Hello REALTORS®,
From time-to-time, the EPA sends enforcement teams to South Carolina to look for violations of the federal Lead Paint Rule. Enforcement of the Lead Paint Rule in South Carolina is led by the EPA’s Atlanta office. However, the SC Department of Environmental Services also has enforcement responsibility for the lead paint rule under the SC Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention and Control Act.
Why is the Lead Paint Rule Important?
Exposure to lead is harmful to humans, especially young children. Lead paint was banned for residential use in 1978. But prior to that, and especially prior to 1970, lead could be found in many products, including gasoline. While lead paint hasn’t been used for decades, homes built before 1978 could still have lead paint in them, often below several layers of modern paint, waiting to surface if scraped or if the paint begins to peel.
That is why the federal government requires contractors and others involved in remodeling older homes to be certified to properly manage their work when lead paint is present.
Property Managers and the Lead Paint Rule
The Lead Paint Rule doesn’t just apply to contractors; it also applies to property managers who manage older properties. This is because property managers are almost always involved in facilitating remodeling and repairs, which includes painting.
If you are a property manager:
- Managing housing that was built before 1978.
- Managing any property built before 1978 that is occupied by a child (like a childcare center).
- Performing or contracting to perform regulated construction activity that disturbs lead paint at the property.
You are required to have Lead Safe Firm certification for your firm and Lead Safe Renovator certification for your employees involved in facilitating covered activities. Even if your company subcontracts renovation and repair work, your firm and employees must be certified by the EPA. In addition, you must use a certified renovator if the work disturbs lead paint. These certifications have an expiration date, so it is important that those certifications are kept up to date.
You can learn more about complying with these new rules by visiting this EPA webpage on lead paint.
Anderson County Elections Update
The party primaries are June 9, but there is other election news in Anderson County:
City of Anderson District 5
The April 7 election to replace long-time Anderson City Councilwoman Beatrice Thompson has been invalidated by the City of Anderson’s Municipal Election Commission. They found that the winner of the election, Tonya Winbush, did not live at the address she listed on her filing form—they found that she lives outside the city. Darryl Thompson, the other candidate in the race, appealed the results. Winbush has filed an appeal of the commission’s decision to the SC Court of Common Pleas, the next step in the process when an election result is contested.
West Pelzer Town Council
Julia Clanton defeated Jason Knight and Jodie Southwood in a special election to fill an unexpired term on West Pelzer Town Council. Clanton received 37 votes, Knight received 11 votes, and Southwood received 7 votes. Clanton will assume the council seat vacated by Rick Sanders following his election to Mayor. Clanton is a teacher and coach at Palmetto Middle School.
Anderson County School District 2 Bond Referendum
District 2 will hold a special election on Saturday, May 2. If approved by the voters, the school district will issue $60 million in general obligation bonds to fund several planned school construction projects including a new middle school. The estimated impact of the new debt on a $100,000 home is $84 per year.
Polls are open 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Most polling places are the same as for regular elections. You can find your polling place by visiting here.
RPAC is Important
If real estate is your profession, advocacy is your business. And these advocacy results highlight the importance of supporting your association’s advocacy program.
RPAC is an important element of that advocacy program. About one-third of our members support RPAC. We encourage all Realtors to support RPAC, and we make it easy to do so. We include a voluntary $25 RPAC contribution ($100 for brokers) on your annual dues renewal. Simply pay it and you have supported RPAC. If you want to do more, that’s easy too.
Addie Patterson and Michael Dey
Western Upstate Association of REALTORS® Government Affairs Team