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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 4 / Thursday, January 7, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
this document applies to them.
Potentially affected entities may include:
D Real estate NAICS code 531, e.g., lessors of residential buildings and dwellings, residential property managers.
D Other technical and trade schools NAICS code 611519, e.g., training providers.
D Engineering services NAICS code 541330 and building inspection services NAICS code 541350, e.g., dust sampling technicians.
D Lead abatement professionals NAICS code 562910, e.g., firms and supervisors engaged in LBP activities.
D Testing laboratories NAICS code 541380 that analyze dust wipe samples for lead.
D Federal agencies that own residential property NAICS code 92511, 92811.
D Property owners, and property owners that receive assistance through Federal housing programs NAICS code 531110, 531311.

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B. What is the Agencys authority for taking this action?
EPA is finalizing this rule under sections 401 and 402 of the Toxic Substances Control Act TSCA, 15
U.S.C. 2601 et seq., as created by Title X of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 also known as the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 or Title X Pub. L. 102550 Ref. 1.
TSCA section 402 15 U.S.C. 2682
directs EPA to regulate LBP activities, which include risk assessments, inspections, and abatements. TSCA
section 401 15 U.S.C. 2681 defines abatements as measures designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint hazards and the term includes all . . .
cleanup . . . and post-abatement clearance testing activities 15 U.S.C.
26811. EPA is further directed, in promulgating the regulations, to take into account reliability, effectiveness, and safety 15 U.S.C. 2682a1.
C. What action is the Agency taking?
Clearance levels are defined as values that indicate the amount of lead in dust on a surface following completion of an abatement activity 40 CFR 745.223.
Surface dust is collected via dust wipe samples that are sent to a laboratory for analysis. The post-abatement dust-lead levels must be below the clearance levels, which are the standards used to evaluate the effectiveness of postabatement cleanings. If the levels are not below the clearance levels, the components i.e. floors, window sills, etc. represented by the failed samples
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shall be recleaned and retested. In 2001, EPA originally established DLCL of 40
mg/ft2 for floors, 250 mg/ft2 for window sills and 400 mg/ft2 for window troughs in a final rule entitled, Identification of Dangerous Levels of Lead. See 66 FR
1206, January 5, 2001 FRL67635, also known as the 2001 LBP Hazards Rule Ref. 2.
On June 24, 2020, EPA proposed to revise the DLCL for window sills and floors. EPA is now finalizing its proposal to lower the DLCL set by the 2001 LBP Hazards Rule, from 40 mg/ft2
to 10 mg/ft2 for floor dust and from 250
mg/ft2 to 100 mg/ft2 for window sill dust.
As explained elsewhere in this preamble, EPA is not revising the DLCL
for window troughs at this time. The revised DLCL of 10 mg/ft2 on floors and 100 mg/ft2 on window sills will not apply retroactively; that is, this final rule will not impose retroactive requirements on regulated entities that have previously performed postabatement clearance testing using the original DLCL of 40 mg/ft2 on floors or 250 mg/ft2 on window sills. While EPAs dust-lead hazard standards DLHS do not compel property owners to evaluate their property for hazards or take control actions 40 CFR 745.61c, if someone opts to perform a lead-based paint activity such as an abatement, then EPAs regulations set requirements for doing so 40 CFR 745.220d. This final rule requires individuals and firms who perform an abatement to achieve values below the DLCL of 10 mg/ft2 on floors and 100 mg/ft2 on window sills at the end of the abatement, which the 2019 rule updating the DLHS Review of the Dust-Lead Hazard Standards and the Definition of Lead-Based Paint, 84
FR 32632, July 9, 2019 FRL999549, also known as the 2019 DLHS Rule did not require under EPAs regulations Ref. 3.
D. Why is the Agency taking this action?
Reducing childhood lead exposure is an EPA priority. EPA continues to collaborate with its federal partners to reduce lead exposures and, in so doing, to explore ways to strengthen its relationships and partnerships with states, tribes, and localities. In December 2018, the Presidents Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children released the Federal Action Plan to Reduce Childhood Lead Exposures and Associated Health Impacts Lead Action Plan Ref. 4 to enhance the Federal Governments efforts to identify and reduce lead exposure while ensuring children impacted by such exposure are getting the support and care they need to prevent or mitigate any associated
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health effects. The Lead Action Plan is helping Federal agencies to work strategically and collaboratively to reduce exposure to lead and improve childrens health. This final rule, which revises the DLCL, is an action that EPA
committed to undertake in the Lead Action Plan Ref. 5.
In the 2001 LBP Hazards Rule, EPA
first established the DLHS that identify dust-lead hazards and the DLCL used to evaluate the effectiveness of cleaning following an abatement. Abatements are designed to permanently eliminate LBP
hazards including dust-lead hazards.
In 2019, EPA reevaluated the DLHS
Ref. 3. Based on that revaluation, the final rule revised the DLHS from 40 mg/
ft2 and 250 mg/ft2 to 10 mg/ft2 and 100
mg/ft2 on floors and window sills, respectively. EPA based that decision on the best available science, the Agencys review of public comments received on the proposal for that rule, and consideration of the potential for risk reduction, including whether such actions were achievable. At that time, EPA focused its rulemaking on the DLHS and the definition of LBP, which were the two actions that EPA had agreed to undertake in response to a 2009 citizen petition Ref. 6. In that rulemaking, EPA did not propose to change DLCL in 40 CFR part 745, subpart L.
However, EPA recognizes the important relationship between the DLHS and DLCL: The DLHS are used to identify dust-lead hazards and the DLCL
are used to demonstrate that specific abatement activities have effectively abated those hazards. The purpose of this final rule is to update the DLCL so that attaining these levels demonstrates elimination of dust-lead hazards under the revised 2019 DLHS. Based on the Agencys careful review of the public comments received on the proposal, EPA is finalizing its proposal to revise the DLCL to 10 mg/ft2 for floors and to 100 mg/ft2 for window sills. EPA finds that attaining these DLCL abates the dust-lead hazards identified under the 2019 standards, taking into account reliability, effectiveness, and safety.
EPA has not been persuaded that elimination of the dust-lead hazards 15
U.S.C. 26811 while accounting for reliability, effectiveness, and safety 15
U.S.C. 2682a1 justifies selecting different clearance levels. Although EPA
is not persuaded to deviate from 10 mg/
ft2 for floors and 100 mg/ft2 for window sills for the DLCL, the Agency did consider whether potential reliability, effectiveness, or safety factors supported different clearance levels. In particular, EPA considered the achievability of 10
mg/ft2 for floors and 100 mg/ft2 for
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