American Healthy Homes Survey II

Title X of P.L. 102-550 (Housing and Community Development Act of 1992) Page 2

UNITED STATES CODE

102 P.L. 550; 106 Stat. 3672

DATE: OCT. 28, 1992 ‑‑ PUBLIC LAW 102‑550

SEC. 1001. SHORT TITLE.

This title may be cited as the "Residential Lead‑Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992".

SEC. 1002. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds that ‑‑

(1) low‑level lead poisoning is widespread among American children, afflicting as many as 3,000,000 children under age 6, with minority and low‑income communities disproportionately affected;

(2) at low levels, lead poisoning in children causes intelligence quotient deficiencies, reading and learning disabilities, impaired hearing, reduced attention span, hyperactivity, and behavior problems;

(3) pre‑1980 American housing stock contains more than 3,000,000 tons of lead in the form of lead‑based paint, with the vast majority of homes built before 1950 containing substantial amounts of lead‑based paint;

(4) the ingestion of household dust containing lead from deteriorating or abraded lead‑based paint is the most common cause of lead poisoning in children;

(5) the health and development of children living in as many as 3,800,000 American homes is endangered by chipping or peeling lead paint, or excessive amounts of lead‑contaminated dust in their homes;

(6) the danger posed by lead‑based paint hazards can be reduced by abating lead‑based paint or by taking interim measures to prevent paint deterioration and limit children's exposure to lead dust and chips;

(7) despite the enactment of laws in the early 1970's requiring the Federal Government to eliminate as far as practicable lead‑based paint hazards in federally owned, assisted, and insured housing, the Federal response to this national crisis remains severely limited; and

(8) the Federal Government must take a leadership role in building the infrastructure ‑‑ including an informed public, State and local delivery systems, certified inspectors, contractors, and laboratories, trained workers, and available financing and insurance ‑‑ necessary to ensure that the national goal of eliminating lead‑based paint hazards in housing can be achieved as expeditiously as possible.

SEC. 1003. PURPOSES.

The purposes of this Act are ‑‑

(1) to develop a national strategy to build the infrastructure necessary to eliminate lead‑based paint hazards in all housing as expeditiously as possible;

(2) to reorient the national approach to the presence of lead‑based paint in housing to implement, on a priority basis, a broad program to evaluate and reduce lead‑based paint hazards in the Nation's housing stock;

(3) to encourage effective action to prevent childhood lead poisoning by establishing a workable framework for lead‑based paint hazard evaluation and reduction and by ending the current confusion over reasonable standards of care;

(4) to ensure that the existence of lead‑based paint hazards is taken into account in the development of Government housing policies and in the sale, rental, and renovation of homes and apartments;

(5) to mobilize national resources expeditiously, through a partnership among all levels of government and the private sector, to develop the most promising, cost‑effective methods for evaluating and reducing lead‑based paint hazards;

(6) to reduce the threat of childhood lead poisoning in housing owned, assisted, or transferred by the Federal Government; and

(7) to educate the public concerning the hazards and sources of lead‑based paint poisoning and steps to reduce and eliminate such hazards.

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SUBTITLE D ‑‑ RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

PART 1 ‑‑ HUD RESEARCH

SEC. 1051. RESEARCH ON LEAD EXPOSURE FROM OTHER SOURCES.

The Secretary, in cooperation with other Federal agencies, shall conduct research on strategies to reduce the risk of lead exposure from other sources, including exterior soil and interior lead dust in carpets, furniture, and forced air ducts.

SEC. 1052. TESTING TECHNOLOGIES.

The Secretary, in cooperation with other Federal agencies, shall conduct research to ‑‑

(1) develop improved methods for evaluating lead‑based paint hazards in housing;

(2) develop improved methods for reducing lead‑based paint hazards in housing;

(3) develop improved methods for measuring lead in paint films, dust, and soil samples;

(4) establish performance standards for various detection methods, including spot test kits;

(5) establish performance standards for lead‑based paint hazard reduction methods, including the use of encapsulants;

(6) establish appropriate cleanup standards;

(7) evaluate the efficacy of interim controls in various hazard situations;

(8) evaluate the relative performance of various abatement techniques;

(9) evaluate the long‑term cost‑effectiveness of interim control and abatement strategies; and

(10) assess the effectiveness of hazard evaluation and reduction activities funded by this Act.

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