Lowe's Home Centers LLC RRP Settlement Summary

Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC RRP 2025 Settlement Summary

Settlement Resources
- Press Release
- Lowe's Consent Decree (pdf) (1.97 MB)
On November 25, 2025, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice announced a settlement agreement with Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC, a subsidiary of Lowe’s Company, Inc. for alleged violations of EPA’s Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting rule during home renovations performed by Lowe’s installers across the country. Lowe’s will pay a $12.5 million penalty and ensure compliance with lead safety standards by its employees and installers.

About Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC

Lowe’s Company, Inc. a Fortune 100 company located in Mooresville, North Carolina, is the second largest hardware and home improvement chain with 1,750 home improvement stores in the United States and over 300,000 employees. Lowe’s contracts with firms it refers to as “installers” to perform renovation projects.

Summary of Violations

EPA found that Lowe’s was in noncompliance with multiple sections of the Toxic Substances Control Act’s Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting rule. Additionally, the company was in violation of requirements under an existing 2014 consent decree. Under the RRP, all firms performing renovation work in homes built before 1978 need to ensure that work is done by certified firms and trained renovators use lead-safe work practices to minimize residents’ exposure to lead paint chips and dust.

In reviewing reports submitted by Lowe’s under the terms of the 2014 consent decree, EPA found TSCA and RRP violations at over 250 home renovation jobs in 23 states, primarily for jobs between 2019 and 2021. EPA discovered some of the violations after investigating the problems disclosed by Lowe’s in periodic compliance reports. EPA found additional violations after responding to a tip from a member of the public concerning door replacements and other renovations performed by a firm hired by Lowe’s to do work in southern and central California.

The United States alleged failures by Lowe’s to ensure compliance with the following requirements of RRP rule:

• Provide residents and customers with required educational risk information about lead-based paint before starting a renovation where lead-based paint could be present.
• Ensure that all workers at the renovation site are either certified renovators or got on-the-job training from a certified renovator.
• Assign at least one certified renovator to each renovation job.
• Document, appropriately, use of an EPA-recognized lead testing kit, testing locations, and test results.
• Ensure compliance with lead-safe work practice standards.
• Contain dust in the work area.
• Cover windows to the work area.
• Use plastic sheeting to catch exterior dust and paint chips.
• Establish and retain records to demonstrate compliance.

Health Impacts

Lead exposure can cause behavioral problems, learning disabilities, seizures and death. Children under six years of age are most at risk from exposure to lead-based paint because they crawl on the floor, and putting their hands, toys, and other items into their mouth with dust from lead-based paint. Because their bodies are still growing, children tend to absorb more lead than adults.

Children exposed to lead can suffer from:

• Lowered IQ
• Damage to the brain and nervous system
• Learning and behavioral difficulties
• Slowed growth
• Hearing problems

• Headaches
  Adults can suffer from:

• Reproductive problems (in both men and women)

• High blood pressure and hypertension

• Nerve disorders

• Memory and concentration problems

• Muscle and joint pain
  More information on the health effects of lead exposure is available on EPA’s Learn About Lead webpage.

Overview of the Consent Decree

Under the consent decree, Lowe's will pay a $12.5 million penalty and implement the following actions:

• Verify the age of the properties renovated through a third-party software.
• Use certified firms and certified renovators.
• Collect compliance documentation for each renovation.
• Implement an electronic compliance system that:
  • Allows Lowe’s to verify its installers’ firm and renovator certificates.
  • Assigns new jobs in pre-1978 homes to certified installers.
  • Requires installers to upload compliance documents at required milestones over the course of a renovation job.
  • Creates a detailed compliance checklist for the installer to complete and provide to Lowe’s, the customer, and the adult occupant of the home after completion of the renovation job.
• Deliver the "Renovate Right” pamphlet to potential customers at a Lowe’s store, and require its employees, installers, and subcontractors to document delivery in the electronic system.
• Investigate renovations not properly documented, or where Lowe’s receives a complaint.
• Conduct at least 4,000 jobsite inspections.
• Implement lead educational measures in its stores and on its website, consistent with the RRP rule, including written and video materials for its professional customers and installers.
• Submit three years of reports regarding its implementation of the consent decree. If EPA determines that Lowe’s has satisfactorily implemented the requirements of the agreement, EPA and Lowe’s will jointly move for termination of the consent decree after three years.

Comment Period

The proposed consent decree lodged in the District Court for the Central District of California, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. Information on submitting comment and access to the settlement agreement is available on DOJ's proposed consent decree webpage.

Contact Information

Amos Presler
Chemical Risk and Reporting Enforcement Branch
Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
presler.amos@epa.gov

Enforcement

Contact Us about Enforcement Contact Us about Enforcement to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem. Last updated on November 25, 2025