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Environmental Protection Agency officials are proposing to eliminate two programs that are focused on limiting children’s exposure to lead paint, according to an internal memo obtained by The Washington Post.
The memo proposed rolling back two programs, which would amount to cutting $16.6 million and more than 70 employees, in order to comply with orders from President Donald J. Trump’s administration that the EPA reduce its budget by 31 percent. Both programs help the majority of the country comply with rules regarding safely removing lead paint, which is known to cause damage to developing brains and nervous systems.
According to the Memo
One of the programs slated for termination is the Lead Risk Reduction Program, which requires professional remodelers to undergo safe-practice training before stripping lead paint. This program was set up under the Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule in 2010.
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One of the programs slated for termination is the Lead Risk Reduction Program, which requires professional remodelers to undergo safe-practice training before stripping lead paint. This program was set up under the Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule in 2010.
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This program is where the employee cuts and about $2.6 million of the budget cuts are stemming from. The other $14 million in cuts would slash the grants to state and tribal programs that also address lead-based paint.
The goal of cutting these two programs is to return “the responsibility for funding to state and local entities,” according to EPA spokesperson Julia Valentine in an email to The Post.
Response
Many industry groups consider the federal programs, such as the Lead Risk Reduction Program, to be too strict and support giving control to individual states, such as the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.
The association’s chief executive, Fred Ulreich, said the group “believes that the program can be better run and enforcement can be more vigorous the closer it is to the local contractors.”
However, only 14 states currently have their own systems in place to train contractors in how to properly handle lead-paint removal (Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin). The rest of the country relies on the two programs the EPA is proposing to cut.
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Only 14 states currently have their own systems in place to train contractors in how to properly handle lead-paint removal. The rest of the country relies on the two programs the EPA is proposing to cut.
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That would leave a lot of people—primarily children—in danger of lead exposure.
“If the state doesn’t have a program, which is true in most states, and if the EPA doesn’t have a program, how are you going to have compliance with the lead rules?” asked Erik Olson, who directs the Natural Resources Defense Council’s health program. “Basically, this is the guts of the program that protects kids from lead poisoning from paint.”
What Now
After EPA’s senior staffers review the cuts and recommend how to proceed, the EPA will compile the final budget proposal and send it to the White House, which will then review it and send it to Congress. If approved, the cuts would take effect on Oct. 1, the start of the 2018 fiscal year.
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