SELDEN, NY— Congressman Tim Bishop was joined by over 50 members of the Long Island chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (LI NARI) to urge the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to delay implementation of a new lead paint rule.  Congressman Bishop was joined by Congressman Steve Israel in sending a letter to the EPA.

Congressman Bishop warned that the new rule which would mandate that home renovators undergo specific training and certification, and purchase expensive equipment in order to work on homes built before 1978 would hurt Long Island’s economy.  Of the over 18,000 licensed remodelers on Long Island, the estimate is just several hundred have been trained and certified. 

“This rule is well-intentioned but we must be governed by reality, not good intentions,” Congressman Bishop said.  “In less than a month, more than 90 percent of Long Island’s licensed home renovators will be out of compliance with the law.  That suggests to me that there’s a problem with the law, not the renovators.”

This is not only a problem on Long Island.  Nationally, the EPA has only 135 accredited trainers and 13,669 certified renovators nationwide, although its own compliance-needs estimates indicate that it needs at least 200,000 or more certified renovators.

“We want to keep kids safe from lead paint and make sure jobs are being done the right way,” said Doug Dervin, Certified Remodeler and President of Double D Contractors.  “We just want to make sure people have time to get certified, which means we have to at least delay this rule until the end of the year.”

There is also a severe shortage of equipment necessary to comply with the new standards, with little possibility of having enough equipment by the deadline.  The rule requires specialized High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) vacuum cleaners to be used during clean-up procedures. The amount of HEPA vacuum cleaners available, as well as other required materials including heavy gauge plastic, disposable clothing, respirators, lead test kits, and the related equipment is estimated to be dramatically less than will be demanded by every remodeling company, per worker, per crew throughout the country.

Congressman Bishop noted that this rule is also being imposed at the same time as federal stimulus funds are made available to renovate older homes to improve energy efficiency.

“We have two well-intentioned ideas which are at loggerheads with one another,” Congressman Bishop said.  “This is the kind of thing that drives people nuts about government.  I support delaying implementation of this rule so we can allow people to work and get it right.  I take lead paint very seriously; I just want to make sure we’re going about this in a way that doesn’t unnecessarily harm renovators and homeowners.”

Remodelers and contractors also announced that they will be sending members to Washington, DC on April 15 to meet with Members of Congress to get them to support Congressman Bishop and Israel’s position to delay implementation.

The event was held at 20 Plandome Place in Selden, a home built in the 1950s, which like most of Long Island’s housing stock, would be subject to the new rule if any renovations were to be made to the home.

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