B. Federal Lead-Based Paint Enforcement Bench Book - National ...

E. How Federal Enforcement Programs Work
Generally, EPA and HUD place high priority on investigating and enforcing violations that involve lead
poisoned children, particularly when associated with target housing linked to multiple and/or successive
cases of lead poisoning.
An enforcement case typically proceeds through three stages:
• Compliance monitoring (inspection and investigation);
• Enforcement case development; and
• Case resolution, via settlement or litigation.
1. Compliance Monitoring
EPA and HUD conduct Disclosure Rule inspections nationwide. For TSCA LBP programs, EPA
performs inspections in EPA-run jurisdictions, and States/Tribes conduct inspections in their respective
jurisdictions for the TSCA program(s) for which they are authorized.
Inspection Targets
EPA (and HUD) typically determine inspection targets from among:
• Tips and complaints from citizens 576 ;
• Informal referrals from state and local agencies 577 ; and
• Strategic plans based on objective data (such as blood-lead surveillance data).
Strategic plans are increasingly important, since they allow the agencies to focus limited resources on lead
poisoning “hot spots” (i.e., communities with a high occurrence of children with EBLLs). 578
Disclosure Rule Inspections
EPA (and HUD) Disclosure Rule “inspections” involve reviewing sale and lease transaction records that
an owner/lessor/agent is required to retain under the rule. 579 Most violations come to light when the
requisite documentation is absent or substantively deficient.
Typically, inspections occur at the owner/landlord/agent’s place of business. 580 (There is no physical
inspection of the target housing itself, unless the necessary records happen to be retained at that
location.) Alternatively, EPA or HUD may send an Information Request Letter (IRL) requesting
voluntary submission of a sample, or all, of the required records. EPA also may exercise its TSCA
subpoena authority, 581 with or without a prior IRL. Since HUD has no TSCA authority, EPA may
576 See www.epa.gov/compliance/complaints, or www.hud.gov/offices/lead/enforcement. See also section VI.F, below. If a
tip/complaint alleges a TSCA LBP violation in an authorized State/Tribal jurisdiction, then EPA will refer the matter to the
appropriate State/Tribal authorities.
577 See sections VI.F and G, below.
578 EPA also considers reducing the incidence of EBLLs a national environmental justice priority. See EPA Memorandum,
S. Johnson, Reaffirming the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Commitment to Environmental Justice (Nov. 4, 2005), and
references therein, www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/policies/ej/admin-ej-commit-letter-110305.pdf.
579 See Part II.C of this book, Title X and the Disclosure Rule – The Disclosure Rule.
580 HUD and EPA have inherent authority for Disclosure Rule inspections. See generally 42 U.S.C. § 4852d; 24 C.F.R. §
35.96; 40 C.F.R. § 745.118. EPA also has explicit inspection authority under Section 11 of TSCA. 15 U.S.C. § 2610(a)-(b).
581 15 U.S.C. § 2610(c).
NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTHY HOUSING www.nchh.org 79