Enforcement Alert: EPA Enforces Lead Renovation, Repair, and Paint Regulations Against Violators
Comply with EPA Lead-Based Paint Regulations
Exposure to lead from deteriorated or disturbed lead paint is the single largest cause of childhood lead poisoning. The Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) Rule protects residents of pre-1978 homes from the hazardous health effects of lead paint that is disturbed during renovation, repair, or painting activities.
EPA’s recent civil and criminal enforcement actions against franchises and others for failure to comply with this rule demonstrate the agency’s continued commitment to take action to protect human health. This Enforcement Alert highlights the importance of complying with the RRP Rule and the enforcement actions below illustrate the wide range of enforcement tools the EPA can use to deter and penalize violators.
Potential Lead Exposure Through Renovation, Repair, Painting Activities
Lead can be found in all parts of our environment: the air, the soil, the water, and in pre-1978 built homes, childcare facilities, and other buildings. Infants and children are especially vulnerable to lead-based paint exposure.
Exposure to lead-based paint can come from deteriorated paint chips and contaminated dust that may occur when renovating, repairing, or painting. Companies, including franchises, general and sub-contractors, and people who provide residential improvements—renovation, repairing, painting—that violate the EPA’s lead-based paint laws put children and their families at risk to lead exposure.
Under the authority of Toxic Substances Control Act, EPA issued the RRP Rule covering paid activities that disturb lead-based paint in pre-1978 residential homes and childcare facilities.
EPA Acts to Ensure Environmental Justice and Enforce Regulations
The legacy of toxic lead exposure disproportionately affects communities with potential environmental justice concerns, especially those with a higher concentration of low-income households. EPA conducts compliance monitoring inspections and takes enforcement actions to ensure future compliance and deter violations of the lead-based paint laws and regulations. When the EPA discovers RRP violations by franchises and others, the agency can take civil or criminal enforcement action depending on the severity or willfulness of the violation.
What Do the Renovation, Repair and Painting Regulations Require?
Remodeling and renovation companies, including franchises and contractors, must follow the RRP Rule or else face costly penalties and enforcement actions.
Anyone offering to perform work for payment that disturbs paint in housing and child-occupied facilities built before 1978 must be trained and certified in lead-safe work practices. This can include residential rental property owners/managers; general and independent contractors; franchises; and special trade contractors, including painters, plumbers, carpenters, and electricians.
Firms cannot advertise or perform renovation activities covered by the RRP Rule in homes or child-occupied facilities built before 1978 without training, certification, and compliance with lead-safe work practice standards. Violating the EPA’s lead-based paint laws can result in significant penalties.
Widespread Violations Found Among Franchises Around the Country
EPA’s inspection monitoring revealed widespread violations among Renewal by Andersen and First Service Corporation’s CertaPro and Paul Davis Restoration franchises. These violations put families and children at risk of lead exposure. The RRP violations included failure to provide the Renovate Right pamphlet, retain RRP Rule records, and hire certified contractors with franchises in Connecticut, Montana, Minnesota, Missouri and Ohio. Together the agency assessed a total of over $100,000 from these violations alone and took steps to ensure the franchises took steps to avoid similar violations in the future. To read about these enforcement actions see the list of cases in the footnote.i To ensure you are in compliance with the RRP requirements see additional resources and information below.
EPA Takes Civil and Criminal Enforcement Actions Against General Contractors for RRP Violations
General contractors must ensure sub-contractors they hire are certified and follow the RRP Rule. Due to their larger footprint in the industry, general contractors’ work may impact many communities, including communities with potential environmental justice concerns.
