Mk United States
1™	Environmental Protection
I	Agency
Enforcement Alert
Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance	Publication No. EPA 325-F-18-001
EPA Enforces Lead Paint Laws to Protect Human Health, Ensure
Renovators Comply with Requirements, and Promote Level Playing Field
Do you know that if you are not lead-safe certified, disturbing just
six square feet of a lead-based paint covered surface could cost you
fines and even jail time? The Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP)
Rule generally covers any activity that disturbs lead-based paint
(LBP), including remodeling, electrical work, window replacement,
plumbing and painting. The rule requires that renovation firms
obtain certification and ensure compliance with regulatory
requirements. Renovators must also obtain training and certification
and comply with lead-safe work practice standards. This
Enforcement Alert highlights criminal and civil enforcement actions
that addressed violations of the RRP Rule and other federal lead-
based paint regulations, putting children and others at risk of
exposure to lead and potential lead poisoning. Violators run the risk
of significant penalties and even prison time for knowing or willful violations.
Have You Updated Your
Certification?
Firms and individual renovators
that perform renovations on pre-
1978 properties are required to
update their EPA certifications.
Don't let your certification
lapse. More than half of EPA's LBP
cases enforce certification
violations. Apply Online—See the
Lead Renovation, Repair and
Painting Program page.
Renovation Company Pleads Guilty for Failing to Follow Lead-Safe Work
Practices
On May 22, 2018, Bitner
Brothers Construction Co., Inc.
(Bitner Brothers) of Carlisle,
Pennsylvania, entered a two-
count guilty plea for knowingly
violating lead-safe work
practices under federal law. In
February 2017, Bitner Brothers
conducted work inside two
apartments in Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania while families with
small children were present.
The company failed to comply
with the requirement that power
grinding equipment have a
shroud or containment system
equipped with a HEPA vacuum
during the renovation. The 2017
events marked the second time
in three years that EPA had
investigated the company for
RRP violations.
As part of the plea agreement,
the defendant company, and its
President and owner, Charles
H. Bitner, Jr., were directed not
to undertake new work
contracts that require a special
skill, training or certification
related to the handling and/or
management of lead, including
LBP, for the period of
probation. The Magistrate
Judge accepted the plea and
set a sentencing date. The
maximum penalty is a
$200,000 fine and one year in
prison, as well as the costs of
prosecution or probation and a
special court assessment. On
September 18, 2018, Bitner
Brothers was sentenced to two
years of probation, a $10,000
fine and a $125 special
assessment fee.
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EPA Enforcement Alert
Magnolia Homes Settles Enforcement Action for Alleged
"Fixer Upper" Show Violations
On June 4, 2018, EPA's
Environmental Appeals Board
issued a Final Order approving
a Consent Agreement with
Magnolia Waco Properties. The
settlement resolves violations
of EPA's RRP Ruie during home
renovations that were
broadcast to a national
audience on the reality
television program, Fixer
Upper.
Under the settlement,
Magnolia will implement an
internal monitoring program to
ensure its future renovations
are compliant. Also, Magnolia
will spend $160,000 to abate
lead-based paint hazards in
homes in its local community
of Waco, Texas, where
occupants are at the highest
risk for exposure to dust from
LBP. Magnolia also is getting
the message about lead-based
paint out to a national
audience. In Season 5,
Episode 16 of Fixer Upper,
which aired on HGTV on March
20, 2018, Magnolia's Chip
Gaines talked about testing an
old home for LBP and depicted
some of the work practices
required by the RRP Rule.
Furthermore, Magnolia is
producing a video about
renovating homes that contain
LBP for its large internet
audience, and it will post that
video, which will feature Chip
Gaines, to social media and to
Magnolia's website. Magnolia
took immediate steps to obtain
EPA certification and bring its
activities into compliance
shortly after EPA first
contacted the company in
2015. Magnolia also paid a
civii penalty of $40,000.
Did You Know?
ACCORDING TO THE U.S.
CENTERS FOR DISEASE
CONTROL AND PREVENTION,
LEAD PAINT POISONING
AFFECTS NEARLY ONE
MILLION CHILDREN.
MORE INFORMATION:
WWW.EPA.GOV/LEAD
The Section 1018 Lead Disclosure Rule requires that landlords, sellers and their agents provide
prospective tenants and purchasers required disclosures about lead-based paint. Although this
has been the law for more than 25 years, EPA continues to find people who do not comply,
sometimes with tragic consequences.
