BPOA Article Library

The following is a letter from the

Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program

regarding the new federal lead rulings that you need to know.

YThank you for your inquiry about Lead Renovator training and the EPA’s Lead Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) Rule.

You may find the following information about the Lead RRP Rule, training requirements, and training providers to be helpful.

Who Needs To Be Trained?

As of April 22, 2010, contractors and rental property owners doing work that disturbs paint or painted surfaces in pre-1978 housing, child care facilities, and schools must be registered with the EPA as a Lead Certified Firm and have a Lead Certified Renovator assigned to each job. To become a Lead Certified Renovator, you must complete an EPA accredited Lead Renovator training.

This includes anyone who disturbs more than the six square feet of paint or painted surface in an interior room, or 20 square feet on the outside, or any window replacement or demolition. Those who are covered include:

• Renovation contractors and painters
• Maintenance workers
• Property managers with their own maintenance crews
• Rental property owners doing their own work
• Other specialty trades (e.g. plumbers, electricians, HVAC, etc.)

For more information about the rule, the following websites may have useful information:

Compliance Guide: http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/sbcomplianceguide.pdf

US EPA:  www.epa.gov/getleadsafe

  ACLPPP: http://www.aclppp.org/regs.htm

  EPA Publications incl. Renovate Right booklet  http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/brochure.htm

Successful completion of an Initial RRP course is required to be a Certified Renovator. This class can typically be completed in one day.

Remember, there is a requirement for both a Lead Certified Firm and an individual Lead Certified Renovator. Even if you are a sole proprietor or a small rental property owner, if you do the work covered by the rule, you have to be a Lead Certified Firm as well. The cost is $300 and is good for five years.  To register with the EPA as a Lead Certified Firm go to: http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/toolkits.htm

What If I've Had Previous Training?

If you have taken an approved EPA course, you may take a four-hour Lead RRP Refresher class. For a list of approved classes, please refer to the following link:

http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/trainerinstructions.htm#refresher

You will need to be able to provide a training completion form or other proof of training.

Where Can I Get Training?

The Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program is currently offering an 8 hour course in lead-safe work practices for owners of residential properties built before 1978 in Alameda, Berkeley, Emeryville and Oakland. In order to become a Lead Certified Renovator, people taking this course must also take a four-hour Lead RRP Refresher class for a total of 12 hours of training. The ACLPPP believes that people conducting work on pre-1978 homes can benefit by focusing a day of training on lead safe work practices. The site supervisor/contractor should also learn the administrative and regulatory requirements of the RRP rule by completing the full EPA training and becoming certified. If a site supervisor or worker needs to get certified in a shorter training they can go to another training provider, who offers a more condensed course in eight hours that includes safe work practices, as well as administrative, regulatory information.

The following links will assist you in finding an EPA-accredited Lead RRP training provider in your area:

EPA Region IX: http://www.epa.gov/region09/toxic/lead/providers-rrp.html

USEPA: http://cfpub.epa.gov/flpp/searchrrp_training.htm

National Center for Healthy Housing: http://www.nchh.org/

There are a number of local EPA-accredited training providers that you can contact about EPA Lead RRP training:

CAL Inc. 707-446-7996 Ext 177  cwroten@cal-inc.com www.cal-inc.com

Connor/Anderson Windows: http://andersen.connorinstitute.com/ClassSearch.aspx

Environmental Safety 800-968-0590 www.estp.org

Global Environmental Network Inc.  800-230-6944  brown@safetygeni.com  www.SafetyGeni.com

HomeSafe: 800-648-LEAD www.homesafetraining.com

RGA: 510-899-7083  wendy.newell@rgaenv.com  www.rgatraining.com

SCA: 510-645-6200  gcass@sca-enviro.com  www.sca-enviro.com

Wangerin Environmental  925-825-1066  tomwangerin@gmail.com  www.wangerinenvironmental.com

Alameda County Contractors, Property Owners And Residents

For more information about lead poisoning prevention, healthy homes, and services available in Alameda County go to www.aclppp.org

If you own a pre-1978 residential property in the city of Alameda, Berkeley, Emeryville or Oakland you may be eligible for additional services. For more information go to: http://www.aclppp.org/propsvc.htm

Thank you for your inquiry.

Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program

 2000 Embarcadero, Suite 300 Oakland, CA 94606

510-567-8252