News Release Distributed 07/07/14
BATON ROUGE, La. — The LSU AgCenter LaHouse Resource Center will offer two Lead Certified Renovator Training courses in July. The course will first be held on July 22 at LaHouse in Baton Rouge and then on July 28 at the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training in Natchitoches.
Along with the primary goal of preventing lead poisoning, LaHouse seeks to aid contractors in fulfilling EPA’s Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule requirements, according to Claudette Reichel, AgCenter housing specialist.
The RRP Rule, which requires contractors who disturb paint in pre-1978 homes and child-occupied facilities to be lead certified, decreases the risk of lead contamination caused by common home renovation and repair activities.
“Lead paint dust is hazardous to the health of both contractors and occupants yet is most dangerous to young children and pregnant women,” Reichel said. “Even very low levels of lead in children can cause irreversible damage to developing brains and other organs. It can lead to learning and behavior disorders, impaired hearing and other developmental health effects without clear symptoms of lead poisoning.”
Upon completion of this course, participants will be eligible to take the RRP certification test administered through EnviroEd, a national EPA-accredited RRP training provider. The class also qualifies for eight CEUs for Louisiana Residential Contractors.
Registration includes the course book, activities and the certification test. Individuals who complete the course and pass the certification test will receive official EPA certificates from EnviroEd.
Registration, course fees and more information about the class and the RRP rule are available at www.lsuagcenter.com/LaHouse on the Seminars and Events page.
LaHouse is located at 2858 Gourrier Ave., directly across from Alex Box Baseball Stadium.
Olivia McClure