U.S. EPA Escalates Enforcement Against Contractors for Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule

April 2024

The Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule (“RRP Rule”) is an Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) program authorized under the Toxic Substances Control Act (“TSCA”). The program requires contractors who perform renovation, repair, and painting services in houses, apartments, and child-occupied facilities built before 1978 to comply with certain record-keeping and reporting requirements. These requirements include pre-renovation education, training, certification, workplace practices, and delivering the EPA Lead Pamphlet as a pre-renovation notice to the owner and/or tenants. The primary objective of the RRP Rule is to ensure that lead-based paint is dealt with safely, thereby preventing any adverse impact on human health and the environment.

The EPA’s enforcement of the RRP Rule has intensified due to a greater understanding of lead exposure risks to health and increased interagency cooperation. In 2023, the EPA issued an Environmental Justice Toolkit for Lead Paint Enforcement Programs, which focuses on underserved communities and provides enforcement strategies for lead paint activities. This toolkit targets inspections and seeks remedies from contractors and renovators, with a particular emphasis on low-income households where over two-thirds of homes with both lead paint and children under the age of six are located.

In addition, in February 2024, the EPA, with its federal partners – the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Health and Human Services (HHS) – agreed to two memoranda of understanding (MOU). The first MOU between EPA and HUD reaffirms a 1997 agreement on coordinating their enforcement efforts addressing lead-based paint hazards in housing. The second MOU creates a pilot program between EPA’s Region 3 (Mid-Atlantic states), HUD, and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), which is part of HHS. The program facilitates information sharing about communities with high blood lead levels or higher lead exposure risks in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia, which makes up Region 3’s geographical area.

The consequences of non-compliance are not to be taken lightly. Civil penalties can reach up to $37,500 per violation per day. In other words, each day a violation continues is considered a separate violation and penalties can accumulate rapidly. Criminal penalties are also a possibility for knowing or willful violations.

EPA may initiate RRP Rule enforcement by sending contractors, for example, a “Notice of Inspection” or “Information Request Letter.” If violations are found, EPA and the contractor may settle the action without a hearing or trial, for example, through an expedited settlement process, or through a consent agreement and final order, both of which require judicial officer approval. The penalty calculation process involves application of a complex methodology and consideration of mitigating factors.

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