On November 12, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule addressing health concerns for children with high blood lead levels. The final rule would lower the dust-lead hazard standards (DLHS) from 10 micrograms per square foot (µg/ft2) and 100 µg/ft2 for floors and windowsills to require testing by an EPA-accredited to any reportable levels of lead. Also, this final rule would change the Dust-Lead Clearance Levels (DLCL) from 10 µg/ft2, 100 µg/ft2, and 400 µg/ft2 for floors, windowsills, and window troughs, respectively, to 5 µg/ft2, 40 µg/ft2, and 100 µg/ft2. This new DLCL will reflect EPA’s considerations of reliability, effectiveness, and safety, including non-health factors such as laboratory capabilities/capacity and achievability after an abatement. This final rule is a change from the EPA’s longstanding policy to set the DLHS and DLCL standards at the same level. EPA also finalized changes to adopt the terms “dust-lead reportable levels” and “dust-lead action levels” and revisions to both the definition of target housing and the definition of abatement.
The EPA will host a webinar on the final rule on December 5, 2024.
Register for the Final Rule to Strengthen Lead-Based Paint Dust Standards webinar. For more information on the rule, visit EPA.gov.
Read the final rule on federalregister.gov.
Advocacy contact: Send an email to Emily Jones at Emily.Jones@sba.gov.