I just recently received my Lead Renovator certificate. The EPA has initiated its ruling as of April 22nd, 2010 as to proceedure and laws concerning renovation/construction/demolition/painting etc. on homes and buildings built prior to 1978. Contractors who do not pay attention to this ruling can be fined 37,500 per day
I understand the reasoning and the rulings and wonder how others feel about this requirement.
It will significantly increase the cost, and time concerning remodeling.
Some of the necessary implementation will also add considerably to land fill.
I pity the people who own homes constructed before 1978 & have to hire their work done. Working on old homes just became a whole lot more troublesome.
I think the cost of implementation (from what you posted previously) for the contractor is excessive.
I'd like to see cost benefit analysis for the regs......how much are we as a society spending? what "good" is it doing?
How much lead did home renovation release every year into the environment? air? water? soil?
How does this compare to the amounts of lead from leaded gas (before it was phased out)?
1960 3.7 >>>>>> yields ~150,000 tons of lead per year 1970 5.6 >>>>>> yields ~200,000 tons of lead per year
In 1979, cars released ~100,000 tons of lead into the air in the United States. In 1989, when the use of lead was limited but not banned, cars released only ~2,500 tons to the air.
1995 ~2,000 tons of lead per year 50's 900,000 tons of lead 60's 1,500,000 tons of 70's 2,000,000 tons
So from 1950 to the phase out of leaded gas, we released about 4.5 million tons of lead
Is home renovation a real issue with respect to lead release or are we spending $'s to pick up pennies? I don't know but I'm feeling that we might be.
Anyone have any idea how much lead per square ft is released based on...... sanding? scraping? demolition?
You make a good point with the statistics. The problem is, we still have this legislation to contend with regardless of our past history of lead release. I am mostly concerned with how the "new implementation" is interpreted. With the class on lead hazard and the steps one must take to have a "clean" job I see many who already are failing in the specifics...... Like the BP spill it has already hurt the economy in the gulf southern states as for fishing, and with the implementation of the "new drilling" regs. it will cripple the economies there too. So, the cure is worse in some ways than the illness. With the new regs for the construction industry that is already hobbled by the financial crisis, an added regulatory agencies rulings almost puts another nail in the coffin. Many who cannot afford to build new, want to "remodel" the older homes and these are the ones suspect for the lead renovation legislation.
I would like to see a more lenient approach to the problem that can be handled by everyone in an efficient way. I do not like the added burden on the waste disposal of plastics used in this legislation.....plastics, tapes, filters, disposable jump suits,new vacuums, tools, and the paper work is a landslide of documentation of the steps performed in the renovation......This also has to be saved for 3 years.
I am at a loss..... We are legislating ourselves back into the stone age where we may as well roll about three large stones together and crawl inside for our habitat.
I pity the people who own homes constructed before 1978 & have to hire their work done. Working on old homes just became a whole lot more troublesome.
I think the cost of implementation (from what you posted previously) for the contractor is excessive.
I'd like to see cost benefit analysis for the regs......how much are we as a society spending? what "good" is it doing?
How much lead did home renovation release every year into the environment? air? water? soil?
How does this compare to the amounts of lead from leaded gas (before it was phased out)?
1960 3.7 >>>>>> yields ~150,000 tons of lead per year 1970 5.6 >>>>>> yields ~200,000 tons of lead per year
In 1979, cars released ~100,000 tons of lead into the air in the United States. In 1989, when the use of lead was limited but not banned, cars released only ~2,500 tons to the air.
1995 ~2,000 tons of lead per year 50's 900,000 tons of lead 60's 1,500,000 tons of 70's 2,000,000 tons
So from 1950 to the phase out of leaded gas, we released about 4.5 million tons of lead
Is home renovation a real issue with respect to lead release or are we spending $'s to pick up pennies? I don't know but I'm feeling that we might be.
Anyone have any idea how much lead per square ft is released based on...... sanding? scraping? demolition?
Yeah.... I didn't address the reality of the existence of the new rules which is what your post was
After I "retired" to work on my own house, I roped into helping a buddy do small jobs in our 1920's to 1960's neighborhood. But I found an engineering gig on Craiglist so he's on his own now.
He's just decided to not do any work that requires "disturbing" painted areas in excessive of the limits in the regs:
2 sq ft per room, inside and 20 sq ft, outside IIRC OR tell the homeowner to do the demo himself
I believe these regs are another case of desk jockey bureaucrats wrting rules without a clear understanding of what they are regulating and what they are asking the people doing the work to do. That ultimately the rules will have little practical value.
I drive through the neighborhood and I see "business as usual".......
a "31 flavors" mix of people doing the work (licensed contractors & licensed workers; big, new fancy trucks & beater-mobiles) I sure most have no idea of the new regs (except for the most "clued- in")
I haven't seen any new shop vacs on the job or any revised techniques. If the EPA really wanted to do a good job at getting the information down to operational level (instead of writing rules & collecting fees) they could have created a series of videos encompassing the changes that need to be done and put them on U-Tube or their own website.
My guess is that compliance levels will start out low and then slowly fall...until someone gets a huge fine & the story is on TV. To do the work per regs will add extra cost.....to be bid into the job. The potential customers' behavior will dictate how well the regs really get implemented. I see people balking at paying extra ("old house surcharge") so workers only workers not implementing the regs will get the jobs or the workers will "eat" the extra cost.
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