Regulations on Lead Paint in Salvaged Materials

A well-intentioned lead-based paint disposal rule proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has inadvertently caused confusion and concern in the building materials recycling and salvage industries, but the situation is improving. EPA intended to facilitate lead abatement by reducing materials disposal costs, and the agency had good science to show that lead leaches very, very slowly in the largely dry and inert matrix of C&D landfills. On this basis, in 1998 EPA proposed a rule (

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