§ 1751. Definitions
(a) Words and phrases used in this chapter shall have the same meaning as provided in
the federal Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 unless there
is an inconsistency, in which case any definition provided in this section that narrows,
limits, or restricts shall control.
(b) As used in this chapter:
(1) “Abatement” means any set of measures designed to eliminate lead hazards permanently
in accordance with standards established by appropriate State and federal agencies.
The term includes:
(A) removal of lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust, permanent containment or encapsulation
of lead-based paint, replacement of lead-painted surfaces or components, and removal
or covering of lead-contaminated soil; and
(B) all preparation, cleanup, disposal, and post-abatement clearance testing activities
associated with such measures.
(2) “Accredited training program” means a training program that has been approved by the
Commissioner of Health to provide training for individuals engaged in lead-based paint
activities or RRPM activities. Training program accreditation is issued to a specific
training provider who shall receive accreditation for each training discipline that
the accredited training program offers as a course.
(3) “Certified” means completion of an accredited training program by an individual.
(4) “Child” or “children” means an individual or individuals under 18 years of age, except
where specified as a child or children six years of age or younger.
(5) “Child care facility” means a child care facility or family child care home as defined
in 33 V.S.A. § 3511 that was constructed prior to 1978.
(6) “Child-occupied facility” means a building or portion of a building constructed prior
to 1978, visited regularly by the same child, six years of age or under, on at least
two different days within any week, provided that each day’s visit lasts at least
three hours and the combined weekly visits last at least six hours and the combined
annual visits last at least 60 hours. Child-occupied facilities include child care
facilities, preschools, and kindergarten classrooms.
(7) “Commercial facility” means any building constructed for the purposes of commercial
or industrial activity and not primarily intended for use by the general public, including
office complexes, industrial buildings, warehouses, factories, and storage facilities.
(8) “Component” or “building component” means specific design or structural elements or
fixtures of a facility or residential dwelling that are distinguished from each other
by form, function, and location. These include interior components such as ceilings;
crown moldings; walls; chair rails; doors; door trim; floors; fireplaces; radiators
and other heating units; shelves; shelf supports; stair treads; stair risers; stair
stringers; newel posts; railing caps; balustrades; windows and trim, including sashes,
window heads, jambs, sills, or stools and troughs; built-in cabinets; columns; beams;
bathroom vanities; countertops; air conditioners; and exterior components such as
painting; roofing; chimneys; flashing; gutters and downspouts; ceilings; soffits;
fascias; rake boards; cornerboards; bulkheads; doors and door trim; fences; floors;
joists; lattice work; railings and railing caps; siding; handrails; stair risers and
treads; stair stringers; columns; windowsills or stools and troughs; casings; sashes
and wells; and air conditioners.
(9) “Contractor” means any firm, partnership, association, corporation, sole proprietorship,
or other business concern as well as any governmental, religious, or social organization
or union that agrees to perform services.
(10) “Deteriorated paint” means any interior or exterior lead-based paint or other coating
that is peeling, chipping, chalking, or cracking or any paint or other coating located
on an interior or exterior surface or component that is otherwise damaged or separated
from the substrate.
(11) “Due date” means the date by which an owner of rental target housing or a child care
facility shall file with the Department the RRPM compliance statement required by
section 1759 of this title. The due date shall be one of the following:
(A) not later than 365 days after the most recent RRPM compliance statement was received
by the Department;
(B) within 60 days after the closing of the purchase of the property if no RRPM compliance
statement was filed with the Department within the past 12 months;
(C) any other date agreed to by the owner and the Department; or
(D) any other date set by the Department.
(12) “Dwelling” means any residential unit, including attached structures such as porches
and stoops, used as the home or residence of one or more persons.
(13) “Elevated blood lead level” means having a blood lead level of at least five micrograms
per deciliter of human blood, or a lower threshold as determined by the Commissioner.
(14) “Facility” means any institutional, commercial, public, private, or industrial structure,
installation, or building or private residence and its grounds.
(15) “Firm” means a company, partnership, corporation, sole proprietorship, or individual
doing business; an association or business entity; a State or local government agency;
or a nonprofit organization.
(16) “Independent dust clearance” means a visual examination and collection of dust samples
by a lead-based paint inspector or lead-based paint inspector-risk assessor who has
no financial interest in either the work being performed or the property to be inspected
and is independent of both the persons performing the work and the owner of the property.
The lead-based paint inspector or lead-based paint inspector-risk assessor shall use
methods specified by the Department and analysis by an accredited laboratory to determine
that lead exposures do not exceed limits set by the Department.
