Accredited Certified Lead Renovator Training

The EPA Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) Rule is the most important Federal lead regulation since the HUD Lead-Safe Housing Rule a decade ago. It has the potential to ensure the widespread use of lead-safe work practices in homes and child-occupied facilities and may be extended to public and commercial buildings in the future. By U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's estimates, 235,000 individuals and 210,000 firms must be certified when the rule goes into effect in April 22, 2010. EPA has proposed rule would add 100,000 to each of those totals that would go into effect on April 22, 2010.

Reaching these numbers will take a major effort to simultaneously build demand for training by renovators and supply of training by EPA-approved training providers. Without both, when the rule goes into effect renovators could be confronted with the choice of breaking the law or avoiding work on pre-1978 housing and child-occupied facilities. And the benefits of the rule to children and adult health from lower lead exposures will be delayed.

The National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) are working together with EPA and other organizations and agencies to respond to the challenge. We have been meeting regularly to review progress, assess the situation, and plan out next steps.

To help meet the challenge, NCHH will:

Provide a calendar so all EPA-accredited training providers can post their training courses on it and renovators can quickly and easily find the training they need.
Become an EPA-accredited training provider and empower qualified instructors across the country by:
- Handling the quality control and required reporting to EPA so they can focus on training.
- Becoming a learning community where instructors learn from each other and can share their innovations.
- Providing resources and tools to enhance the training.
Be approved to deliver an E-learning alternative to make the training more effective and less costs and help other training providers adopt as they can.
Track EPA and state changes to the rule including their various interpretations of ambiguous terms.
Support efforts to clarify and improve the rules so they more effectively prevent lead poisoning.
Offer paint retailers free-online training on the rule, lead-safe work practices and the products that their customers will need. Thanks to the Indiana State Department of Health for funding to make the training possible and the Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) for hosting the training.

Some key links to help you:

Contact Jessica Lucas at jlucas@nchh.org or Chris Bloom at cbloom@nchh.org for more information.

10320 Little Patuxent Parkway, Suite 500 • Columbia, MD 21044
Phone: 410.992.0712 • Fax: 443.539.4150