HUD EXPANDS COURSES TO TRAIN THOUSANDS MORE IN LEAD-SAFE WORK PRACTICES

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that more than 200 communities will be able to take advantage of free summer courses to train thousands more maintenance workers and contractors to work safely with lead paint.

HUD's current program has trained more than 7,500 workers in 100 cities to work safely with lead-based paint in publicly assisted housing. To further assist communities to comply with HUD's Lead Safe Housing rule, 600 additional courses will train an estimated 30,000 workers across the country.

"The demand is extremely high for these training opportunities," HUD Secretary Mel Martinez said. "We are happy to see the increased program demand because it translates to communities caring and going that extra yard to protect our children."

The one-day courses enable workers to get information to protect themselves, and children who will live in the properties they work on, from the threat of lead poisoning. Maintenance workers, rehab contractors, painters and others who may come into contact with lead-based paint are invited to register for these courses. Successful completion of the HUD course will satisfy the training requirements of HUD's new Lead Safe Housing Rule. The Rule covers nearly all federally owned and assisted residential housing built before 1978, the year lead paint was banned for home use.

HUD is also sponsoring training for some 2,500 lead-based paint risk assessors, abatement workers and abatement supervisors throughout the country. These workers will be trained by accredited training providers in their own states.

For further information or to register for these courses, visit www.leadlisting.org or call HUD's Lead Paint Compliance Assistance Center toll-free at 1-866-HUD-1012.

HUD also provides scholarship opportunities for lead sampling technicians who perform clearance examinations after work that disturbs lead paint to ensure that fine particles of lead in dust have been properly cleaned up, and that a house is safe for a family to occupy. The scholarships are available through 72 accredited training firms that are working with HUD.

Public housing authorities, community planning and development grantees and other organizations involved in rehabilitation work are invited to train their employees as sampling technicians. For a list of the firms that are eligible to offer the scholarships, visit www.leadlisting.org or call the Lead Paint Compliance Assistance Center toll-free at 1-866-HUD-1012.

HUD has also funded the National Center for Lead Safe Housing to work with states, national public interest groups and other organizations to provide additional training. Interested parties may contact the Center at 410-772-2779, or ckawecki@enterprisefoundation.org.

In addition to these free training opportunities, HUD's Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) is providing no-cost testing for lead paint and lead hazards in housing covered under HUD's Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance Program. To date, more than 1000 property owners have requested these lead-based paint evaluations.

Property owners in the Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance Program who have lead paint inspections indicating that their properties are free of lead paint, can send their inspection reports for review by REAC at no cost. If the inspections are acceptable, the property is exempt from HUD's Lead Safe Housing Rule.

Requests for this free testing, or for reviews of previous lead paint inspections, call the REAC Hotline toll-free at 1-877-406-9220, or follow the instructions on REAC's web page in the What's Hot box. Additional information on this testing program is available at www.hud.gov/offices/reac.