EPA Lead Paint Certification

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforces EPA Lead Paint Certification to all contractors performing Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP). This federal rule which will protect millions of children from lead intoxication will in effect on April 22, 2010.

“There has been tremendous progress by people working in the construction and remodeling trades to become trained in lead-safe work practices. EPA has been working hard to get the word out far and wide to contractors working in older homes, schools and day care centers that this training is available to help stop lead poisoning in children. All a contractor needs to do to be certified is take a simple one-day course,” said EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances assistant administrator Steve Owens.

In spite of almost 30 years of campaign to bring down childhood lead exposures, a million American children are still struck by lead paint yearly, putting them at peril for a wide array of health impingements, including behavioral disorders and lowered IQ. Some of lead poisoning is a turn-out of dust polluted by old lead paint that’s stirred up during remodeling process. There are uncomplicated steps contractors can choose during such renovations to understate exposures to lead-based paint.

Why EPA Lead Paint Certification is needed

To see to it contractors were abiding such procedures, the EPA settled the Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule (LRRP) rule in 2008. The federal rule asks contractors to undergo training and get certified as lead-safe by EPA. Individuals take an 8-hour training course offered by certified training providers to become a certified renovator. The EPA lead paint certification is valid for five years.