[Washington, DC] - The Window and Door Manufacturers Association (WDMA) today applauded the House Appropriations Committee for adopting a WDMA-supported amendment to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 2012 budget which would prohibit the agency from enforcing its Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting (LRRP) Rule until the agency approves a reliable lead test kit as mandated by the agency's own rule.  The amendment was sponsored by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT) and was approved by a voice vote of the committee.

Under the LRRP Rule, EPA was supposed to have approved a commercially-available lead test kit which produced no more than ten percent false positives and five percent false negatives.  Currently no such kit is available on the market, with some current kits producing false positives as high as 60 percent, thereby forcing LRRP compliance and the additional costs upon thousands of consumers in homes that otherwise would have tested negative.   

"WDMA commends Congressman Rehberg and the members of the committee who supported his amendment for their leadership on this issue," said WDMA President and CEO Michael O'Brien.  "It is entirely reasonable to expect EPA to comply with their own regulations especially since it expects the window, door and skylight industry to comply.  We are doing our part, they should do theirs."

The bill now moves to the full House of Representatives for consideration.