EPA proposed to strengthen requirements for lead paint-abatement activities to reduce lead exposure in residential homes and childcare facilities. If finalized, EPA estimated that the rule would reduce lead exposures of 250,000 to 500,000 children under age six per year. Specifically, EPA proposed to reduce both the dust-lead hazard standard (DLHS) and dust-lead clearance Levels (DLCL) under the Toxic Substances Control Act. These standards are used by professionals and government agencies to identify lead hazards in residential and childcare facilities built before 1978. Communities of color and lower-income communities are often at the greatest risk of lead exposure due to lead-based paint. Read more about EPA’s proposed rule. Comments on the proposal were due Oct. 2, 2023.
The proposed rule built on existing enforcement efforts to address lead paint, summarized in EPA’s Oct. 27, 2022 Lead Enforcement Bulletin, highlighting a series of enforcement actions addressing lead in paint, lead in drinking water, and lead in soil or hazardous waste. These include a settlement in Chicago to recover nearly $2 million for the cleanup of lead-contaminated soil; and criminal sanctions for the illegal storage and disposal of hazardous waste at a landfill in North Carolina. The Bulletin also analyzed actions taken with lead in different settings such as lead paint in homes, lead in superfund sites, lead in drinking water, and lead in Indian Country.