Tuesday I attended (and passed! perfect score!) an 8 hour class at the St. Joseph County Health Department taught under the auspices of Environmental Management Institute to become an EPA Certified Renovator. Believe it or not, I will be sent a new photo ID attesting to my knowledge in this area. This is a new requirement the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has put into effect for contractors working on renovation and repair projects on Target Housing or A Child Occupied Facilities where lead paint may be present.
From the Lead Safety for Renovation, Repair and Painting Student Manual:
Target Housing is a home or residential unit built on or before December 31, 1977, except:
- Housing designated for the elderly or persons with disabilities (unless any child who is less than 6 years of age resides or is expected to reside in such housing).
- Any zero-bedroom dwelling (e.g. studio apartments, hospitals, hotels, dormitories, etc.).
A Child-Occupied Facilityis a pre-1978 building that meets all three of the criteria below:
- Visited regularly by the same child, under 6 years of age.
- The visits are on at least two different days within any week (Sunday through Saturday period), provided that each day’s visit lasts at least 3 hours.
- Combined weekly visits last at least 6 hours, and the combined annual visits last at least 60 hours.
Child-occupied facilities may be located in a public or commercial building or in target housing. These facilities include schools, child care facilities, and daycare centers.
I now know more about lead poisoning and lead paint than I want to know! It’s going to take some time to figure out how or if we want to participate in this market and how that decision will affect our business. In any case I have taken the first step for Easterday Construction Co., Inc. to participate in these projects safely and legally. The next step to consider is applying to be a Certified Firm.
The regulation is currently in flux. During the class we discussed several things that had already changed since the regulation initially went into effect on April 22, 2010. If you want to read the latest on this regulation as well as learn how to protect yourself and your family, visit the lead section of the EPA website here.