Enforcement of Lead Laws and Regulations in Region 8

EPA’s Region 8 office serves Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and 28 Tribal Nations

FY 2024 Lead Enforcement and Regional Geographic Initiatives Highlights

Regional Geographic Initiatives

Pueblo, Colorado: In FY 2024, Region 8 conducted roughly 39 inspections, finalized approximately six enforcement actions, including two Expedited Settlement Agreements and four Notice of Noncompliance.

West Salt Lake City, Utah: Following conducting approximately 21 inspections in FY 2023, Region 8 issued approximately four Notices of Noncompliance to property management companies in Utah for violations of the Lead Disclosure Rule during FY 2024.

Military Housing: In January 2024, Region 8 issued approximately seven information request letter to contractors who performed work in target housing on military installations. As a result, Region 8 issued approximately two Expedited Settlement Agreements, two Advisory Letters, and one Notice of Noncompliance. One contractor is still under investigation. These efforts were coordinated in conjunction with EPA’s nation-wide investigations of Balfour Beatty Military Housing Management and Hunt Military Communities Management.

Company with a multi-regional presence: In FY 2024, Region 8 inspected approximately five CertaPro franchises in Colorado and finalized a penalty order of $20,500 with CertaPro of Southern Montana following a FY23 inspection.

TSCA RRP Rule- VareCo, LLC: In July 2024, Region 8 issued a penalty order of $125,000 resolving TSCA Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule violations with The VareCo PM, LLC in Denver, Colorado. The VareCo performed renovations at six multi-unit rental housing properties in and around Denver, Colorado, all built prior to 1978 and subject to the RRP Rule. The VareCo failed to obtain initial firm certification from the EPA prior to performing renovations on target housing, failed to assign a certified renovator to each renovation, failed to retain all documentation necessary to demonstrate compliance with lead-safe work practices for renovations, and failed to obtain written acknowledgement of receipt of the Renovate Right pamphlet prior to renovations. This was the largest Region 8 TSCA penalty action issued to date.

Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act

Region 8’s drinking water enforcement team has prioritized enforcement action issuance for public water systems with open lead violations where the Region has responsibility for direct implementation.

In FY 2024, there were eight enforcement actions issued to public water systems in Wyoming that violated the lead and copper rule by failing to monitor for lead during the required monitoring periods or failing to provide lead results to customers, including one water system that serves a community identified as having environmental justice (EJ) concerns. Of the eight public water systems, six of them have since returned their lead and copper rule violations to compliance, including the system with EJ concerns.

Moving forward into FY25, the drinking water enforcement team will continue to prioritize issuing enforcement actions to water systems with lead violations for both DI systems and systems in primacy states. EPA has proposed to retain the 2021 Lead and Copper Rule Revision’s October 16, 2024, compliance date for the initial service line inventory, notification of service line material, Tier 1 public notification of a lead action level exceedance, and associated reporting requirements. Region 8 will be enforcing these requirements in all Region 8 states, with the exception of Colorado, until the remaining states obtain primacy for this rule.

Toxic Substances Control Act

For FY 2024, Region 8 continued to conduct compliance activities related to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) lead-based paint program. Region 8 completed about 70 on-site inspections, nine off-site compliance monitoring activities, seven administrative penalty actions, and approximately 22 informal enforcement actions (Notices of Noncompliance or Advisory Letters). An estimated $149,500 penalties were collected, including the largest Region 8 TSCA penalty action to date involving a private investment firm, VareCo.