On Sept. 30, a coalition led by Housing First Minnesota sent a letter to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) reiterating its concerns with the department’s approach to the latest draft of its Lead Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) Rule released earlier this year.
Under the draft proposal which has been in the works for nearly a decade, MDH would take over enforcement of the federal RRP Rule from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and adopt a separate rule in Minnesota. As proposed, this approach sought by the Minnesota Department of Health is unseen across the country, with the other state-specific rule adopting the Federal rule by reference.
“The EPA’s RRP/Lead Paint Rule has long been considered imperfect, yet it remains the best approach for Minnesotans,” the letter said. “Given that we are approaching a decade of work on the Proposal, we respectfully request the Department keep the EPA Rule in place in Minnesota and instead use the considerable resources it has allocated to this project to enhance its existing lead prevention programs.”
In the letter, the six groups outlined technical concerns with the latest draft as well as asked the department to provide a written response on three key areas:
- An outline of which state laws or rules conflict with the EPA’s RRP Rule.
- A crosswalk of the EPA rule and the Department’s most recent version of the Proposal.
- An economic analysis by the Department of the current Proposal vs. the EPA version.
Housing First Minnesota has been leading on this issue on behalf of its remodeler members for more than eight years.
Signing on to the letter with Housing First Minnesota were the Minnesota Association of Realtors, Minnesota Multi Housing Association, Builders Association of Minnesota, NARI Minnesota, and the Central Minnesota Builders Association.
