Tyler Area Builders Association

EPA Lead Paint Rule Update - June 14, 2010 - Lead Paint Rule Opt-Out Revoked

On April 23, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced release of an amendment to the Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting rule that removes the opt-out provision for pre-1978 homes without pregnant women or children under age six in residence.

The amendment also instructs contractors to provide a copy of the records required under the rule to be shared with home owners within 30 days of completing the remodeling work. The amendment goes into force 60 days from its publication in the Federal Register n Thursday, May 6th. Thus, it will be effective on July 6, 2010.
 
Nevertheless, all provisions of the Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting rule went into effect on April 22, which requires remodelers and other contractors disturbing painted surfaces in pre-1978 homes attend the required training and submit firm certification. The rule also dictates lead-safe work practices, pre-renovation consumer education, and record keeping practices.
 
The amendment to the rule goes into effect on July 6, 2010 and
• Removes the opt-out provision. Under the current rule, owner-occupied pre-1978 housing units (i.e., not inclusive of rental properties) where no pregnant women nor children under age six, nor a property qualifying as a “child occupied facility” (such as a day care facility) could sign a waiver. The remodelers must keep a record of the waiver for three years, which waives the implementation of the work practices dictated by the rule. The new amendment to the regulation that goes into effect in July revokes the opt-out completely. All work in pre-1978 must then follow all work practices dictated by the regulation as of the effective date on July 6. See the final amendment as published in the Federal Register.
• Requires remodelers to share rule compliance records with customers. Remodelers will have to share a copy of the compliance records required for remodelers under the regulation (such as the checklist of followed practices) with home owners within 30 days of completion of the work. See the final amendment as published in the Federal Register. The EPA has also given advanced notice of additional plans to change the lead rule as a direct result of a voluntary legal settlement with several environmental groups that challenged the original regulation. Specifically, rule makings will be conducted to:
• Require abatement-style dust wipe testing and share results with home occupants and owners. This rule change will apply to certain remodeling activities and require the contractor to achieve the EPA’s strict numerical limits for lead dust levels on window sills, window troughs, and floors. The EPA’s numerical lead dust standards are the same as those dictated to lead-based paint abatement firms for achieving “clearance” under EPA’s abatement rules. Depending on the outcome of this upcoming amendment, remodelers and other contractors may also be subject to additional regulatory restrictions at the state and local level triggered by the knowledge of disturbing lead-based paint. After this proposal is published, it will be out for a 60 day comment period with the goal of completing and finalizing this rule change in July 2011. See the proposed rule amendement as published in the Federal Register.
• Apply the lead rule to public and commercial buildings. The EPA plans to amend the rule to expand its scope over both public and commercial buildings. NAHB will follow this development but expects the proposal to come out after the clearance testing amendment. See the proposed rule amendment as published in the Federal Register.
 
Rule Enforcement
EPA Assistant Administrator Owens visited the NAHB Remodelers Board of Trustees meeting last week to answer questions about the lead paint regulation effective April 22. He explained that the EPA will not take enforcement action against firms that in good faith submitted firm certification paperwork before April 22 but have not received official approval yet from EPA. A copy of the letter is available for download. However, the EPA will still be taking enforcement actions against parties that fail to follow work practices in pre-1978 homes.
 
Future Actions
NAHB is closely following the continuing actions of the EPA to amend the rule and will be commenting and asking members to submit comments on proposed rule changes. On May 20 at 2 pm EDT, NAHB is hosting a webinar free for members about the lead rule, removal of the opt-out, and guidance for remodelers on managing requirements of the rule. Registration for this event is full, but the webinar will be available for replay. Sign up for the waitlist to receive the webinar replay, For more information, visit the NAHB web site or contact Matt Watkins at 800-368-5242 x8327.
OSHA ‘Impromptu’ inspection on small builder’s jobsite in Texas

Several Texas builders recently received random, ‘drive-by’ OSHA inspections on their jobsites.

Be forewarned—OSHA is increasing its enforcement actions on homebuilding sites across Texas!!

The current OSHA administration has stated that stepped-up enforcement is high priority—and that the agency is definitely “back in the enforcement business”. OSHA’s new Assistant Secretary of Labor, David Michaels, has stated that OSHA’s goal is to “shame employers into compliance”. 
 
The following list is Not All-Inclusive of OSHA Regulations
1. Example of Sub-contractor Responsibility agreement concerning OSHA regulations on residential job sites.
2. OSHA Safety Checklist – Not All-Inclusive.
3. NAHB Bookstore has NAHB-OSHA jobsite safety handbooks and Construction Safety Program Manual – a guide for home builders and Contractors you can purchase. www.builderbooks.com/safety
Or 1-800-223-2665.
 The responsibility statement does not mean that a builder will not receive citations for failure to ensure that working conditions are safe. The agreement requires the subs to follow the builder’s safety rules; therefore the builder should ensure that they havesafety rules and that they have a method to ensure that the subs follow them.
OSHA Job Site Inspections can start anytime. It’s the law NOW! Please get in compliance.
 