(17) “Inspection” means a surface-by-surface investigation to determine the presence of
lead-based paint and other lead hazards and the provision of a report explaining the
results of the investigation.
(18) “Interim controls” means a set of measures designed temporarily to reduce human exposure
or likely exposure to lead hazards, including specialized cleaning, repairs, maintenance,
painting, temporary containment, ongoing monitoring of lead hazards or potential hazards,
and the establishment of management and resident education programs.
(19) “Lead-based paint” means paint or other surface coatings that contain lead in an amount:
(A) equal to 1.0 mg/cm2 or 0.5 percent by weight or greater;
(B) lower than that described in subdivision (A) of this subdivision (19) as may be established
by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development pursuant
to Section 302(c) of the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act; or
(C) lower than that described in subdivision (A) of this subdivision (19) as may be established
by the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
(20) “Lead-based paint abatement supervisor” means any individual who has satisfactorily
completed an accredited training program approved by the Commissioner and has a current
license issued by the Department to perform abatement work supervision.
(21) “Lead-based paint abatement worker” means any individual who has satisfactorily completed
an accredited training program approved by the Commissioner and has a current license
issued by the Department to perform abatement work.
(22) “Lead-based paint activities” means:
(A) with regard to target housing or a child care facility: risk assessment, inspection,
visual inspection for risk assessment, project design, abatement, visual inspection
for clearance, dust clearance after an abatement project, and lab analysis of paint
chip or dust wipe samples collected for the purpose of an inspection or risk assessment;
and
(B) with regard to a public facility constructed before 1978, a commercial building, bridge,
or other structure: inspection, risk assessment, project design, abatement, de-leading,
removal of lead from bridges and other superstructures, visual inspection for clearance,
dust clearance after an abatement project, and lab analysis of paint chip or dust
wipe samples collected for the purposes of an inspection or risk assessment. As used
in this subdivision (B), “de-leading” means activities conducted by a person who offers
to eliminate or plan for the elimination of lead-based paint or lead hazards.
(23) “Lead-based paint contractor” means an entity that employs one or more individuals
licensed by the Department under this chapter and has a current license issued by
the Department to conduct lead-based paint activities or RRPM activities.
(24) “Lead-based paint inspector” means an individual who has satisfactorily completed
an accredited training program approved by the Commissioner and has a current license
issued by the Department to conduct lead-based paint inspections.
(25) “Lead-based paint inspector-risk assessor” means an individual who has satisfactorily
completed an accredited training program approved by the Commissioner and has a current
license issued by the Department to conduct lead-based paint inspections and risk
assessments.
(26) “Lead-based paint project designer” means an individual who has satisfactorily completed
an accredited training program approved by the Commissioner and has a current license
issued by the Department to prepare lead abatement project designs, occupant protection
plans, and abatement reports.
(27) “Lead hazard” means a condition that causes exposure to lead from contaminated dust,
lead-contaminated soil, lead-containing coatings, or lead-contaminated paint that
is deteriorated or present in accessible surfaces, friction surfaces, or impact surfaces
that would result in adverse human health effects.
(28) “Lead-safe RRPM supervisor” means an individual who has completed an accredited RRPM
training program approved by the Commissioner and, if performing services for compensation,
has a current license issued by the Department. This individual is authorized to perform
or supervise RRPM activities in target housing or a child-occupied facility in which
interior or exterior lead-based paint will be disturbed.
(29) “License” means the document issued to an individual, entity, or firm indicating that
the standards for licensure for each discipline, category of entity, or firm established
in this chapter have been met.
(30) “Licensee” means a person who engages in lead-based paint activities or RRPM activities
and has obtained a license to perform such activities for compensation.
(31) “Maintenance” means work intended to maintain and preserve target housing, a child-occupied
facility, a pre-1978 facility, a commercial facility, bridge, or other superstructure.
It does not include minor RRPM activities.
(32) “Minor RRPM activities” means maintenance and repair activities that disturb less
than one square foot of painted surface for interior activities or 20 square feet
or less of painted surface for exterior activities if the work does not involve window
replacement or demolition of painted surface areas. With regard to removing painted
components or portions of painted components, the entire surface area removed is the
amount of painted surface disturbed. Work, other than emergency renovations, performed
in the same room within the same 30-day period shall be considered the same work for
the purposes of determining whether the work is a minor RRPM activity.
(33) “Occupant” means any person who resides in, or regularly uses, a dwelling, mobile
dwelling, or structure.
