HUD's FY 99 Budget
Congressional Justifications
Lead Hazard Control

Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Program

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

These activities will ultimately be integrated into existing HUD block grant and other community development and housing programs. They will also provide a sound foundation on which to base revised standards of care and regulations in the housing community.

The 19991998 request of $60 million for lead-based paint grants1998 is the same as the enacted amount for fiscal year 1998. 1997 Currently, 3626States have enacted lead-based paint contractor certification laws which are required for the HUD programs, and the continuedadditional funding at this level is necessary to further achieve wider national coverage and encourageas additional States to enact legislation. The 1999 request also includes technical studies that will enhance the impact and cost-effectiveness of the grants and of lead-based paint hazard control work done under other federal programs and by private property owners nationwide. Specifically, $10 million is included for grants, contracts and interagency agreements to fund technical studies and provide technical assistance to improve the cost-effectiveness of lead-hazard detection and reduction activities.

2.CHANGES FROM 19971996 ESTIMATES INCLUDED IN 1998 1997BUDGET

The actual obligations 1997 were the same as projected in the Budget. Ten The $65million of the $60 million appropriated in 19971996 was reserved and obligated inearly 1997 and in addition $50 million in prior year appropriated grants was also obligated. The $50 million in fiscal year 1997 appropriated grants for the lead hazard reduction grant program was reserved and obligated in early fiscal year 1998, as communities accessed program authority to undertake developed plans. Fiscal year 1997 outlays of $64.7 million were $17.9 million below the Budget estimate reflecting slower than anticipated spendout of grants The 1997 Budget projected $52.4 million in outlays and actual outlays were $39.8 million. The outlay shortfall is due to the fact that grantees have been obligating and expending funds at a slower pace than had been projected. as well as lower outlays resulting from obligations occurring approximately one quarter later into the following fiscal year for the basic grants program.

3.CHANGES FROM ORIGINAL 1998 1997BUDGET ESTIMATES

Obligations in 19981997 are estimated at $110 million versus $60 million in the 1998 Budget. The increased obligation reflects the full obligation of all carryover funds as well as the full obligation of all newly appropriated grants in fiscal year 1998. The 19981997 Budget estimated outlays of $81.1 million, whereas the current estimate of $85.9$82.6 million reflects the recent experience of a acceleration of spending by lead-based paint grantees, acceleration of outlays reflecting increased activity from the growing cumulative program authority which had experienced delayed obligation and outlay. Increased outlays also reflect greater experience with the program .as well as the delayed spendout of fiscal year 1996 contracts.

EXPLANATION OF INCREASES AND DECREASES

The appropriation request for fiscal year 1999 1998 of $85 million is $25 million more than the amount enacted for fiscal year 1998.1997 Obligations will be $15 million below the 1998 combined amount which includes the obligation of $50 million in carryover as well as the 1998 appropriation of $60 million. Outlays increased by $8 million to $93.9 million reflecting the spendout of funds provided within the Community Development Block Grant and Annual Contributions for Assisted Housing Accounts.

The increased fiscal year 1998 Budget authority will enable the Department to implement the Healthy Homes initiative to conduct lead-based paint inspections and compliance checks, to control childhood diseases and injuries that are caused by housing-related factors and continue to restore the grant program to a level that can facilitate development of capacity in communities across the nation.

Of the $8 million outlay increase for fiscal year 1999, $7 million represents an anticipated increase in the projected spendout of previous rounds of lead hazard reduction. Cumulative obligations are expected to continue to increase as more grantees implement a contractor certification program and begin hazard-reduction work. A projected spendout from the Healthy Homes program is projected to be $1 million.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND ACTIVITY

1. Legislative Authority. The 1992 Appropriations Act (P.L. 102-139) and the 1993 Appropriations Act (P.L. 102-389) provided the initial legislative authority for the Department's lead-hazard reduction activities for privately owned low income housing. Subsequently, the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-550) included substantive authorization, under TitleX, for a "Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction" program and it also authorized appropriations of up to $250 million for fiscal years 1993 and 1994. In the absence of new legislation, the existing Program has continued under its old authority.

legislative authority for the Department�s Healthy Homes initiative.

