The High Cost of NOT Being Certified

In this month's RSES Journal Elements e-Newsletter, one of the stories discusses the serious flooding that has affected the middle-Tennessee area, especially Nashville, TN. The Cumberland River inundated portions of the city, and the devastation that has occured is going to take years of recovery - and a price tag that is expected to easily exceed $1 billion.
Unfortunately, to add insult to injury, many of those affected by the flooding will find it harder than ever to get their HVACR systems back up and running. That's because on April 22, 2010, the EPA passed a new requirement mandating that any contractor (and YES, that means all you HVACR folks out there) conducting a renovation or repair project that disturbs lead-based paint in a home, child-care facility or school that was built before 1978 MUST be certified and proceed according to specific rules to prevent lead contamination (the rule does specify that the area disturbed must be greater than 6 sq ft in a room, or 20 sq ft on the exterior).
Parts of the Opryland Hotel were literally under 10 feet of water, so I think it's safe to say that many buildings and homes are going to meet the criteria that requires certified professionals to perform repairs. The problem? There simply aren't enough certified individuals and companies available to do the work. In fact, by estimates in Tennessee, the state only has roughly 2,700 lead-certified contractors. That has led legislators to reach out to the Federal Government and seek extensions on a 35-day "grace" period - which the EPA just approved on May 25 - that allows non-certified individuals to perform work on pre-1978-construction homes and businesses affected by the flooding.
I have been talking via e-mail with one RSES Member who lives in the Nashville area, and he has shared that he spoke with a friend who retired from the Nashville Water Department. Apparently, what is happening right now is that they are fast-tracking residential inspections - just taking pictures - and showing the inspector. They (the contractor) is allowed to cover it up (fix the flood damage), but with the understanding that if the inspector comes back and wants it ripped out, they (the contractors) have to comply.
This is a sticky situation for all parties. If I'm a homeowner and my residence is flooded, I have no air conditioning and I need a new system installed, am I going to be happy about having that pulled out after the fact because the installation wasn't done by a lead-certified professional? If I'm the contractor who IS certified and does a good job, and I lose out on work to non-qualified "low-ball" bids as people rush to get their homes and businesses cool as summer approaches, what is the incentive for me to get certified in the first place?
I don't have an easy answer, or even a suggestion on it. But I welcome your thoughts. E-mail me at jiwanski@rses.org and let me know what you think. And if you are an individual down in that area, and have something to share, I'd love to hear it.