MARTINEZ ANNOUNCES $147 MILLION TO PROTECT CHILDREN AND
FAMILIES FROM DANGEROUS LEAD AND OTHER HOME HEALTH AND SAFETY HAZARDS
New Orleans Receives Four Grants Totaling $5.4 Million

WASHINGTON - Thousands of children and families in 27 states and the District of Columbia will live in healthier
homes due to more than $147 million in grants announced today by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez. Martinez made today's record funding announcement to officially launch National Healthy Homes Month during October.

The grants will help 70 local programs around the country to remove potentially dangerous lead from lower income homes; to stimulate private sector investment in lead hazard control; to educate the public about the dangers of lead-based paint; to fund model programs promoting healthier and safer home environments; and, to support
scientific research into innovative methods of identifying and eliminating health hazards in housing (see attached
list).

"Whether it's eliminating lead hazards in housing or studying new ways to make our homes healthier, the funds we announce today are all designed to protect our most precious resource - our children," said Martinez. "Today we continue HUD's investment in making our homes a healthier and safer place for parents to raise their kids."

Lead Hazard Control Grant Programs

The funding announced today includes $124 million nationally to eliminate dangerous lead paint hazards in thousands of privately owned, low-income housing units. These funds are provided through HUD's Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control and the Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration grant programs.

In addition, HUD's Operation LEAP (Lead Elimination Action Program) will provide $9.9 million nationally to stimulate private sector contributions that will enable children to grow up in homes that are free from lead-based paint
hazards. Further, $2.8 million will be awarded nationally in Lead Technical Studies grants to assist local research institutions to study ways to drive down the cost and increase the effectiveness of lead hazard identification and control

HUD's lead hazard control program is working. Today, the Department estimates that 26 million fewer homes have lead-based paint compared to 1990 when the program began. Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the average amount of lead in children's blood has declined by 50 percent from a decade ago. Ten years ago, there was no federal funding for local lead hazard control work in privately owned housing;
today, the HUD program is active in over 250 communities across the country.

Healthy Homes Initiative

HUD's Healthy Homes Initiative builds upon the Department's existing activities in housing-related health and safety issues - including lead hazard control, building structural safety, electrical safety, and fire protection - to address multiple childhood diseases and injuries in the home. The Initiative takes a holistic approach to these activities by addressing housing-related hazards in a coordinated fashion, rather than addressing a single hazard at a time.

The Department is providing more than $2 million nationally in technical studies grants to support scientific research into innovative methods of identifying and eliminating health hazards in housing.

The following is a breakdown of the funding announced today for New Orleans:

The City of New Orleans will be awarded $2,904,733 in Lead Hazard Control grant funds to perform lead hazard
control in 230 housing units. The Division of Housing and Neighborhood Development will administer the lead grant
and partner with the Health Department to obtain referrals of pregnant women and children with elevated blood lead levels. Grant funds will be leveraged with resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and HUD Community Development Block Grant funds to further blood-lead screening. The City of New Orleans will contribute $395,267 in local matching funds.

ACORN Associates' Children's Environmental Health Program will use its Operation LEAP grant to implement a 24-
month lead hazard identification, control, and private sector leveraging project in Baltimore, Md., and New Orleans. They will develop a Community Consortium that will act upon the need to increase funding and tangible support for environmental health issues.

Xavier University will use its Lead Technical Studies grant to study the effectiveness of an alternate method of decreasing soil lead dust in the environment.

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities, creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans, supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development as well as
enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet.

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The following is a state-by-state breakdown of the funding announced today:

* LHC - Lead Hazard Control Grant Program
   LHRD - Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration
   LEAP - Operation Lead Elimination Action Program
   LPO - Lead Paint Outreach Grant Program
   LTS - Lead Technical Studies
   HHTS - Healthy Homes Technical Studies
   HHD - Healthy Homes Demonstration Program