Dust Off Your Rulebook: EPA’s New Dust-Lead Standards

EPA has published a Final Rule which will lower dust-lead standards in pre-1978 homes and childcare facilities. Under TSCA Section 403, EPA must identify and regulate lead-based paint hazards. The Final Rule and its regulatory predecessors identify lead-based paint hazards which in turn determine applicability of the Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule (“Disclosure Rule”) and the Lead Renovation, Repair, and Painting Rule (“RRP Rule”). Prior to the Final Rule, EPA used near-identical standards to (1) identify a threshold dust-lead concentration which establishes a “lead-based paint hazard” and (2) determine whether EPA recommends abatement action. The Final Rule establishes two unique standards to guide these determinations. Sellers and lessors of pre-1978 homes and firms which conduct lead-based paint activities, operate lead-based paint training programs, or are certified to conduct lead-based paint activities or renovations are affected by the new standards of the Final Rule.

EPA regulations do not compel property owners to take abatement actions, but rather set standards to identify lead-based paint hazards (for which EPA recommends abatement actions) and determine whether abatement is complete. Prior to this Final Rule, all affected persons would be subject to dust-lead hazard standards of 10 and 100 µg/ft² for floors and window sills, respectively; post-abatement, an additional standard of 400 µg/ft² applied to troughs. The Final Rule provides a standard for identifying a lead-based paint hazard in regulated housing, as well as a distinct standard for whether further action is recommended post-abatement.

Regardless of abatement status, affected persons must test for consistency with the “dust-lead hazard standard” (“Hazard Standard”) in risk assessments and lead hazard screens. Concentrations above the Hazard Standard indicate a lead-based paint hazard which triggers requirements under the Disclosure and RRP Rules. The Final Rule redefines the Hazard Standard as the “dust-lead reportable level” (“Reportable Level”). Accordingly, the new Reportable Level is “any reportable level as analyzed by a laboratory recognized by EPA’s National Lead Laboratory Accreditation Program (NLLAP).” The “reportable level” for a laboratory is the lowest level at which the laboratory can reliably report results. In effect, any reliably detectable level of dust-lead exceeds the Reportable Level and therefore constitutes a lead-based paint hazard.

After (and if) abatement is performed, target housing must meet the “post-abatement dust-lead clearance level” (“Clearance Level”). The Clearance Level is used to determine whether EPA recommends further abatement action and whether abatement work performed can be considered complete. The Final Rule redefines the Clearance Level as the “dust-lead action level” (“Action Level”). The Final Rule sets the Action Levels as follows:

• Floors: 5 µg/ft²
• Window Sills: 40 µg/ft²
• Troughs: 100 µg/ft²

Historically, the program recommended action when dust-lead loadings are at or above the Hazard Standards (those being effectively the same as the Clearance Levels); the Final Rule now recommends action when dust-loadings are at or above the Action Levels. When dust-loadings are above the Reportable Levels, but below the Action Levels, EPA recommends only best practices, such as a HEPA vacuum and regular cleaning, rather than abatement.

In recognition of scenarios where target housing is abated below the Action Levels but not the Reportable Levels, EPA is amending the requirements for abatement reports. Certified firms conducting abatement activities must include in their abatement reports specific language from the regulation directing the reader to a reference document titled “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home,” which clarifies lead-based paint hazards may remain after abatement. Affected persons must consider that successful abatement does not necessarily mean there is no remaining lead-based paint hazard for purposes of Disclosure or RRP Rule compliance.

EPA has set a compliance date for the Final Rule of January 12, 2026. Affected persons should plan to begin adapting to the new scheme of Reportable Levels and Action Levels so to avoid noncompliance once the Final Rule takes effect.

89 Fed. Reg. 89416 (November 12, 2024)