I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3107

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax credit for 

property owners who remove lead-based paint hazards. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2003

Mr. CLAY (for himself, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. WATT, Ms. WATERS, Ms. 

KILPATRICK, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. 

DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. LANTOS, Ms. WATSON, Mr. 

WYNN, Mr. EMANUEL, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. FORD, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. KUCINICH, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. 

CONYERS, Ms. MAJETTE, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. TOWNS, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Ms. 

LEE, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. 

CORRINE BROWN of Florida, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

a tax credit for property owners who remove lead-based 

paint hazards.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Home Lead Safety Tax Credit Act of 2003’’. 
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1 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that: 

2 (1) Of the 98,000,000 housing units in the 

3 United States, 38,000,000 have lead-based paint. 

4 (2) Of the 38,000,000 housing units with lead5 based paint, 25,000,000 pose a hazard, as defined 

6 by Environmental Protection Agency and Depart7 ment of Housing and Urban Development standards, 

8 due to conditions such as peeling paint and settled 

9 dust on floors and windowsills that contain lead at 

10 levels above Federal safety standards. 

11 (3) Though the number of children in the 

12 United States ages 1 through 5 with blood levels 

13 higher than the Centers for Disease Control action 

14 level of 10 micrograms per deciliter has declined to 

15 300,000, lead poisoning remains a serious, entirely 

16 preventable threat to a child’s intelligence, behavior, 

17 and learning. 

18 (4) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv19 ices has established a national goal of ending child20 hood lead poisoning by 2010. 

21 (5) Current Federal lead abatement programs, 

22 such as the Lead Hazard Control Grant Program of 

23 the Department of Housing and Urban Develop24 ment, only have resources sufficient to make ap25 proximately 7,000 homes lead-safe each year. In 
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1 many cases, when State and local public health de2 partments identify a lead-poisoned child, resources 

3 are insufficient to reduce or eliminate the hazards. 

4 (6) Approximately 15 percent of children are 

5 lead-poisoned by home renovation projects performed 

6 by remodelers who fail to follow basic safeguards to 

7 control lead dust. 

8 (7) Old windows typically pose significant risks 

9 because wood trim is more likely to be painted with 

10 lead-based paint, moisture causes paint to deterio11 rate, and friction generates lead dust. The replace12 ment of old windows that contain lead based paint 

13 significantly reduces lead poisoning hazards in addi14 tion to producing significant energy savings. 

15 (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en16 courage the safe removal of lead hazards from homes and 

17 thereby decrease the number of children who suffer re18 duced intelligence, learning difficulties, behavioral prob19 lems, and other health consequences due to lead-poisoning. 

20 SEC. 2. LEAD ABATEMENT TAX CREDIT. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part IV of sub22 chapter A of chapter 1 (relating to foreign tax credit, etc.) 

23 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 30B. HOME LEAD ABATEMENT. 

2 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—There shall be al3 lowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this chapter 

4 an amount equal to 50 percent of the abatement cost paid 

5 or incurred by the taxpayer during the taxable year for 

6 each eligible dwelling unit of the taxpayer. 

7 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The amount of the credit allowed 

8 under subsection (a) for any eligible dwelling unit shall 

9 not exceed—

10 ‘‘(1) $1,500, over 

11 ‘‘(2) the aggregate cost taken into account 

12 under subsection (a) with respect to such unit for all 

13 preceding taxable years. 

14 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For pur15 poses of this section: 

16 ‘‘(1) ABATEMENT COST.—

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘abatement 

18 cost’ means, with respect to any eligible dwell19 ing unit—

20 ‘‘(i) the cost for a certified risk asses21 sor to conduct an assessment to determine 

22 the presence of a lead-based paint hazard, 

23 ‘‘(ii) the cost for a certified lead 

24 abatement supervisor to perform the re25 moval of paint and dust, the permanent 

26 enclosure or encapsulation of lead-based 
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1 paint, the replacement of painted surfaces 

2 or fixtures, or the removal or permanent

3 covering of soil when lead-based paint haz4 ards are present in such paint, dust, or 

5 soil, 

6 ‘‘(iii) the cost for a certified lead 

7 abatement supervisor to perform all prepa8 ration, cleanup, disposal, and 

9 postabatement clearance testing activities 

10 associated with the activities described in 

11 clause (ii), and 

12 ‘‘(iv) costs incurred by or on behalf of 

13 any occupant of such dwelling unit for any 

14 relocation which is necessary to achieve oc15 cupant protection (as defined under section 

16 1345 of title 24, Code of Federal Regula17 tions). 

18 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The term ‘abatement 

19 cost’ does not include any cost to the extent 

20 such cost is funded by any grant, contract, or 

21 otherwise by another person (or any govern22 mental agency). 

