AAMA Official responds to House oversight committee request.
Press Release Summary:
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform asked AAMA for assistance in identifying existing and proposed regulations that have negatively affected job growth in fenestration industry. In response, implementation of EPA's LRRP regulations, which excluded opt-out provision contained within original RRP regulations, was discussed. AAMA's Rich Walker notes encouragement that Chairman Issa is willing to review rules which have been enforced without benefit of industry input.
Original Press Release:
AAMA Responds to House Oversight Committee Request
Schaumburg, Ill. - American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) responded this week to a request from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asking for assistance in "identifying existing and proposed regulations that have negatively affected job growth in the fenestration industry."
Following the November 2010 mid-term elections, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) was selected to serve as the next Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Following the elections, many committees, including the House Oversight Committee pushed for increased scrutiny of government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
In AAMA's response to Chairman Issa, the implementation of EPA's amended Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (LRRP) regulations, which excluded the opt-out provision contained within the original RRP regulations, was discussed. The AAMA response stated that prior to the EPA's decision to amend the rule, the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy (SBA) issued a notice to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, strongly discouraging the removal of the opt-out provision, which allowed for homeowners residing in pre-1978 constructed homes with no pregnant women or children under the age of six (the at-risk population) to remain exempt from the 2008 LRRP rule. The opt-out provision thus limited the enforcement of the costly EPA ruling to only those pre-1978 built homes with at-risk population residents.
The SBA Office of Advocacy report also found that the EPA "...failed to perform needed outreach and failed to examine seriously several regulatory alternatives that would minimize the small business burdens while achieving the same regulatory goals."
While the 2010 implementation of the amended LRRP regulations targets residential properties, the new regulations that EPA seeks to implement will affect the renovation, repair and painting of commercial buildings.
Rich Walker, AAMA president and CEO, states, "The EPA is considering additional provisions to the LRRP related to commercial buildings. Considering the mammoth costs associated with the implementation of each new provision, it is suspected that EPA is introducing each proposal separately in order to avoid providing Congress and the OMB with the cumulative cost to small business and homeowners."
Walker continues, "AAMA and its membership, through past collaboration with EPA and other energy and environmental governmental agencies, have proudly been at the forefront of addressing environmental and energy impacting issues in the U.S., and we fully support the intent of the original residentially-focused LRRP to safeguard the EPA deemed 'at-risk' segment of the population from lead exposure. However, mandating these practices to all pre-1978 housing stock based on questionable studies and grossly underestimated implementation costs exhibits a clear abuse of EPA's authority."
"We are encouraged by Chairman Issa's readiness to review some of the debilitating rules that have been promulgated without the benefit of industry input, and we are hopeful that these reviews will provoke an investigation into EPA's authority and handling of the LRRP amendments," Walker states.
Please visit the AAMA Members Only site to view state-based regulations including proposed and final rules as they relate to the EPA-issued rule requiring the use of lead-safe practices in home renovations. Please note that you will be asked to log in to the Members Only site before viewing the lead regulations page.
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AAMA is the source of performance standards, product certification,
and educational programs for the fenestration industry.sm
Angela Dickson, marketing manager, AAMA
Email: adickson@aamanet.org; 866-985-7510
