10. Without making a judgement about the current rule, do you think some kind of government-regulated rule is necessary to prevent lead poisoning and/or lead contamination?
For the most part, Reader Panel participants are of the opinion that government regulation is unnecessary with regard to lead contamination or poisoning. Half of respondents (48%) say a government-regulated rule is not necessary, while just over a third (37%) believe the government is right to get involved.
Some Reader Panelists elaborated on their responses in a final open-ended survey question. “Lead is an issue that needed to be addressed, but the government found a poor time to do something about it, and made it kind of expensive for small business,” said one supporter of government involvement.
Another agreed, saying, “the cost has been a bit of a sting in a time of very tight cash flow. Time will tell whether 1) the new rule will help poor folks in public housing and tenements who are probably the most exposed [to lead], and 2) how it will affect our industry.”
Skeptics of the rule argue that the blame of residents sickened by lead paint shouldn’t be placed on the remodeling industry. “Since when is it the contractor’s responsibility if your child is eating lead [paint] chips from window sills?” one respondent asked. “I would like the EPA to publish the results of how this rule has prevented any lead poisoning after about a year of when the rule was implemented on remodeling projects, and be truthful about it when they do.”
Another questions whether the EPA’s strict clean-up requirements are really any safer than the way his company works on a regular basis. “Has anyone ascertained how much lead is present after a job done non-RRP, but with the professional containment and clean-up so many of us already employ just for client comfort?” the reader asks. “How much lead is left after a non-RRP job when I leave the work area in the house cleaner than I found it? What difference does it make if small debris that goes to a landfill is just in plastic bags, rather than everything being wrapped in plastic and tape? The mere existence of lead-based paint is not the same as an actual risk that RRP seeks to address.”
