Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 18, § 1751 (2026)

§ 1751. Definitions

(a) Words and phrases used in this chapter shall have the same meaning as provided in the federal Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 unless there is an inconsistency, in which case any definition provided in this section that narrows, limits, or restricts shall control.

(b) As used in this chapter:

(1) “Abatement” means any set of measures designed to eliminate lead hazards permanently in accordance with standards established by appropriate State and federal agencies. The term includes:

(A) removal of lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust, permanent containment or encapsulation of lead-based paint, replacement of lead-painted surfaces or components, and removal or covering of lead-contaminated soil; and

(B) all preparation, cleanup, disposal, and post-abatement clearance testing activities associated with such measures.

(2) “Accredited training program” means a training program that has been approved by the Commissioner of Health to provide training for individuals engaged in lead-based paint activities or RRPM activities. Training program accreditation is issued to a specific training provider who shall receive accreditation for each training discipline that the accredited training program offers as a course.

(3) “Certified” means completion of an accredited training program by an individual.

(4) “Child” or “children” means an individual or individuals under 18 years of age, except where specified as a child or children six years of age or younger.

(5) “Child care facility” means a child care facility or family child care home as defined in 33 V.S.A. § 3511 that was constructed prior to 1978.

(6) “Child-occupied facility” means a building or portion of a building constructed prior to 1978, visited regularly by the same child, six years of age or under, on at least two different days within any week, provided that each day’s visit lasts at least three hours and the combined weekly visits last at least six hours and the combined annual visits last at least 60 hours. Child-occupied facilities include child care facilities, preschools, and kindergarten classrooms.

(7) “Commercial facility” means any building constructed for the purposes of commercial or industrial activity and not primarily intended for use by the general public, including office complexes, industrial buildings, warehouses, factories, and storage facilities.

(8) “Component” or “building component” means specific design or structural elements or fixtures of a facility or residential dwelling that are distinguished from each other by form, function, and location. These include interior components such as ceilings; crown moldings; walls; chair rails; doors; door trim; floors; fireplaces; radiators and other heating units; shelves; shelf supports; stair treads; stair risers; stair stringers; newel posts; railing caps; balustrades; windows and trim, including sashes, window heads, jambs, sills, or stools and troughs; built-in cabinets; columns; beams; bathroom vanities; countertops; air conditioners; and exterior components such as painting; roofing; chimneys; flashing; gutters and downspouts; ceilings; soffits; fascias; rake boards; cornerboards; bulkheads; doors and door trim; fences; floors; joists; lattice work; railings and railing caps; siding; handrails; stair risers and treads; stair stringers; columns; windowsills or stools and troughs; casings; sashes and wells; and air conditioners.

(9) “Contractor” means any firm, partnership, association, corporation, sole proprietorship, or other business concern as well as any governmental, religious, or social organization or union that agrees to perform services.

(10) “Deteriorated paint” means any interior or exterior lead-based paint or other coating that is peeling, chipping, chalking, or cracking or any paint or other coating located on an interior or exterior surface or component that is otherwise damaged or separated from the substrate.

(11) “Due date” means the date by which an owner of rental target housing or a child care facility shall file with the Department the RRPM compliance statement required by section 1759 of this title. The due date shall be one of the following:

(A) not later than 365 days after the most recent RRPM compliance statement was received by the Department;

(B) within 60 days after the closing of the purchase of the property if no RRPM compliance statement was filed with the Department within the past 12 months;

(C) any other date agreed to by the owner and the Department; or

(D) any other date set by the Department.

(12) “Dwelling” means any residential unit, including attached structures such as porches and stoops, used as the home or residence of one or more persons.

(13) “Elevated blood lead level” means having a blood lead level of at least five micrograms per deciliter of human blood, or a lower threshold as determined by the Commissioner.

(14) “Facility” means any institutional, commercial, public, private, or industrial structure, installation, or building or private residence and its grounds.

(15) “Firm” means a company, partnership, corporation, sole proprietorship, or individual doing business; an association or business entity; a State or local government agency; or a nonprofit organization.

(16) “Independent dust clearance” means a visual examination and collection of dust samples by a lead-based paint inspector or lead-based paint inspector-risk assessor who has no financial interest in either the work being performed or the property to be inspected and is independent of both the persons performing the work and the owner of the property. The lead-based paint inspector or lead-based paint inspector-risk assessor shall use methods specified by the Department and analysis by an accredited laboratory to determine that lead exposures do not exceed limits set by the Department.

