In 2009, a coalition of 12 non-profit environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and the National Center for Healthy Housing, petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to update the Nation’s lead paint laws.The groups requested that the amount of lead in dust be changed from 40 to 10 µg/ft2 for floors and from 250 to 100 µg/ft2 for interior window sills. The groups also requested that a change in the definition of lead-based paint occur. In 2009, the maximum level of lead allowed in paint was 5,000 ppm. The proposed rule change would bring that number down to 600 ppm, causing an 88% decrease of lead in paint.The EPA granted the request, and said that it would work with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to update the laws.
Fast forward 8 years and the EPA still hadn’t done anything. HUD was petitioned by another collation to update it’s rules, and went ahead in the process. Strangely though, the EPA did not. August of 2016, the coalition filed a lawsuit against the EPA, but the decision wasn’t handed down until December of 2017. In its decision, the 9th Circuit Court found the EPA had unreasonably delayed updating the lead paint rules. The court issued a writ of mandamus, which forces the EPA update it’s rule on the amount of lead in dust and definition of lead-based paint in 90 days. Those changes are to be implemented within 1 year of creation.
This a big step in the fight against childhood lead poisoning. By changing these rules, children all of the country will ultimately be exposed to less lead. The stricter standards will lower the threshold needed for abatement in many areas. These laws have not been updated since 2001, and need to be, if we are to properly protect children. The EPA knows this, as shown by accepting the petition and guidance from it’s Science Advisory Board, but failed to act. If it had not been for the percistance of non-profit coalition, these rules would have been untouched.
