FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 26, 2009 CONTACT:
Patrick MacRoy
Alliance for Healthy Homes
202-347-7610 x14
pmacroy@afhh.org Washington, DC – The Alliance for Healthy Homes praised the settlement
between the United States Environmental Protection Agency and public interest
petitioners announced this morning over the lead in renovation rule as
a positive step forward, while calling on the EPA and states to adopt
additional safeguards. “This morning’s announcement obligates EPA to address many
of the most egregious shortcomings of the Bush administration’s
rule,” stated Alliance for Healthy Homes Executive Director, Patrick
MacRoy. “We applaud the efforts of our allies at the Sierra Club,
Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation, New York City Coalition to
End Lead Poisoning, New York Public Interest Research Group, Make the
Road New York, and Center for Environmental Health as well as Linda Kite
to hold EPA accountable.” The settlement agreement requires EPA to propose eliminating an owner-occupied
housing exemption that would have allowed dangerous practices merely because
no pregnant women or children occupied the property on the day of the
renovation. Also, EPA plans to require contractors to reveal to the owner
and occupants what work practices were followed during the renovation
job and the results of all lead tests. These requirements will help ensure
renovation activities do not leave leaded dust behind to poison children. Advocates especially celebrate the requirement that EPA propose additional
rules in 2010 requiring contractors to sample for lead dust after conducting
some of the jobs that are most risky because they stir up large amounts
of dust. This scientifically based sampling and laboratory analysis offers
a vast improvement over the regulation’s current procedure for all
renovation projects, passing a wet cloth over an area after visually assessing
whether there’s any debris. “It’s nice to finally welcome
science back to federal rulemaking,” said MacRoy. The testing proposal may open a new loophole, however: contactors may
be required to perform dust tests, but need not actually pass the test
after some jobs. Instead they could be allowed to create a lead hazard,
document its existence, and then walk away without eliminating the hazard. “Despite the best efforts of the public interest petitioners to
convince them otherwise, EPA remained steadfast in its compromise allowing
contractors to leave poisonous lead dust behind,” noted MacRoy.
“This is bad news for homeowners who may face large clean-up bills
or lengthy legal disputes after a contractor refuses to clean up his mess
and address the hazards identified. Tenants, who typically aren’t
the ones hiring renovators, will find themselves being told of hazardous
levels of lead dust in their apartments and may then face a battle with
their landlord to get it cleaned up.” To address this issue, the Alliance for Healthy Homes will join other
health, housing, and tenant advocates in demanding the EPA adopt more
stringent clearance requirements when the rule is proposed next year.
Additionally, the Alliance encourages and stands ready to help states
to create additional requirements to ensure contractors continue cleaning
after a job until lead levels in dust are below safe levels. “Fortunately states will be able to require what EPA did not: actual
compliance with dust standards,” added MacRoy. “In some states
the presence of a lead hazard is already illegal. This means that when
a contractor performs the dust test required by the EPA, the property
owner will have to ensure any hazards identified are eliminated. We will
work with state and local advocates to ensure additional states prohibit
contractors and property owners from walking away from lead hazards.” ### The Alliance for Healthy Homes is the national, nonprofit public
interest organization advocating for practical, affordable policy solutions
and working to build community capacity to prevent housing-related hazards
from harming the health of children, their families, and other residents.
The Alliance stresses the importance of fixing housing-related health
hazards before they cause harm; housing that is decent, environmentally
safe, and affordable for all; and holistic strategies that efficiently
address multiple hazards and their underlying causes. The Alliance works
closely with policy makers, community-based organizations, housing providers,
government agencies, and other stakeholders. The Alliance provides strategic
and technical support to community-based organizations and state and local
agencies across the nation. | 