(17) “Inspection” means a surface-by-surface investigation to determine the presence of lead-based paint and other lead hazards and the provision of a report explaining the results of the investigation.

(18) “Interim controls” means a set of measures designed temporarily to reduce human exposure or likely exposure to lead hazards, including specialized cleaning, repairs, maintenance, painting, temporary containment, ongoing monitoring of lead hazards or potential hazards, and the establishment of management and resident education programs.

(19) “Lead-based paint” means paint or other surface coatings that contain lead in an amount:

(A) equal to 1.0 mg/cm2 or 0.5 percent by weight or greater;

(B) lower than that described in subdivision (A) of this subdivision (19) as may be established by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to Section 302(c) of the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act; or

(C) lower than that described in subdivision (A) of this subdivision (19) as may be established by the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

(20) “Lead-based paint abatement supervisor” means any individual who has satisfactorily completed an accredited training program approved by the Commissioner and has a current license issued by the Department to perform abatement work supervision.

(21) “Lead-based paint abatement worker” means any individual who has satisfactorily completed an accredited training program approved by the Commissioner and has a current license issued by the Department to perform abatement work.

(22) “Lead-based paint activities” means:

(A) with regard to target housing or a child care facility: risk assessment, inspection, visual inspection for risk assessment, project design, abatement, visual inspection for clearance, dust clearance after an abatement project, and lab analysis of paint chip or dust wipe samples collected for the purpose of an inspection or risk assessment; and

(B) with regard to a public facility constructed before 1978, a commercial building, bridge, or other structure: inspection, risk assessment, project design, abatement, de-leading, removal of lead from bridges and other superstructures, visual inspection for clearance, dust clearance after an abatement project, and lab analysis of paint chip or dust wipe samples collected for the purposes of an inspection or risk assessment. As used in this subdivision (B), “de-leading” means activities conducted by a person who offers to eliminate or plan for the elimination of lead-based paint or lead hazards.

(23) “Lead-based paint contractor” means an entity that employs one or more individuals licensed by the Department under this chapter and has a current license issued by the Department to conduct lead-based paint activities or RRPM activities.

(24) “Lead-based paint inspector” means an individual who has satisfactorily completed an accredited training program approved by the Commissioner and has a current license issued by the Department to conduct lead-based paint inspections.

(25) “Lead-based paint inspector-risk assessor” means an individual who has satisfactorily completed an accredited training program approved by the Commissioner and has a current license issued by the Department to conduct lead-based paint inspections and risk assessments.

(26) “Lead-based paint project designer” means an individual who has satisfactorily completed an accredited training program approved by the Commissioner and has a current license issued by the Department to prepare lead abatement project designs, occupant protection plans, and abatement reports.

(27) “Lead hazard” means a condition that causes exposure to lead from contaminated dust, lead-contaminated soil, lead-containing coatings, or lead-contaminated paint that is deteriorated or present in accessible surfaces, friction surfaces, or impact surfaces that would result in adverse human health effects.

(28) “Lead-safe RRPM supervisor” means an individual who has completed an accredited RRPM training program approved by the Commissioner and, if performing services for compensation, has a current license issued by the Department. This individual is authorized to perform or supervise RRPM activities in target housing or a child-occupied facility in which interior or exterior lead-based paint will be disturbed.

(29) “License” means the document issued to an individual, entity, or firm indicating that the standards for licensure for each discipline, category of entity, or firm established in this chapter have been met.

(30) “Licensee” means a person who engages in lead-based paint activities or RRPM activities and has obtained a license to perform such activities for compensation.

(31) “Maintenance” means work intended to maintain and preserve target housing, a child-occupied facility, a pre-1978 facility, a commercial facility, bridge, or other superstructure. It does not include minor RRPM activities.

(32) “Minor RRPM activities” means maintenance and repair activities that disturb less than one square foot of painted surface for interior activities or 20 square feet or less of painted surface for exterior activities if the work does not involve window replacement or demolition of painted surface areas. With regard to removing painted components or portions of painted components, the entire surface area removed is the amount of painted surface disturbed. Work, other than emergency renovations, performed in the same room within the same 30-day period shall be considered the same work for the purposes of determining whether the work is a minor RRPM activity.

(33) “Occupant” means any person who resides in, or regularly uses, a dwelling, mobile dwelling, or structure.

