[320] MTSU's TALK Spreads Word About EPA-Mandated April 22 Deadline for Renovation, Remodeling & Painting Certification

Release date: Month day, 2010

News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
TALK/TN LEAP contact: Leigh Woodcock, 865-244-4350 or woodcock@mtsu.edu


MTSU’s TALK Spreads Word About EPA-Mandated April 22
Deadline for Renovation, Remodeling & Painting Certification


(KNOXVILLE, TN) — You’ve got less than 100 days until federal law requires that anyone paid to repair paint in homes, child care facilities and schools built before 1978 must be certified by the Environmental Protection Agency in the new Renovation, Remodeling & Painting Rule.
This new law is intended to protect children from leaded dust that may result from disturbing lead based paint, an official in the Tennessee Alliance for Lead-safe Kids, or TALK at Middle Tennessee State University said.
The Tennessee Alliance for Lead-safe Kids at MTSU wants to make sure that everyone in the community — especially contractors, property owners, homeowners and realtors and childcare providers — knows that as April 22, anyone paid to perform renovation, repair and painting projects that disturb paint in homes, childcare facilities and schools built before 1978 must be EPA RRP certified and follow lead-safe work practice standards to prevent lead contamination, Leigh Woodcock, TALK/TN LEAP program coordinator, said.
Contractors, property owners, homeowners, realtors and childcare providers can visit www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm online to find their respective Renovation, Repair and Painting Rules.
Common renovation activities like sanding, cutting, and demolition can create hazardous lead dust and chips, which can be harmful to children and adults, she said. This new law has the potential to significantly decrease childhood lead poisoning throughout the state.
Lead poisoning causes a long list of problems including learning disabilities, kidney disease, high blood pressure, miscarriage and birth defects. Exposure to lead can even cause depression and aggressive behavior. There is no safe level of lead in the body. While recent publicity has centered on toys and other consumer products containing lead, the problems caused by all of those products put together is a drop in the bucket compared to the number of people harmed when contractors disturb old paint in pre-1978 buildings without taking simple precautions.
By April 22, renovations in pre-1978 housing and child-occupied facilities must be conducted by RRP-certified renovation firms, using renovators with EPA RRP- accredited training, and following the work practice requirements of the rule.
This new law will help protect children from being exposed to lead paint poisoning. Consumers should be informed about the new RRP rule and ask any contractor they hire if they are EPA RRP-certified. Owners conducting repairs in their own homes are not covered by this law (unless they receive compensation, i.e. landlords).
Lead Remodelers and Renovators Certification & Refresher Course information can be found on the EPA’s web site at www.epa.gov/lead or by contacting the National Lead Information Center at 1-800-424-LEAD (5323).
For additional information about the effects and prevention of childhood lead poisoning, contact TALK at 865-244-4350.

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With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.


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