Recordkeeping requirements firms

Renovations must be performed by certified firms. The certification requirements for renovation firms are identical to the certification requirements for firms that perform lead-based paint activities, except that renovation firm certification lasts for 5 years instead of 3 years. A firm that wishes to become certified to perform renovations must submit an appUcation, along with the correct amount of fees, attesting that it will assign a certified renovator to each renovation that it performs, that it will use only certified or properly trained individuals to perform renovations, and that it will follow the work practice standards and recordkeeping requirements in this regulation. 

In addition, as proposed in the 2006 Proposal, EPA has modified paragraph (a) of 40 CFR 745.86 to make compliance with the recordkeeping requirements the responsibility of the renovation firm, not the certified renovator. Although, as discussed in the following, this final rule requires the certified renovator assigned to a renovation to certify compliance with the work practice requirements for that renovation, the renovation firm may choose to delegate other tasks associated with recordkeeping... 

Consistent with the 2006 Proposal and the 2007 Supplemental Proposal, this final rule requires renovation firms to maintain this signed statement, which must include the address of the housing being renovated, for 3 years after the completion of the renovation. Again, although EPA received comments on the merits of this exception, no comments were directed specifically to the recordkeeping requirement. EPA has determined that the recordkeeping requirement is necessary to allow EPA to monitor compliance with the terms of this exception. 

The 2006 Proposal also included a requirement that renovation firms maintain documentation of compliance with the renovator and worker training requirements and the work practice requirements. This documentation would have had to include signed and dated descriptions of how activities performed by the certified renovator were conducted in compHance with the proposed requirements. To demonstrate how these recordkeeping requirements might be met, EPA prepared and placed into the docket a draft recordkeeping checklist. 

The first is to allow EPA or an authorized state to review a renovation firm s compliance with the substantive requirements of the regulation through reviewing the records maintained for all of the renovation jobs the firm has done. The second is to remind a renovation firm what it must do to comply. EPA envisioned that renovation firms would use the recordkeeping requirements and checklist as an aid to make sure that they have done everything they are required to do for a particular renovation. For these two purposes, there is no substitute for recordkeeping by renovation firms. 

However, EPA agrees with those commenters who felt that the recordkeeping requirements were vague, particularly in light of the draft recordkeeping checklist itself and the amount of time that EPA estimated it would take a renovation firm to complete... 

The essence of TSCA 8(c) is recordkeeping and a firm subject to the requirements of this rule is required to establish and maintain records of significant adverse reactions alleged to have been caused by chemical substances or mixtures manufactured or processed by the firm. All records are to be maintained together at the firm s headquarters or any such other appropriate location central to the firm s chemical operations. ... 

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