Companies and individuals working on renovations that disturb paint in homes, schools and day-care facilities built before 1978 must have the certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or face a fine of up to $37,500 per day.

 

The EPA estimates that about 100,000 people have been certified nationwide, and expects that number to reach 150,000 by the deadline. To receive certification, renovators, maintenance workers in multifamily housing complexes, and painters must take an eight-hour course and pass an exam.

 

Renovation firms and individual renovators must be certified.

 

There are at least 10,000 people in Arkansas who need to be certified said Joe Burak, the executive officer of the Home Builders Association of Greater Little Rock.

 

But of about 190 EPAcertified trainers across the country, only one is based in Arkansas. Building associations and private companies have brought in trainers from outside the state to help contractors meet the deadline.

 

“There’s a pretty sig-nificant need and not enough trainers to get everybody certified by the deadline,” Burak said. He said the EPA “dropped the ball” in making contractors aware of the new requirements, and recruiting trainers in Arkansas.

 

As of Monday, about 275 renovators were trained in Arkansas, according to the EPA.

 

The Home Builders Association is offering certification classes once a month until demand decreases, mostly in central Arkansas. The Associated Builders and Contractors of Arkansas is also offering classes throughout the year around the state.

 

The class teaches contractors cleanup and containment practices to prevent lead contamination in the 38 million homes the EPA estimates were painted with lead-based paint before it was banned in 1978. Lead poisoning is still a major environmental hazard for children, and lead dust such as that stirred up by construction activity, is a source of lead poisoning, which can cause learning disabilities and behavioral and speech problems in young children.

 

Contractors say that the new requirements will increase the time and costs in any renovation project, and that these costs will ultimately be passed along to homeowners.

 

“If our costs go up, we’re not going to work for less money. We’re going to spend our time training, learning the procedures that have been outlined by the EPA. That takes more time from us, more training, more schooling, more time training our employees,” said Jim Childress, who owns Childress and Co. Inc, a contracting company based in Cabot. Childress attended a $175 training class sponsored by the Homebuilders Association and the Associated Contractors and Builders of Arkansas in Little Rock on Tuesday.

 

But ultimately, he said that’s a small price to pay for the extra precautions. “What’s the value of a life? You can’t put a value on that. It’s just something that needs to be done,” Childress said.

 

Other contractors attending Tuesday’s certification class said they worried that they might be penalized for doing the right thing if the new licensing rules are not strictly enforced. Johnny Aaron, a supervisor at Ace Glass who attended the class, estimated that the initial costs of getting new equipment, such as instruments that test for the presence of lead, could run his company between $10,000 and $15,000. While he said the extra protection for children is worth the expense, he said he worried about being undercut by other companies that don’t play by the rules.

 

Childress said that the new regulations are just part of doing business in an industry that is constantly adapting.

 

“The day of a contractor being just a guy with a pickup and a hammer has passed us by very rapidly. It takes constant training,” he said.