Honorable William Monning

[Date]

Honorable William Monning

State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax:(916) 651-4917

RE: SB 1073 – Lead-Safe Workpractices

Senator Monning,

[Name of organization] strongly supports SB 1073. [1-2 statements about your organization, for example, mission, vision, or other statement about your work and interest in housing and health].

While progress has been made in recent years, lead poisoning has remained a persistent health problem in California. In 2010, 21,692 children under six years of age tested positive for elevated blood-lead levels (BLLs) in California. While in 2012 California had the fourth largest number of confirmedBLLs above 10 µg/dL in the US, accounting for more than 7% of the US total. The State of California has nearly 33,000 children with blood lead levels ≥5 µg/dL and nearly 6.5 million homes suspected to have lead hazards.

[If you have any specific examples or description of the types of things you commonly see related to lead poisoning (child or worker) and the use of unsafe work practices that point to the need for this bill, include that here].

The best way to reduce the risk of unwanted health impacts is to actively take precautions to avoid exposure to dust created during routine maintenance, renovations, repairs and painting of homes build before 1978, which, for example, account for 80% of the housing in the most populous California city of Los Angeles.

Fortunately, existing state and federal laws protect children, workers, and their families from exposure to lead in paint. California has treated damaged lead-based paint as a housing code violation and required the use of Lead Safe Work Practices (LSWP) on all properties built before 1978 since 2003. In 2010, the US EPA adopted Renovation, Repair, and Painting rules (RRP) that require anyone doing work that could disturb lead-based paint be trained and certified by the EPA on LSWP.

While adding the much needed training on LSWP is a step forward, the US EPA’s RRP has elements that are not as protective as California law. As a result, trainees are often confused as what they need to know to pass the federal exam is sometimes in conflict with what is allowed in California.

In addition to creating regulatory confusion, the US EPA’s enforcement capacity is extremely limited. Because of the lack of enforcement, RRP has not been as effective as it could, leaving children, workers and their families at risk with little immediate recourse. For example, of the over 280,000 licensed General Contractors in the state, fewer than 35,000 individuals in California have become RRP certified.

SB1073 would follow the lead of fourteen other states and create a California specific RRP program on LSWP, grant enforcement authority to local agencies already enforcing the state’s lead laws, and help prevent lead poisoning in the state. SB 1073 will not create any new standards. It will simply adopt and align existing federal regulations into state law making existing rules clearer for those working in California and reducing the risk of exposure to lead paint for children, workers and their families.

We thank you for your leadership on this issue and your commitment of healthy housing.

Sincerely,

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[name]

[title]

[Organization]