The government just slipped a new law on the books that most of us missed.

It’s a “new certification program,” and it’s a semi-tractor full of bureaucratic insanity. Our government has lost its collective mind.

With this new legislation, the government is going to throw some cement-filled straws on the back of the already decimated housing industry.

Here’s the short version of the 79-page regulation.

Contractors now must create “lead-safe work places” when doing *any* work on pre-1978s houses. The idea is that lead paint was in use before 1978, and sometimes, lead paint can be found on walls and trim of old houses.

EPA claims that one million little darlings are poisoned each year by lead paint. The source of that tidbit is never cited anywhere in their press releases. Hmmm. Oh well. It’s the federal government. Why let details get in the way of a good story? I seriously doubt the validity of that claim, but hey, the EPA is from the government and they’re here to help.

Right.

Lead paint was an expensive additive and found in the best paints, and post WW2, it was most popular as a trim paint. Furthermore, these many decades later, old lead paint is usually covered by layers and layers of latex paint. It’s just not that big a hazard.

I speak from experience. In the 1980s, I renovated many older homes - with my children close at hand - and we took basic precautions to keep them away from lead dust. My children never suffered lead poisoning of any kind and grew up to graduate with high honors from impressive colleges.

My point is, a little basic wisdom goes a long, long way.

With this new law, the EPA has taken this to the bad place. The real bad place.

The “lead-safe work places” are created using huge amounts of six-mil plastic, and lots of tape and truckloads of time. Read this new legislation, and you’ll see that the demands placed on contractors (to create “lead-paint safe workplaces”) are time and materials intensive, and ridiculous and heavy-handed. If someone wants throw $50 worth of six-mil plastic at their house for a minor repair, fine. But for heaven’s sake, don’t make *everyone* do this.

The amount of non-biodegradable plastic that will be required to “fix or repair” one little window in one old house is fantastic. Nationwide, this will surely add tens of thousands of tons MORE plastic into our waste stream. So much for using those little canvas totes when I go to the grocery store. I thought I was keeping a smidge of plastic out of the landfills.

The contractor’s cost for this new class is $185 for the eight-hour course, plus $300 to “register” with the EPA and about $1,500 in equipment. Can you say, “Ca-ching?”

Fines are $32,500 per day. Yep. And if the EPA can prove that you knew of the law, the fine is doubled. $65,000 per day.

Having now *read* part of this new federal regulation, I found an interesting something that is not often mentioned in the EPA’s press releases: If you do not have small children (under the age of six) in the house and if you’re not a pregnant woman, you can “opt out.” However, the painter must get the homeowner to sign a waiver and must provide said homeowner with a poorly-written government booklet on lead paint in the home.

The EPA is striving to get this “opt out” clause removed, so that we’ll *all* be forced to have our old homes shrouded in plastic before work can begin. It really is one of the most foolish pieces of legislation that the EPA has ever thrown at homeowners in old houses.

THe new law goes into effect April 22, 2010. No grandfathering. And, several states aren’t even offering the 8-hour class yet. Seems the government regulations out-ran their ability to offer training for the new program. So what’s a contractor to do? Shut down shop, I suppose, until the EPA figures out how to offer training? Who knows.

Think about what this will do to the value of old houses. Contractors estimate that the cost of having *one* window replaced will go up $75 per window, because the lead-dust containment vestibules that contractors must set up at all work sites - inside and outside residential properties. Job costs will increase from $75 to $500 or more, depending on what work is being done. Small home improvement projects will be far more complicated now, because of this legislation. Bottom line: Pre-1978 built homes are now much less valuable.

Gee thanks, EPA and Congressional legislators.

Even carpet installers are now bound by this law (as are plumbers and electricians and other tradespeople). Seems that the EPA thinks that carpet installers will be stirring up toxic dust as their carpet products brush past lead paint on old baseboards.

Please contact your representatives and get them to repeal this moral idiocy. Read more here.

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news12333.html

I’ve not written here for some time because I’ve been enveloped and overwhelmed with busyness here at  my own home in Norfolk, Virginia. We’re fixing up the old house and one of the projects is painting the exterior.

I’m painting it pink. Not pepto-bismol pink, but more of a subtle shade of soft pink. It’s such a subtle pink that in direct sunlight, you’d think it was white. However, it’s pink. And what a pretty color pink it is. When the painting is done (which is no small chore), it’s my intention to install functional, vintage wood shutters on the front of house. And I’ll paint those shutters high gloss black.

It’s going to be a real beauty when I’m all done. I just hope I’ll all done before I hit retirement age.

This weekend, the hubby and I traveled to Stanley, Virginia (in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley) and saw this gorgeous Sears Milton. It’s one of Sears finest homes, and other than this Milton in the Virginia mountains, I’ve never ever seen another Milton - anywhere or anytime.

It’s a real beauty. And the good news is, it’s a Bed and Breakfast. Hopefully this summer I’ll have a chance to travel back to Stanley and spend a night or two inside the Sears Milton on West Main Street.

For more information on the Milton House Inn, click here.