2. Program Area Organization.Allocation Allocations for Healthy Homes and Estimated allocations for Lead-Hazard Control activities for 1997-1999 are shown in the table below:

A. Healthy Homes Initiative. Under the Healthy Homes Initiative, the Department will develop and implement a multifaceted program to provide grants to organizations to conduct lead-based paint inspections and checks to ensure compliance with lead-based paint regulations; demonstrate and pilot test affordable new housing maintenance, renovation and construction methods; implement a new public education campaign to prevent both emerging and well-recognized diseases and injuries; conduct research, and assemble an interagency taskforce. In implementing the initiative, HUD will work closely with its Federal partners, as well as with State and local governments and private sector organizations. Disease and injury prevention caused by housing-related vectors demand expertise in building design, construction, maintenance, public health and environmental science. HUD has assembled a unique multi-disciplinary staff that will enable the nation to make progress in both understanding and developing healthy homes. Only at HUD can the focus on housing be properly balanced with health concerns to ensure that solutions are practical and capable of being replicated on a broad scale. The Department�s experience with lead poisoning prevention shows that housing-based diseases can be conquered if housing-based expertise is brought to health and safety concerns.

With the promotion of safe and sanitary housing conditions at the core of HUD's mission, and with HUD having staff and programs oriented toward fulfillment of the mission, the initiative will fill the housing-oriented gap left by related programs of other Federal agencies.

The initiative will expand the partnership HUD has developed with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission in childhood lead poisoning prevention to include other diseases and injuries. That partnership enables HUD to use its existing expertise in urban planning, architecture, engineering and environmental science with CDC's expertise in the medical and public health areas. CDC�s Healthy Homes/Healthy children initiative focuses on medical health issues. HUD�s Healthy Homes initiative will focus on housing.

Lead-Based Paint Inspection and Compliance Checks

The lead-based paint inspection and compliance checks component of the Healthy Homes Initiative will determine whether lead-based paint is present and whether or not that paint is hazardous in federally assisted and federally owned housing. Funds will also be used to determine if landlords complied with the lead-based paint disclosure rule, which took effect on December 6, 1996.

Lead-based paint inspections will be performed using private state-certified lead-based paint inspectors and risk assessors. Currently, 36 States now license such individuals to ensure quality. For those states that do not yet have such laws, HUD will use inspectors licensed in another State. The inspections and risk assessments will be performed using the new protocol established by HUD in Chapter 7 of its Guidelines for the Evaluation and Control of Lead-Based Paint Hazards in Housing. State-of-the-art X-ray fluorescence portable lead paint analyzers will be used. An inspection report and all data will be provided to both the owners and tenants, together with recommended methods for controlling hazards if any are found.

The inspections/risk assessments will be targeted to high risk neighborhoods where lead poisoning prevalence rates are known to be high. HUD has established agreements with 25 urban health departments that have the highest numbers of pre-1940 dilapidated rental housing stock and the highest incidence of childhood lead poisoning. This coordination will ensure that a house that has previously been inspected by a local health department is not inadvertently inspected twice, unless necessary. These inspections will help to ensure that the disclosure process now mandated under Title X of the 1992 Housing and Community Development Act provides specific information to parents on exactly where lead-based paint hazards are located in a dwelling before they become obligated under a sales contract or lease.

These inspections will be combined with a compliance check to determine whether or not a landlord complied with the lead-based paint disclosure rule. If a house has been inspected previously, then only a compliance check will be performed. The rule requires that landlords or sellers provide any information they have about known lead-based paint hazards in the specific dwelling unit before a tenant or purchaser is obligated under a lease or sales contract, as well as an informational pamphlet and standard warning language in the sales contract or lease. If it appears that compliance has not occurred, the matter will be referred to HUD enforcement authorities. The Healthy Homes Initiative will be integrated into the Department�s other on-going lead-based paint enforcement activities.

The homes included in the research and demonstration aspects of the Healthy Homes Initiative will also receive lead-based paint inspections and risk assessments to ensure that occupants have the information they need to protect their children. Occupants and owners of these homes will receive information not only on lead-based paint hazards, but on other housing conditions that may pose adverse health impacts. This will enable the Department to adopt a comprehensive approach that addresses both lead hazards and other housing-related causes of other childhood diseases.

