(a)  The following persons engaged in the following types of lead construction work shall have a certificate:

(1)  Persons who receive pay for doing lead hazard evaluations, including, but not limited to, lead inspections, lead risk assessments, or lead clearance inspections, in residential or public buildings.

(2)  Persons preparing or designing plans for the abatement of lead-based paint or lead hazards from residential or public buildings.

(3)  Persons doing any work designed to reduce or eliminate lead hazards on a permanent basis (to last 20 years or more) from residential or public buildings.

(4)  Persons inspecting for lead or doing lead abatement activities in a public elementary school, preschool, or day care center.

(5)  Persons doing lead-related construction work in a residential or public building that will expose a person to airborne lead at or above the eight-hour permissible exposure limit of 50 micrograms per cubic meter.

(b)  Persons performing routine maintenance and repairs in housing are not required to have a certificate if they are not performing any of the activities listed under subdivision (a).

(c)  The department may adopt regulations to modify certification requirements for persons engaged in lead construction work based on changes to state or federal law, or programmatic need.

(d)  The department or any local enforcement agency may, consistent with Section 17972, enter, inspect, and photograph any premises where abatement or a lead hazard evaluation is being conducted or has been ordered, enter the place of business of any person who conducts abatement or lead hazard evaluations, and inspect and copy any business record of any person who conducts abatement or lead hazard evaluations to determine whether the person is complying with this section.

(e)  A violation of this section shall be punishable by imprisonment for not more than six months in the county jail, a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine.

(Added by Stats. 2002, Ch. 931, Sec. 7. Effective January 1, 2003.)