in this case took place during renovation work done in 2008.

College Works failed to establish and maintain records necessary to demonstrate compliance with Toxic Substances Control Act regulations, according to the EPA. College Works has corrected the violations and is now in compliance with EPA’s Pre-Renovation Education Rule.

“Families have a right to know about possible lead health hazards around the home,” said Rick Albright, Director of EPA’s Office of Air, Waste and Toxics in Seattle. “By reading the Renovate Right pamphlet families can learn how to avoid hazardous lead dust during renovations.”

Lead-based paint can be on walls, ceilings, woodwork, windows, or even floors. When lead-based paint on these surfaces is chipped, sanded, or scraped, it breaks into tiny, barely visible pieces that children can swallow or inhale. Even small repair and renovation jobs, including repainting projects, can create enough lead dust and chips to harm children.

Lead poisoning is a silent disease that can cause serious health consequences for children because of its detrimental effects on both physical and mental development. Nearly one million children in the country are affected by elevated lead levels.

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