Logan Square Aluminium Supply, Inc. Required to Perform $2 million in Lead Abatement Work: After receiving customer complaints, EPA found that Logan Square put families at risk at over 40 homes and facilities, including multi-family units and a child-occupied facility. At these renovations, Logan Square frequently subcontracted work to uncertified firms and did not use lead-safe work practices, perform required post-renovation cleaning, provide the EPA-required lead-based paint pamphlets to occupants, or establish records of compliance. Under the settlement, Logan Square was required to perform $2 million in lead paint abatement in lower-income properties located in Chicago and Chicago suburbs in communities with a higher incidence of childhood lead poisoning and to pay a $400,000 penalty. Logan Square also implemented a comprehensive program to ensure that its contractors are certified and trained to use lead-safe work practices to avoid creating lead dust during home renovation activities. Logan Square also operates under the name Climate Guard Windows and Doors and Studio 41. EPA announces settlement with Logan Square Aluminum press release.
Home Depot Implements Extensive Compliance Improvements after 2021 EPA Enforcement Action: In 2021, Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. paid a $20.75 million penalty and settled with the EPA and three States for alleged violations of the RRP Rule. The company implemented a corporate-wide program to ensure that the contractor firms it hires to perform work for its customers comply with the RRP Rule during renovations of any homes or child-occupied facilities built before 1978. To comply with the federal consent decree, the company tracked their contractors’ RRP certifications and their completion of key steps to ensure safety on each pre-1978 renovation, such as educating customers before the renovation and documenting use of lead-safe work practices during the renovation. The company added over 200 additional inspectors and conducted over 25,000 inspections at renovation sites, far more than required by the consent decree, to verify compliance and detect and correct problems. Home Depot educated customers and contractors in stores and on its website and YouTube as required by the consent decree. In addition, the company improved lead paint safety and compliance by providing Lead Awareness training to associates whose peripheral responsibilities in sales and other departments could interact with the renovation process. The company’s actions resulted in Home Depot and its contractors achieving an RRP Rule compliance rate exceeding 99.8%, based on information Home Depot submitted to the EPA. EPA announces a nation-wide settlement with Home Depot press release.
Indiana Man Sentenced for Knowingly Violating the RRP Rule: Jeffrey Delucio’s renovation work exposed both workers and community members to harmful lead dust and paint chips, including a child with elevated blood-lead levels who resided in one of the apartments in a community overburdened by pollution and with environmental justice concerns. In December 2022, Delucio admitted to knowingly violating the RRP Rule and obstructing justice by fabricating records. Delucio was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison, followed by two years’ probation and a $1,000 fine. Delucio’s son, Dillan Delucio, was also charged and sentenced to community service hours and one year of probation for assisting his father’s actions. DOJ announces sentencing for Richmond contractor for TSCA violations press release.
Keeping Your Certification Up to Date Avoids Some Enforcement Actions
Firms and individual renovators that perform renovations on pre-1978 homes and child-occupied facilities must maintain the EPA certifications. The Lead-Safe logo must only be used by certified firms in accordance with EPA guidelines.
Don't let your certification lapse. More than half of the EPA's lead-based paint enforcement actions address certification violations. Certification is key to ensuring individuals are trained on the use of lead-safe work practices. Companies and individuals must apply to the EPA for certification to perform renovations or dust sampling. To apply, submit a completed application and fee to the EPA online. Information on the application process is available on the EPA’s Renovation, Repair and Painting Program: Firm Certification webpage.
For initial certification, renovators must take an eight-hour training that includes two hours of hands-on learning. The initial certification remains valid for five years. To remain certified, a renovator must complete a refresher training course before their current certification expires. To recertify, renovators must take a four-hour refresher training that is either hands-on or online. Renovators who take the online refresher training will be certified for three years; renovators who take the hands-on training in the refresher course will be certified for five years. Renovators must take the hands-on refresher training every other time they take the refresher course. If certification expires, then the eight-hour course must be taken again to regain certification. Find renovator training locations online.
Footnotes ↵
WestFair Painting Corp., a Fairfield, Connecticut CertaPro (2024).
Ole Boli, LLC d/b/a CertaPro Painters of Southern Montana (2024).
McIrish Industries, a Minnesota CertaPro (2024).
Renewal by Andersen, LLC (2023).
Freesecorp, Inc., (2022).
Cleveland Professional Painters, LLC d/b/a CertaPro Painters of Westlake (2021).