HUD AND EPA TO TARGET 25 CITIES FOR LEAD ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have announced that they will focus federal lead-based paint "right-to-know" enforcement efforts on cities with high concentrations of homes with potential lead hazards.

Cities

targeted for special attention under a nationwide enforcement and compliance strategy include: Baltimore; Boston; Buffalo; Chicago; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Detroit; Houston; Indianapolis; Jersey City; Los Angeles; New York City; New Orleans; Oakland; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Providence; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Richmond, Virginia; Rochester, New York; St. Louis; San Francisco; Savannah; Washington, D.C.; and Youngstown, Ohio. HUD will gather information about lead poisoning cases in these cities by working with their local health departments.

The "right-to-know" rule requires home sellers and rental property owners, managers, and leasing agents to disclose known lead hazards to prospective buyers and residents. An estimated 64 million homes and apartment units in the U.S. built before 1978 are covered by the rule. An estimated 9 million new residents and 3 million home buyers should receive this information each year. The rule also requires sellers and owners, managers, and leasing agents of rental housing built before 1978 to give buyers and residents a pamphlet about lead-based paint hazards.

The announcement came with the launch of a public education campaign--spearheaded by Tipper Gore, wife of Vice President Al Gore, HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo, and EPA Administrator Carol Browner--to protect the nation's children against lead poisoning. The campaign will use public service advertising, videos featuring Sesame Street characters, education materials distributed in more than 6,000 hardware stores nationally, an illustrated book called "Maintaining a Lead-Safe Home" distributed to 3,500 libraries, an interactive video training course for maintenance, and involvement of real estate and consumer groups. HUD and EPA are jointly funding a toll-free hotline (800/424-LEAD) to give callers information about lead hazards and disclosure requirements for pet)pie selling or renting homes. HUD's web site, www.hud.gov/lea/leahome.html, and EPA's web site, www.epa.gov/opptinter, also contain pertinent information.

HUD will provide $50 million in grants to help owners of low-income housing built before 1978 remove lead-based paint hazards. The grants will be distributed among state and local governments in: Akron, Ohio; Alameda County, California; Baltimore; Boston; Butte-Silver Bow, Montana; Cuyohoga County, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; Grand Gateways Economic Development Association, Oklahoma; Harris County, Texas; Houston; Lawrence, Massachusetts; Long Beach, California; Los Angeles; Lynchburg, Virginia; Manchester, Connecticut; Monroe County, New York; New Hampshire; Phoenix; Portland, Maine; Portland, Oregon; East Providence, Rhode Island; Richmond, California; Richmond, Virginia; St. Louis; and Springfield, Massachusetts.

RELATED ARTICLE: MAINTENANCE TRAINING

HUD and EPA have developed the "Lead-Safe Practices for Building Maintenance Staff" training program designed to educate supervisors and workers at multihousing properties on techniques they can use during routine maintenance to prevent lead hazards in the buildings they maintain. The seven-hour course includes the Lead-Based Paint Maintenance Training Guide, Lead-Based Paint Maintenance Video, and the Lead-Based Paint Maintenance Planning Tool. Designed to provide an interactive learning format, the program uses real-life scenarios and demonstrates lead-safe work practices. The program is available from HUD User by calling 800/245-2691.