HUD Awards $4 Million to Public Housing Agencies to Protect Families from Potential Exposures to Radon
Funding will support radon testing and mitigation

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes today awarded $4 million to nine public housing agencies (PHAs) to conduct radon testing and, as needed, radon mitigation in approximately 1,000 housing units. Where applicable, the funding will also support the development of PHAs' plans for future testing and mitigation. See how agencies will use funding.

"This radon grant program broadens HUD's environmental interventions in the home," said Matthew Ammon, Director of the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes. "The program also underscores the importance of our partnership with PHAs to reduce radon concentrations indoors, thereby reducing the risks of radon induced lung cancer."

"We are pleased to partner on this radon demonstration grant program to provide resources to PHAs for radon testing and mitigation," said Robert Mulderig, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Public Housing Investments. "This program will promote awareness among PHAs and other multifamily rental property managers on how to effectively measure and mitigate radon."

The funding, providing through HUD's new Radon Testing and Mitigation Demonstration Program Notice of Funding Opportunity for public housing agencies, will provide HUD with important information on methods and costs for radon testing and mitigation in public housing around the country.

HUD participates in an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-led interagency effort to increase federal agencies' actions to address radon in their programs with a goal to save lives by increasing radon testing, mitigation, and radon resistant new construction in the U.S. HUD's creation and administration of the Radon Testing and Mitigation Demonstration Grant Program represents a continuation of this effort.

EPA estimates that about 1 in 15 homes (7 percent) in the U.S. have elevated radon levels. EPA also estimates that about 21,000 people die in the U.S. annually due to lung cancer from radon exposure.

Radon is an odorless, colorless, radioactive gas that is a decay product of elements in soil and rock and is present in every part of the country. Low levels of radon are found in the outside air. Radon gas can move through the soil and enter buildings through small openings in the foundation or basement and become concentrated in the indoor air environment. When radon is inhaled, it can damage DNA in lung tissue and increase the risk of developing lung cancer. Radon is the number one cause of lung cancer among non-smokers, according to EPA estimates.

The following is a breakdown of the funding announced today:

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