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Toxic Substances: Status of EPA's Efforts to Develop Lead Hazard Standards

RCED-94-114 Published: May 16, 1994. Publicly Released: Jun 16, 1994.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the: (1) Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) development of standards and guidelines for lead hazards; and (2) additional actions EPA must complete to issue the standards and guidelines.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency To guide EPA efforts in developing the lead standards, the Administrator, EPA, should assess the additional steps, resources, and time required to complete the lead hazard and abatement standards. EPA should then revise its schedule for issuing the lead standards and identify the major tasks required and related milestones. Once completed, EPA should provide this information to the appropriate congressional committees to assist them in their oversight activities.
Closed – Implemented
EPA was implementing this recommendation. However, before EPA completed the planning activities upon which the revised schedule would be based, the agency was sued for not meeting statutory timeframes for issuing the lead hazard standards. To settle the suit, EPA agreed to a consent order that, among other things, resulted in EPA issuing a revised schedule. Although the revised schedule was available to the public under the consent order, EPA did not make an overt effort to ensure that the revised schedule and associated information were provided to Congress, as GAO recommended.
Environmental Protection Agency To ensure that the public is protected from lead-based paint hazards before the standards are issued, the Administrator, EPA, should promote the use of HUD lead inspection and abatement guidelines among abatement contractors, state and local government agencies, and the public.
Closed – Implemented
EPA developed and issued interim guidance on July 14, 1994, that incorporates the dust clearance standards from the HUD guidelines and references the guidelines' inspection and abatement procedures. EPA has conducted outreach through the agency's regional offices, state lead contacts, and conferences. The guidance is also available from the National Lead Information Center's Clearinghouse and the National Technical Information Service. EPA continues to take measures to ensure that the guidance is available, to increase dissemination of the guidance document, and to promote its use.

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Topics

Environmental legislationEnvironmental monitoringFederal regulationsHazardous substancesHousing constructionHousing repairsLead poisoningPollution controlSafety regulationStandards evaluationToxic substancesLead abatement