23 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE DWELLING UNIT.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible 

25 dwelling unit’ means any dwelling unit—
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1 ‘‘(i) placed in service before 1978, 

2 ‘‘(ii) located in the United States, and 

3 ‘‘(iii) determined by a certified risk 

4 assessor to have a lead-based paint hazard.

5 ‘‘(B) DWELLING UNIT.—The term ‘dwell6 ing unit’ has the meaning given such term by 

7 section 280A(f)(1). 

8 ‘‘(3) LEAD-BASED PAINT HAZARD.—The term 

9 ‘lead-based paint hazard’ has the meaning given 

10 such term under part 745 of title 40, Code of Fed11 eral Regulations. 

12 ‘‘(4) CERTIFIED LEAD ABATEMENT SUPER13 VISOR.—The term ‘certified lead abatement super14 visor’ means an individual certified by the Environ15 mental Protection Agency pursuant to section 

16 745.226 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, or 

17 an appropriate State agency pursuant to section 

18 745.325 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations. 

19 ‘‘(5) CERTIFIED INSPECTOR.—The term ‘cer20 tified inspector’ means an inspector certified by the 

21 Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to sec22 tion 745.226 of title 40, Code of Federal Regula23 tions, or an appropriate State agency pursuant to 

24 section 745.325 of title 40, Code of Federal Regula25 tions. 
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1 ‘‘(6) CERTIFIED RISK ASSESSOR.—The term 

2 ‘certified risk assessor’ means a risk assessor cer3 tified by the Environmental Protection Agency pur4 suant to section 745.226 of title 40, Code of Federal 

5 Regulations, or an appropriate State agency pursu6 ant to section 745.325 of title 40, Code of Federal 

7 Regulations. 

8 ‘‘(7) DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED FOR CREDIT

9 ALLOWANCE.—No credit shall be allowed under sub10 section (a) with respect to any eligible dwelling unit 

11 unless—

12 ‘‘(A) after lead abatement is complete, a 

13 certified inspector or certified risk assessor pro14 vides written documentation to the taxpayer 

15 that includes—

16 ‘‘(i) a certification that the 

17 postabatement procedures (as defined by 

18 section 745.227 of title 40, Code of Fed19 eral Regulations) have been performed and 

20 that the unit does not contain lead dust 

21 hazards (as defined by section 

22 745.227(e)(8)(viii) of title 40, Code of 

23 Federal Regulations), and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) documentation showing that the 

2 lead abatement meets the requirements of 

3 this section, and 

4 ‘‘(B) the taxpayer files with the appro5 priate State agency—

6 ‘‘(i) the documentation described in 

7 subparagraph (A), 

8 ‘‘(ii) a receipt from the certified risk 

9 assessor documenting the costs of deter10 mining the presence of a lead-based paint 

11 hazard, 

12 ‘‘(iii) a receipt from the certified lead 

13 abatement supervisor documenting the 

14 abatement cost (other than the costs de15 scribed in paragraph (1)(A)(i)), and 

16 ‘‘(iv) a statement indicating the age of 

17 the dwelling unit. 

18 ‘‘(8) BASIS REDUCTION.—The basis of any 

19 property for which a credit is allowable under sub20 section (a) shall be reduced by the amount of such 

21 credit (determined without regard to subsection (d)). 

22 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION BASED ON AMOUNT OF TAX.—The 

23 credit allowed under subsection (a) for the taxable year 

24 shall not exceed the excess of—
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1 ‘‘(1) the sum of the regular tax liability (as de2 fined in section 26(b)) plus the tax imposed by sec3 tion 55, over 

4 ‘‘(2) the sum of the credits allowable under sub5 part A and sections 27, 29, 30, and 30A for the tax6 able year. 

7 ‘‘(e) CARRYFORWARD ALLOWED.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the credit amount allow9 able under subsection (a) for a taxable year exceeds 

10 the amount of the limitation under subsection (d) 

11 for such taxable year (referred to as the ‘unused 

12 credit year’ in this subsection), such excess shall be 

13 allowed as a credit carryforward for each of the 20 

14 taxable years following the unused credit year. 

15 ‘‘(2) RULES.—Rules similar to the rules of sec16 tion 39 shall apply with respect to the credit 

17 carryforward under paragraph (1).’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

19 (1) Section 1016(a) is amended by striking 

20 ‘‘and’’ in paragraph (27), by striking the period and 

21 inserting ‘‘, and’’ in paragraph (28), and by insert22 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(29) in the case of an eligible dwelling unit 

24 with respect to which a credit for lead abatement 
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1 was allowed under section 30B, to the extent pro2 vided in section 30B(c)(8).’’. 

3 (2) The table of sections for subpart B of part 

4 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 is amended by in5 serting after the item relating to section 30A the fol6 lowing new item:

‘‘Sec. 30B. Home lead abatement.’’.

7 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

8 this section shall apply to abatement costs incurred after 

9 December 31, 2003, in taxable years ending after that 

10 date.

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