Realtor Pleads Guilty to Withholding Information about Lead-based
Paint Hazards; Child Diagnosed with Lead Poisoning After Non-
Disclosure
On September 7, 2017, New
York real estate agent
Maureen S. Walck pleaded
guilty to knowingly failing to
provide a required lead paint
hazard warning notice, a
criminal misdemeanor. On
January 9, 2018, Walck was
fined $1.000 and ordered to
pay about $53,000 in
restitution to the victim.
In January 2014, a Lockport,
N.Y. homeowner signed a
contract with Walck, granting
her exclusive rights to sell his
house, which was built around
1900. The seller knew about
the presence of LBP hazards
because he had the home
tested for lead in 2009 after
his son developed lead
poisoning. The seller showed
Walck a copy of the LBP
inspection report.
On February 6, 2014,
prospective buyers offered to
buy the house. As part of the
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EPA Enforcement Alert
sales contract, Walck indicated
that the seller had no
knowledge of LBP at the
residence and that there were
no records indicating such
potential hazards. This
contradicted Walck's signed
statement to an earlier
prospective buyer, who had
backed out of the deal after
being notified about and
reviewing the LBP records.
The second prospective buyers
- lacking the legally required
disclosure of the lead testing
report and unaware of the
known lead hazards -
purchased the residence on
April 11, 2014. In September
2015, the new owner's child
was diagnosed with lead
poisoning. These facts led to
Walck's prosecution and 2018
sentencing.
^EPA^
Report
Environmental
Violations
Settlement with NYC Public Housing Authority, Nation's Largest, to
Address Lead-based Paint and Other Violations
On June 11, 2018, the United
States simultaneously filed a
Complaint and proposed
Consent Decree to settle
admitted violations by the New
York City Public Housing
Authority (NYCHA) of federal
lead-based paint, housing
standard, and other laws.
NYCHA is by far the nation's
largest public housing
authority - bigger than the
next 11 authorities combined.
EPA and the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD)
cooperated on the case, which
was brought by the U.S.
Attorney for the Southern
District of New York. The City
of New York also was a party
to the settlement. The
proposed Consent Decree is
subject to court approval.
In the proposed Consent
Decree, NYCHA admitted and
accepted responsibility for
violations of federal LBP
requirements; false statements
to HUD regarding its
compliance; and violation of
housing standards related to
pests, mold, heating and
elevators. The LBP offenses
included violations of EPA's
Renovation, Repair and
Painting Rule.
The Complaint specifies that
NYCHA for years violated and
continues to violate regulations
requiring NYCHA to protect
children from lead-based paint,
including failure to comply with
HUD and EPA lead paint
regulations, failure to ensure
workers used lead-safe work
practices, failure to inspect
apartments for lead paint
hazards, and failure to
remediate peeling lead paint.
At least 19 children associated
with NYCHA apartments were
diagnosed as having elevated
blood-lead levels - a sign of
lead poisoning - and
thousands more were put at
risk.
To reform NYCHA and ensure
compliance with federal law,
the proposed Consent Decree
requires appointment of a
monitor with authority to set
performance standards and
action plans, in consultation
with the United States. Also,
the proposed settlement
requires New York City to
provide at least $1.2 billion in
capital funding to NYCHA over
the next five years, and $200
million every year thereafter
until the problems are fixed.
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EPA Enforcement Alert
Health Effects of Lead
Lead exposure affects the nervous system and
can cause a range of health effects, from behav-
ioral problems and learning disabilities to seizures
and death. Children six years old and younger are
most at risk. If not detected early, children with
high levels of lead in their bodies can suffer from:
•	Damage to the brain and nervous system
•	Behavior and learning problems, such as hy-
peractivity
•	Slowed growth
•	Hearing problems
•	Headaches
•	Anemia
•	In rare cases of acute lead poisoning from in-
gestion of lead, seizures, coma and even
death.
Lead can accumulate in our bodies over time,
where it is stored in bones along with calcium.
During pregnancy, lead is released from bones
as maternal calcium is used to help form the
bones of the fetus. This is particularly true if a
woman does not have enough dietary calcium.
Lead can also be easily circulated from the
mother's blood stream through the placenta to
the fetus. Mothers with high levels of lead in
their bodies can expose their developing fetus-
es, resulting in serious and developmental
problems including:
•	Miscarriages
•	Premature births or low birth weight
•	Brain damage, decreased mental abilities
and learning difficulties
•	Reduced growth in young children
Did You Know?
In 2018, EPA announced 141
federal enforcement actions to
protect the public, particularly
children, from exposure to lead
in lead-based paint.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20460
www.epa.gov/compliance/criminal
Lead Hotline
https://www.epa.gov/lead/forms/
lead-hotline-national-lead-
information-center
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