Court Orders E.P.A. to Update Lead Paint Rules, Quickly

[downtoearth]

www.nytimes.com/2017/12/27/us/epa-lead-paint.html

Appeals Court Orders E.P.A. to Update Lead Paint Rules, Quickly

The 2-to-1 decision, by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, means the E.P.A. must propose a new rule within 90 days, instead of the six years the Trump administration had requested to reconsider what levels of lead exposure are acceptable for children

That request was on top of a six-year delay under former President Barack Obama, a holdup the court said was unreasonable, particularly in the face of new research on the hazards of lead paint.

“Indeed E.P.A. itself has acknowledged that ‘lead poisoning is the number one environmental health threat in the U.S. for children ages 6 and younger,’ and that the current standards are insufficient,” the ruling said, adding, “The children exposed to lead poisoning due to the failure of E.P.A. to act are severely prejudiced by E.P.A.’s delay.”
or here

More at link or here:
www.washingtonexaminer.com/appeals-court-orders-epa-to-act-quickly-to-toughen-lead-paint-standards/article/2644462

[bugandbibs]

I had no idea this was a thing. How about we put the public health first? I really don't care if this hurts businesses. You shouldn't be allowed to make a product that can poison a child.

[isabel]

Why did Obama's administration delay this?

[debatethis]

Dec 28, 2017 15:37:10 GMT -5 isabel said:

Why did Obama's administration delay this?

There was a lot of back and forth on what levels were considered safe vs not. Plus also lobbying firms. This article is a little better than the other one on background. nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/12/court-blocks-epa-plan-to-delay-new-lead-paint-rules.html

[downtoearth]

Dec 28, 2017 15:37:10 GMT -5 isabel said:

Why did Obama's administration delay this?

Home builders, national association of realtors, and congressmen pressured EPA to delay during this time because it would require contractors to have accreditation and lead testing abilities when working in existing homes and complying with the new regulations.

www.fa-mag.com/news/epa-delays-enforcing-lead-paint-regulation-5585.html

and

www.nar.realtor/washington-report/epa-delays-proposed-lead-paint-rulemaking-for-three-years?random=1645372497

I think there was also a problem with Congress passing a law that would take away EPA's enforcement of this and not allow them to actually fine contractors and building suppliers who knowingly supply building materials with certain amounts of lead. I don't know why we didn't address it after the 12/31/2016 time period, but I'm guessing the new EPA director was just continuing with the waiting and hoping it would get an Executive Order or undoing by the current congress?

[LoveTrains]

While I agree we need standards, one has to assume almost all homes in the northeast have lead paint. I have no intention of testing for lead or de-leading my home. It's very expensive. I wouldn't bother even if I had children. The big thing is to address paint when it starts chipping, cracking, peeling etc.

[downtoearth]

Dec 28, 2017 20:10:59 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

While I agree we need standards, one has to assume almost all homes in the northeast have lead paint. I have no intention of testing for lead or de-leading my home. It's very expensive. I wouldn't bother even if I had children. The big thing is to address paint when it starts chipping, cracking, peeling etc.

But we need to address it at some point - selling/buying houses with it in older pipes/drinking water,
Still available in some materials, chips on painted houses/walls of rentals, in our school buildings that can’t afford repairs. It really is affecting children and their cognitive abilities in masses in some areas.

If we have known better by the science for 7+ years,
It is not too much to ask a few industries to change and adapt to the newer science over time.

[LoveTrains]

Dec 28, 2017 23:39:48 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Dec 28, 2017 20:10:59 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

While I agree we need standards, one has to assume almost all homes in the northeast have lead paint. I have no intention of testing for lead or de-leading my home. It's very expensive. I wouldn't bother even if I had children. The big thing is to address paint when it starts chipping, cracking, peeling etc.

But we need to address it at some point - selling/buying houses with it in older pipes/drinking water,
Still available in some materials, chips on painted houses/walls of rentals, in our school buildings that can’t afford repairs. It really is affecting children and their cognitive abilities in masses in some areas.

If we have known better by the science for 7+ years,
It is not too much to ask a few industries to change and adapt to the newer science over time.

So what do you do when all the houses have lead paint? All the pipes are lead? My city (founded in the 1600s) is slowly replacing the lead lined pipes in the street BUT it's up to each homeowner to replace the supply line to the house. It's several thousand dollars per property and many opted out because they can't afford it. These are people that are going to see their taxes possibly go up because of loss of the SALT deduction.

It would be great if there was federal funding to help with deleading. Maybe the water company could offer low cost loans to do the work. Let's talk about finding money to help address the issue. And the issue of school buildings is absolutely important, especially as with deferred maintsinece there is likely to be peeling/chipped paint.

[downtoearth]

LoveTrains,this was a critical discussion of the draft rules, but the funding mostly was for homeowners and not for contractors/realtors/materials companies so it was delayed (for too long). HUD and even the CHIPS program have federal grants for municipalities and low income areas for lead abatment, which is where the federal funding should go IMO. Yes infrastructure changes, schools, and low income areas need it first and the most funding help. And I agree that replacing a water connection line for $10-$18k is too much for many, but we should try to get grants or no-interest loans to homeowners and we need realtor to start that process of disclosure and understanding Jonathan will start to be normalized in but-sell agreements. The proposed rules really did focus on contractors and realtor having to disclose and not use materials with lead and protecting themselves from lead exposure during commercial or paid renovations - not a mandate for homeowners.

I work with three different programs trying to fill the gaps in funding and it should be more streamlined and focus on schools with $$ from EPA too. It should be a priority of the EPA and I hope they make it such after this decision.