The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took lead-based-paint enforcement actions against five companies in the Denver, Colo., area to address noncompliance with the Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule. The firms—Metro Construction, Colorado Western Construction, Pappas Painting & Repair, Kelly Custom Painting, and Coggshall Construction—reached agreements with the EPA to settle violations of the RRP rule. The settlements resulted in more than $17,000 in penalties for the alleged violations, according to an agency news release.
Violations included a failure to obtain EPA lead-safe firm certification, a failure to maintain records documenting compliance, and a failure to employ lead-safe work practices when conducting renovations on pre-1978 homes. In cases where violations resulted in worksite contamination, EPA staff worked with contractors to facilitate cleanup measures to protect the public from lead exposure.
RRP requires that when remodelers are working in houses built before 1978 on projects that could disturb lead paint, they must determine whether any lead paint is present and—if they do find presence of the paint or didn't do a test—must then use certain practices to contain the spread of the lead-paint dust while they perform the remodel. The company doing the work and the renovators following lead-safe work practices both must be certified by EPA-approved training programs.
In addition to the five cases settled, the EPA also issued 27 notices of noncompliance to contractors in the past year and provided educational materials to other firms to promote compliance with the RRP rule in the Denver area.