Demonstration Projects

The purpose of the demonstration projects is to show how two or more childhood health problems can be controlled using a single set of coordinated housing interventions. Based upon the evaluation of the efficacy of the demonstrations, these methods can then be replicated through other Federally Assisted housing programs. Four demonstration projects will identify and correct illness and injury risk factors in about 100 housing units in each city. Eligible grantees will be units of local government, such as State, local or county health or housing departments. Grantees will be encouraged to collaborate with local non-profit groups, landlord organizations, parent's organizations and environmental contractors. Funds will be awarded competitively through a Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA). This approach has been successful with the Department's childhood lead poisoning prevention program.

Grantees would be responsible for proposing specific housing interventions to be employed to ensure that the methods are appropriate for local housing stock and based on sound science. For example, the interventions could consist of covering mattresses and pillows in an infant's room with impermeable covers, specialized cleaning of couch cushions, specialized carpet cleaning and application of 3 percent tannic acid solutions, other specialized cleaning, placement of dehumidification systems in children's bedrooms, installation of HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filters in air handling systems, integration of cockroach and other vector control with safe pesticides, increased ventilation rates, analysis of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC) to control carbon monoxide levels, structural and electrical system safety analysis, and fall protection. The intervention would also include education and training of the residents in the houses to be treated. This will ensure that the interventions are maintained. Evaluation of such outreach efforts will improve understanding of how housing and public health messages can be tailored to get the key points across.

Public Education

In addition to education of residents, broader messages on measures the public can take to prevent housing-related illness and injury to their children will be developed. These will be distributed through public service announcements and additional electronic and paper media. The message will highlight the brochure that HUD has developed with the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Funds will be awarded competitively to a public relations/risk communication firm to manage the campaign.

Research Program

The Healthy Homes Research Program will award grants to three universities, research organizations or scientific bodies through a competitive NOFA. Technical support, including research roundtable meetings and peer review panels, will also be performed. The research projects will be phased. The first phase of each project will develop new validated protocols to identify multiple health and safety hazards in housing. The second phase will define specific levels of housing intervention to control those hazards. The third phase will measure the health and safety outcomes in children and other residents. Research results will be published in scientific journals and a report will be sent to Congress.

Staffing & Interagency Task Force

Staff in the HUD Office of Lead Hazard Control will manage the efforts described above and coordinate the work of the interagency task force with the CDC, EPA and CPSC.

Why HUD�s program does not duplicate other agency�s initiatives

The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Human Health Indoors Initiative is focused on long-term research and strategic planning. EPA's program will complement the HUD Initiative's activities of identifying and remedying problems in the short and medium terms.

The Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service operates its Home*A*Syst/Farm*A*Syst program which disseminates information on pollution prevention to suburban and rural communities. USDA staff and consultants do not have the scientific and public health management expertise to develop the necessary technical and managerial documents. HUD's Healthy Homes Initiative will coordinate its outreach efforts with the USDA program, thereby utilizing Government resources efficiently in getting information to people who need it.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is continuing its efforts which focus on items (consumer products) introduced into the built environment. HUD's Initiative will complement CPSC activities by ensuring that the full range of home materials and conditions, including those not under CPSC's jurisdiction, are addressed.

In sum, HUD's Initiative will complement and supplement the efforts of other Federal agencies, and will not duplicate them. Similarly, only at HUD can the affordable housing-centered focus be the highest priority.

The Healthy Homes Initiative will undertake a series of major steps during its first full year of operation, including:

1. Providing funds for lead-based paint inspections and for ensuring compliance with lead-based paint regulations.
2. Supporting demonstration projects that control two or more housing-related diseases/injuries through a single, replicable affordable intervention. We will work closely with CDC and other elements of the Department of Health and Human Services, such as the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, on designing, piloting, performing and assessing the effectiveness of these demonstration projects.
3. Supporting public education efforts to ensure parents have the information they need to protect their children. We will work closely with USDA, with the National Conference of State Legislatures, National Association of Counties, and National League of Cities (and through them, State and local governments), and with such private-sector organizations as the Consumer Federation of America, to develop and disseminate the program information developed and organized under the Initiative.
4. Supporting research that evaluates the effectiveness of the housing interventions and public education campaigns. We will work closely with EPA, USDA, the Bureau of Census, and other Federal agencies, and with State research bureaus and academic institutions to assess the progress of the interventions and education activities. We will use the results of this research in a continuous improvement effort for the Initiative.
5. Assembling the staff-level Healthy Housing Interagency Task Force, jointly chaired by HUD and CDC, including EPA, USDA, CPSC and other agencies. We have considerable experience in making such task forces effective and efficient vehicles for: (1) exchanging information among agencies, and (2) expediting programs within agencies.