(34) “Owner” means any person who, alone or jointly or severally with others:

(A) Has legal title to any dwelling or child care facility with or without actual possession of the property.

(B) Is the Chief Executive Officer of the municipal or State agency that owns, leases, or controls the use of publicly owned target housing or a child care facility.

(C) Is a person who has taken full legal title of a dwelling or child care facility through foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure, or otherwise. “Owner” does not include a person who holds indicia of ownership given by the person in lawful possession for the primary purpose of assuring repayment of a financial obligation. Indicia of ownership includes interests in real or personal property held as security or collateral for repayment of a financial obligation such as a mortgage, lien, security interest, assignment, pledge, surety bond, or guarantee and includes participation rights of a financial institution used for legitimate commercial purposes in making or servicing the loan.

(35) “Owner’s representative” means a person who has charge, care, or control of a dwelling or child care facility as property manager, agent, or guardian of the estate.

(36) “Public facility” means a house of worship; courthouse; jail; municipal room; State or county institution; railroad station; school building; social hall; hotel, restaurant, or building used or rented to boarders or roomers; place of amusement; factory; mill; workshop or building in which persons are employed; building used as a nursery, convalescent home, or home for the aged; tent or outdoor structure used for public assembly; and barn, shed, office building, store, shop, shop other than a workshop, or space where goods are offered for sale, wholesale, or retail. It does not include a family residence registered as a child care facility.

(37) “Renovation” means the modification of any existing structure or portion of an existing structure that results in the disturbance of a painted surface unless the activity is performed as part of a lead-based paint abatement activity or is a minor RRPM activity. Renovation includes the following when it results in the disturbance of a painted surface: the removal, modification, re-coating, or repair of a painted surface or painted component of a surface; the removal of building components; a weatherization project; and interim controls that disturb painted surfaces. “Renovation” includes the performance of activities for the purpose of converting a building or part of a building into target housing or a child-occupied facility when it results in the disturbance of a painted surface.

(38) “RRPM” means the Renovation, Repair, Painting, and Maintenance Program that pertains to projects that disturb lead-based paint on target housing and child-occupied facilities.

(39) “RRPM activities” means lead-safe renovation, repair, painting, and maintenance practices as required by section 1759 of this chapter and as adopted by rule by the Commissioner. It does not include minor RRPM activities.

(40) “RRPM firm” means a company, partnership, corporation, sole proprietorship, or individual doing business; association; or other business entity that regularly engages in RRPM activities for compensation and that employs or contracts with persons to perform RRPM activities as determined by the Department.

(41) “Rental target housing” means target housing offered for lease or rental under a rental agreement as defined in 9 V.S.A. § 4451. “Rental target housing” does not include a rented single room located within a dwelling in which the owner of the dwelling resides unless a child six years of age or younger resides in or is expected to reside in that dwelling. “Rental target housing” shall not include units in a hotel, motel, or other lodging, including condominiums that are rented for transient occupancy for 30 days or less.

(42) “Repair” means the restoration of paint or other coatings that have been damaged, including the repair of permanent containment around lead-based paint materials in a facility. Repair of previously encapsulated lead-based paint may involve filling damaged areas with non-lead paint substitutes and reencapsulating. It shall not include minor RRPM activities.

(43) “Risk assessment” means an on-site investigation by a lead-based paint inspector-risk assessor to determine and report the existence, nature, severity, and location of lead hazards, including information gathering about the age and history of the property and occupancy by children six years of age or younger, visual inspection, limited wipe sampling, or other environmental sampling techniques, other appropriate risk assessment activities, and a report on the results of the investigation.

(44) “Screen,” “screened,” or “screening” relating to blood lead levels means the initial blood test to determine the presence of lead in a human.

(45) “Superstructure” means a large steel or other industrial structure, such as a bridge or water tower, that may contain lead-based paint.

(46) “Target housing” means any dwelling constructed prior to 1978, except any 0-bedroom dwelling or any dwelling located in multiple-unit buildings or projects reserved for the exclusive use of elders or persons with disabilities, unless a child six years of age or younger resides in or is expected to reside in that dwelling. (Added 1993, No. 94, § 3; amended 1995, No. 165 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1997, No. 37, § 1; 2007, No. 172 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 2007, No. 176 (Adj. Sess.), § 26, eff. July 1, 2008; 2013, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 93; 2013, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 115; 2017, No. 149 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. October 21, 2022; 2019, No. 4 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. October 21, 2022.)