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Commerce seeks statutory authority, fee rules to sustain state lead‑paint programs
Summary
Commerce told the committee Substitute SB 5494 would authorize the agency to run and enforce the renovation, repair and painting lead program, let Commerce adopt fees by rule, and add appeals and enforcement clarifications; Commerce estimates draft fees could raise roughly $700,000 per year.
The committee heard staff briefing and stakeholder testimony on Substitute Senate Bill 5494, which would explicitly authorize the Department of Commerce to administer and enforce Washington’s renovation, repair, and painting (RRP) lead‑based paint program and align its statutory authority with the existing lead‑based paint activities program.
Megan McFadden (committee staff) described that Commerce currently administers two related lead programs: (1) a lead‑based paint activities program (statutorily authorized) that certifies and inspects abatement contractors and training providers; and (2) a renovation, repair, and painting (RRP) program (not explicitly authorized in statute) that certifies contractors working on pre‑1978 residential and child‑occupied facilities. Substitute SB 5494 would expressly authorize Commerce to administer and enforce the RRP program and make three principal changes: allow Commerce to set fees by rule sufficient to cover program costs (replacing specific fees currently in statute), require the programs to be at least as protective as federal requirements (rather than equal to them), and add an appeals process while preventing Commerce from double‑penalizing a party where EPA has already taken enforcement action.
Jessica Van Horn, who staffed the committee’s fiscal review, summarized Commerce’s draft fee schedule used for the fiscal note: a renovation/repair/painting fee of $300 every five years and a lead‑based paint activity fee of $180 every three years. Using the draft schedule, Commerce estimated approximately $700,000 in annual revenues beginning FY27; the Senate chair’s budget assumed fee revenues and expenditures of $1.4 million per biennium from the lead paint account. Commerce staff and certified training providers and contractors testified in support, saying Commerce’s collaborative enforcement and contractor assistance approach is preferable to direct EPA administration, which contractors said tends to be more punitive and costly. Witnesses emphasized Commerce’s long experience certifying companies and doing inspections and said statutory authority and fee flexibility would help sustain program operations.
The committee did not take a formal vote during the hearing.