(34) “Owner” means any person who, alone or jointly or severally with others:
(A) Has legal title to any dwelling or child care facility with or without actual possession
of the property.
(B) Is the Chief Executive Officer of the municipal or State agency that owns, leases,
or controls the use of publicly owned target housing or a child care facility.
(C) Is a person who has taken full legal title of a dwelling or child care facility through
foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure, or otherwise. “Owner” does not include a
person who holds indicia of ownership given by the person in lawful possession for
the primary purpose of assuring repayment of a financial obligation. Indicia of ownership
includes interests in real or personal property held as security or collateral for
repayment of a financial obligation such as a mortgage, lien, security interest, assignment,
pledge, surety bond, or guarantee and includes participation rights of a financial
institution used for legitimate commercial purposes in making or servicing the loan.
(35) “Owner’s representative” means a person who has charge, care, or control of a dwelling
or child care facility as property manager, agent, or guardian of the estate.
(36) “Public facility” means a house of worship; courthouse; jail; municipal room; State
or county institution; railroad station; school building; social hall; hotel, restaurant,
or building used or rented to boarders or roomers; place of amusement; factory; mill;
workshop or building in which persons are employed; building used as a nursery, convalescent
home, or home for the aged; tent or outdoor structure used for public assembly; and
barn, shed, office building, store, shop, shop other than a workshop, or space where
goods are offered for sale, wholesale, or retail. It does not include a family residence
registered as a child care facility.
(37) “Renovation” means the modification of any existing structure or portion of an existing
structure that results in the disturbance of a painted surface unless the activity
is performed as part of a lead-based paint abatement activity or is a minor RRPM activity.
Renovation includes the following when it results in the disturbance of a painted
surface: the removal, modification, re-coating, or repair of a painted surface or
painted component of a surface; the removal of building components; a weatherization
project; and interim controls that disturb painted surfaces. “Renovation” includes
the performance of activities for the purpose of converting a building or part of
a building into target housing or a child-occupied facility when it results in the
disturbance of a painted surface.
(38) “RRPM” means the Renovation, Repair, Painting, and Maintenance Program that pertains
to projects that disturb lead-based paint on target housing and child-occupied facilities.
(39) “RRPM activities” means lead-safe renovation, repair, painting, and maintenance practices
as required by section 1759 of this chapter and as adopted by rule by the Commissioner.
It does not include minor RRPM activities.
(40) “RRPM firm” means a company, partnership, corporation, sole proprietorship, or individual
doing business; association; or other business entity that regularly engages in RRPM
activities for compensation and that employs or contracts with persons to perform
RRPM activities as determined by the Department.
(41) “Rental target housing” means target housing offered for lease or rental under a rental
agreement as defined in 9 V.S.A. § 4451. “Rental target housing” does not include a rented single room located within a dwelling
in which the owner of the dwelling resides unless a child six years of age or younger
resides in or is expected to reside in that dwelling. “Rental target housing” shall
not include units in a hotel, motel, or other lodging, including condominiums that
are rented for transient occupancy for 30 days or less.
(42) “Repair” means the restoration of paint or other coatings that have been damaged,
including the repair of permanent containment around lead-based paint materials in
a facility. Repair of previously encapsulated lead-based paint may involve filling
damaged areas with non-lead paint substitutes and reencapsulating. It shall not include
minor RRPM activities.
(43) “Risk assessment” means an on-site investigation by a lead-based paint inspector-risk
assessor to determine and report the existence, nature, severity, and location of
lead hazards, including information gathering about the age and history of the property
and occupancy by children six years of age or younger, visual inspection, limited
wipe sampling, or other environmental sampling techniques, other appropriate risk
assessment activities, and a report on the results of the investigation.
(44) “Screen,” “screened,” or “screening” relating to blood lead levels means the initial
blood test to determine the presence of lead in a human.
(45) “Superstructure” means a large steel or other industrial structure, such as a bridge
or water tower, that may contain lead-based paint.
(46) “Target housing” means any dwelling constructed prior to 1978, except any 0-bedroom
dwelling or any dwelling located in multiple-unit buildings or projects reserved for
the exclusive use of elders or persons with disabilities, unless a child six years
of age or younger resides in or is expected to reside in that dwelling. (Added 1993, No. 94, § 3; amended 1995, No. 165 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1997, No. 37, § 1; 2007, No. 172 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 2007, No. 176 (Adj. Sess.), § 26, eff. July 1, 2008; 2013, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 93; 2013, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 115; 2017, No. 149 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. October 21, 2022; 2019, No. 4 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. October 21, 2022.)