During its second through fifth years of operation, Healthy Homes will implement those approaches found to be successful on a broader scale. It will shift toward incorporating Healthy Home approaches into the major HUD programs. In these out-years methods, materials and program techniques demonstrated as successful will be promoted not only by the educational and outreach efforts described above, but also by providing grants to State and local governments to apply these successful approaches to their programs and develop their business and employment infrastructure. As has occurred in the case of lead poisoning prevention, this will promote the training and employment of persons who solve healthy home problems in their maintenance, renovation and construction work, and promote the use of healthy home techniques by housing-related businesses, who are primarily small businesses. The Office of Lead Hazard Control has successfully managed grant programs involving dozens of grants totaling about $50 million annually.

This grant program will ultimately be integrated into existing HUD block grant and other community development and housing programs.

B. Lead-Based Paint Grants for Private Housing Abatement to States and Local Governments. This Budget requests $50million for grants to States and local governments with an approved Consolidated Plan Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy to empower them to perform lead-hazard reduction activities in private low-income dwellings. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 890,000 children have elevated blood lead levels, down from 1.7 million in the late 1980�s. Despite this improvement, lead poisoning remains a major childhood environmental disease, especially among some populations. CDC estimates that 4.4 percent of all children aged 1 to 5 years have elevated blood lead levels. For children living in pre-1946 housing where lead paint is more common, the prevalence rate increases to 9 percent. For low-income children in older housing, it increases to 16 percent; and for low-income African-American children in older housing, the prevalence rate is 22 percent (Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Society, Phase II, 1991-1994).

These grants stimulate the development of a national abatement/hazard reduction infrastructure through: (a) promoting state legislative action to establish LBP contractor certification programs and (b) creating demand for such credentials by private contractors. While the promulgation of State training and certification standards by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), sections 402 and 404 of the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the joint issuance by both HUD and EPA of real estate disclosure requirements section 1012 of the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 will assist in promoting certification programs and creating demand for these services, neither set of regulations isare likely to have a significant national impact for at least 2 to 33- to 5 years. Certification programs are essential, if the work is to be completed safely and effectively.

The need for the grant program is further underscored by the Secretary's Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction and Financing Task Force, established by Title X of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992. In its 1995 report, the Task Force acknowledged that there are at least 4500,000 privately owned units occupied by low-income families that have insufficient cash flow to permit private financing of lead hazard control work. Thus, the grant program meets a critical need that would not otherwise be met--abatement of unassisted, low-value, privately owned units which house millions of low-income Americans and which probably represent the most deteriorated units (and therefore the most serious threat to children) in the Nation. In addition, the grant program generates significant training and employment opportunities for low- income residents in the targeted areas, which often include welfare recipients. The Task Force stated that public subsidies remain the primary mechanism to address lead poisoning contamination in units where market forces have failed. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1.7 million children have elevated blood lead levels, making lead poisoning the number one childhood environmental disease.

C. Technical Studies. Under the Technical Assistance and Studies program, the Department will continue to support four types of activities: (1) technical assistance for State and local agencies, private property owners, HUD programs and Field Offices and professional organizations; (2) quality control to assure that the evaluation and control of lead-based paint hazards is done properly in HUD associated housing; (3) the development, in cooperation with EPA, of standards, technical guidance materials, and regulations to provide for sensible, cost-effective hazard evaluation and control procedures, and technical information that encourages fair and professional competition for such work; and (4) technical studies and evaluation, in coordination with EPA and CDC, to develop streamlined methods of testing, hazard control, cleanup, clearance, and public education. Each of these activities follows.

1998The fiscal 1999 Technical Assistance programs will enable assist HUD client groups (State and local agencies and property owners) to meet the requirements of new regulations implementing Title X of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992. They will also provide information to the broader housing industry on ways to promoteprovide lead-safe housing for all families. Included in this program is HUD's contribution to the support of the National Lead Information Center's hotline and information clearinghouse operated by the National Safety Council. All technical assistance programs will be conducted in close cooperation with public interest groups, professional organizations, the housing industry and other Federal agencies. Demands for technical assistance are expected to increase substantially as the Department's regulations become final and lead-based paint activities are integrated into other HUD programs.

