There seems to be some confusion about the recent Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule changes that were announced on July 15, 2011. To add to the confusion, articles like this one have contractors thinking that RRP is dead or at least dying.
The accurate result is that RRP is very much alive and well (to many contractors’ disappointment) and has even included tougher changes. While tougher changes (especially for painting contractors) are going to be implemented in mid-September, it wasn’t as tough as many contractors had thought it was going to be.
The EPA had proposed clearance testing after many projects, along with several other changes. While the other changes have been adopted … clearance testing wasn’t included. This means no clearance now or in the foreseeable future will be added to the RRP. Long story short, better than it could have been.
While clearance was kicked out of the rule changes, two other changes were placed in. First, paint chip sampling can be used by Certified Renovators. Secondly, vertical containment must be used on exterior jobs in many cases.
I will discuss both of these changes in upcoming articles.
Thank you Dean for clarifying that!