 
 
 
 

Construction Tax Center - Helpful IRS Links

Tax Tips - Construction
This section provides important information on topics such as accounting methods, excise taxes, and energy credits.

Related Links - Construction
This page provides you links to sites that have specific information dealing with construction.

Construction Industry Fact Sheet by Criminal Investigation (CI)
Special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation have investigated and recommended to the Department of Justice for prosecution several individuals involved in the construction industry.

First-Time Homebuyer Credit
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 expands the first-time homebuyer credit to include purchases made before Dec. 1, 2009.

General Information for Businesses

Tax Information for All Small Businesses
This section provides general small business information useful in all industries and professions. It includes links to small business products, employment taxes, electronic filing and paying, taxpayer burden reduction, abusive tax avoidance transactions, and many other topics.

Worker Classification (Independent Contractors vs. Employees)
Are you or your help independent consultants or employees? Before you can know how to treat payments you make for services, you must first know the business relationship that exists between you and the person performing the services.

Avoiding Problems
This section contains important information on recordkeeping and warns you of fraudulent schemes.

Prepare Now for the

Lead Paint Rule

TJC Offers Lead Paint Renovator Classes
Download Flier

Other training options: visit www.cedia.org/lead
Remodelers and builders who do renovation or remodeling projects in homes built before 1978 must soon comply with new lead paint safety requirements set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Any company doing work in these homes must be certified, follow specific work practices and keep detailed records.  At least one employee in these companies must be trained in these new requirements by April 2010.

Lead Paint Time Line

Lead Paint Fact Sheet
Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension Enacted Into Law
In a major victory for NAHB that will boost the fledgling housing recovery and help struggling business owners nationwide, Congress this week approved legislation that will extend the first-time home buyer tax credit beyond its Nov. 30 deadline and expand it to a wider group of home buyers.

The legislation, which was signed into law by President Obama Nov. 6, will extend the $8,000 credit for first-time home buyers for sales contracts entered into by April 30, 2010 and closed by June 30. Further, it has been expanded to include a new $6,500 credit for owners of existing homes who are purchasing a new principal residence. An existing home owner can claim the $6,500 tax credit if they have been residing in their principal residence for five consecutive years out of the last eight.

In more good news, the income eligibility limits to claim the full credit amount for both groups of home buyers have been raised from $75,000 for single taxpayers and $150,000 for married taxpayers filing a joint return to $125,000 for individuals and $225,000 for married couples. NAHB’s consumer-oriented Web site, www.FederalHousingTaxCredit.com, provides complete details on the enhanced home buyer tax credit. NAHB will soon launch a set of resources at www.nahb.org/taxcreditresources to help our members understand and promote the new tax credit.
Seven Facts about the Nonbusiness Energy Property Credit 

Taxpayers who take energy saving steps this year may get bigger tax savings next year. The Nonbusiness Energy Property Credit, a tax credit for making energy efficient improvements to homes has been increased as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Here are seven things the IRS wants you to know about the Nonbusiness Energy Property Credit:

  • 1.     The new law increases the credit rate to 30 percent of the cost of all qualifying improvements and raises the maximum credit limit to $1,500 claimed for 2009 and 2010 combined.
  • 2.     The credit applies to improvements such as adding insulation, energy-efficient exterior windows and energy-efficient heating and air conditioning systems.
  • 3.     To qualify as "energy efficient" for purposes of this tax credit, products generally must meet higher standards than the standards for the credit that was available in 2007.
  • 4.     Manufacturers must certify that their products meet new standards and they must provide a written statement to the taxpayer such as with the packaging of the product or in a printable format on the manufacturers' Website.
  • 5.     Qualifying improvements must be placed into service after December 31, 2008, and before January 1, 2011.
  • 6.     The improvements must be made to the taxpayer's principal residence located in the United States.
  • 7.     To claim the credit, attach Form 5695, Residential Energy Credits to either the 2009 or 2010 tax return. Taxpayers must claim the credit on the tax return for the year that the improvements are made.

Homeowners who have been considering some energy efficient home improvements may find these tax credits will get them bigger tax savings next year.

For more information on this and other key tax provisions of the Recovery Act, visit the official IRS Website at IRS.gov/recovery.

Links:

TRCC Sunset: What it Means for Texas Builders

The Texas Residential Construction Commission began to fade away August 31, 2009. What does this mean for builders? No TRCC means that registration of builders and statutory warranties and performance standards are no longer required. However, all Texas home builders and remodelers are encouraged to include these provisions in contracts. The Texas Association of Builders has released new Contract Packages available on CD to TABA members. These contracts include these provisions.

Code requirements in unincorporated areas of the state have gone away along with the TRCC. However, the Texas Legislature recently passed HB 2833, which allows certain counties to require application of the provision of Subchapter 233 of the Texas Local Government Code.

The code requires builders to notify a county of:

  • The beginning of construction
  • Which code you will be constructing to - either the county's adopted code or the 2006 International Residential Code
  • Three inspections by a third party inspector
  • Construction completion

Click here for information about continuing education for builders.