Quality control activities will be conducted in fiscal year 1998 and beyond, based on techniques and procedures developed initially in fiscal year 1997. The Department will work closely with State licensing agencies and the contractor certification program being administered by the EPA under sections 402 and 404 of the Toxic Substances Control Act.

In fiscal year 1999 1998, HUD will continue to revise and improve the 1995 Guidelines for the Evaluation and Control of Lead-Based Paint Hazards in Housing, based on completed research, evolving technology, and issuance of standards by EPA and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Support for the ASTM activities will continue. The Department will also develop amendments to the Department's Title X regulations to reflect changes in the Guidelines and standards. It is expected that such amendments will result in more streamlined, performance based regulations. HUD will also continue to support the independent evaluation of X-ray fluorescence analyzers and other instruments used in hazard evaluation.

Technical studies and evaluations to be funded in fiscal year 1999 1998, include the continuation of a major study of the cost and effectiveness of various hazard control strategies carried out under the HUD Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant Program. This study is measuring environmental and biological effects over at least a 3-year period from the time of hazard control. Preliminary results were published in 1997 and were disseminated to the Congress and to government agencies; reports will be issued annually until a final report is released in 2000. To date, the results show that lead dust levels (the principal route of exposure for children) in houses treated under this program declined 98 percent in window troughs, 85 percent on interior window sills and 23 percent on floors. Most of the reduction persisted at least 6 months following abatement (long-term data are now being collected). The report also contains data on declining blood lead levels and cost of intervention. 1999.Other specific studies to be conducted include: the development of more cost-effective methods and procedures for cleanup of fine particles of lead dust; improved methods of controlling lead hazards posed by dust in carpets; the development of effective methods and procedures for encapsulation of lead-based paint; a second survey of public awareness of lead-based paint hazards (the first was conducted in December 1994); real-time analysis of dust lead samples; and validation of risk assessment protocols. and a study to determine the adequacy of the infrastructure for the evaluation and control of lead-based paint hazards in housing.

Performance Indicators

The mission of the Office of Lead Hazard Control includes controlling childhood lead-poisoning caused by residential lead-based hazards. HUD will continue to work toward reducing population blood lead levels in young children. The Office will continue to work toward reducing the cost of testing and risk assessment; reducing the cost of effective lead hazard reduction activities; and reducing population blood lead levels in young children. In accomplishing its mission, related housing-based problems and issues are identified and corrected. Under the Healthy Homes Initiative, HUD will reduce the prevalence of housing-related illnesses and injuries.

STATUS OF FUNDS

a.Unobligated Balances. The following table compares the program obligations with funds available by year. It only relates to the separately appropriated program in FY 1999.

b.Obligated Balances. The status of obligated balances for the separately appropriated program is as follows:

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

SALARIES AND EXPENSES, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

BUDGET ACTIVITY 8: OFFICE OF LEAD-HAZARD CONTROL

SCOPE OF ACTIVITY

The Office has primary responsibility for the lead-based paint activities of the Department and is directly responsible for the administration of the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction program authorized by Title X of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992. The Office develops lead-based paint regulations, guidelines, and policies applicable to HUD programs, designs lead-based paint training programs, administers lead-based paint abatement programs, and helps shape the lead-based paint research program. Additionally, the Office undertakes an ongoing program of information dissemination on lead-based paint matters and serves as the Department's central information source for the Secretary, the Congress, and the public on this topic.

The Office coordinatesits activities withthe Office of Policy Development and Research and other program offices. It also has responsibility for providing oversight and functional supervision of lead-based paint specialists in HUD State and area Offices. The Office represents HUD on interagency lead-based paint committees and has responsibility for other aspects of interagency coordination on lead-based paint matters involving the Department. Staff activities will be focused on the following:

--managing the research and evaluation activities of HUD that relate to lead hazards;

--managing the set-aside activities for technical assistance and state certification;

--assisting with cooperative studies with other Federal agencies;

--providing technical assistance to HUD program participants;

TRAVEL

The table below identifies travel requirements unique to this activity.

There is a slight increase of $8 thousand proposed change from the 1998 current estimate of $7395 thousand.