II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4908 

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

taxpayers who remove lead-based hazards. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2020 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. HASSAN, 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. PETERS, Mr. BOOKER, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

a tax credit for taxpayers who remove lead-based 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 2020’’. 

6 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that: 

7 (1) Lead is a metal that can produce a wide 

8 range of health effects in humans when ingested. 


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1 Children are more vulnerable to lead poisoning than 

2 adults. 

3 (2) Lead poisoning is a serious, entirely pre4 ventable threat to a child’s intelligence, behavior, 

5 and learning. In severe cases, lead poisoning can re6 sult in death. 

7 (3) According to the Department of Housing 

8 and Urban Development, approximately 22,000,000 

9 housing units nationwide have at least 1 lead paint 

10 hazard. 

11 (4) While appropriated Federal lead abatement 

12 programs, such as the Lead Hazard Control and 

13 Healthy Homes grant programs, have helped reduce 

14 childhood lead poisoning, funding constraints have 

15 limited their impact to only about 400,000 homes 

16 since 1993. 

17 (5) Childhood lead poisoning can be dramati18 cally reduced by the abatement or complete removal 

19 of all lead-based hazards. Empirical studies also 

20 have shown substantial reductions in lead poisoning 

21 when the affected properties have undergone ‘‘in22 terim control measures’’ that are less costly than 

23 abatement. 

24 (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en25 courage the safe removal of lead hazards from homes and 


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1 thereby decrease the number of children who suffer re2 duced intelligence, learning difficulties, behavioral prob3 lems, and other health consequences due to lead poisoning. 

4 SEC. 2. HOME LEAD HAZARD REDUCTION ACTIVITY TAX 

5 CREDIT. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub7 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

8 1986 is amended by inserting after section 36B the fol9 lowing new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 36C. HOME LEAD HAZARD REDUCTION ACTIVITY. 

11 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

13 there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax im14 posed by this subtitle for the taxable year an amount 

15 equal to 50 percent of the lead hazard reduction ac16 tivity cost paid or incurred by the taxpayer during 

17 the taxable year for each eligible dwelling unit. 

18 ‘‘(2) ELECTION TO APPLY COSTS TO PRIOR

19 YEAR.—For purposes of this section, a taxpayer may 

20 elect to treat any lead hazard reduction activity cost 

21 paid or incurred by the taxpayer during the taxable 

22 year as having been paid or incurred during the pre23 ceding taxable year. 

24 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), 

2 the amount of the credit allowed under subsection 

3 (a) for any eligible dwelling unit for any taxable year 

4 shall not exceed— 

5 ‘‘(A) $3,000 in the case of lead hazard re6 duction activity cost including lead abatement 

7 measures described in clause (i), (ii), (iv), or (v) 

8 of subsection (c)(1)(A), and 

9 ‘‘(B) $1,000 in the case of lead hazard re10 duction activity cost including interim lead con11 trol measures described in clause (i), (iii), (iv), 

12 and (v) of subsection (c)(1)(A). 

13 ‘‘(2) OTHER TAX CREDITS.—In the case of any 

14 credit against State or local tax liabilities which is 

15 allowable under the laws of any State or political 

16 subdivision thereof to a taxpayer with respect to any 

17 costs paid or incurred by the taxpayer which would 

18 otherwise qualify as lead hazard reduction activity 

19 costs under this section, the amount of the credit al20 lowed under subsection (a) for any eligible dwelling 

21 unit for any taxable year (determined after applica22 tion of paragraph (1)) shall not exceed an amount 

23 equal to the excess, if any, of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the lead hazard reduction activity 

2 cost paid or incurred by the taxpayer during 

3 the taxable year for such unit, over 

4 ‘‘(B) the amount of such State or local tax 

5 credit. 

6 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION PER RESIDENCE.—The cumu7 lative amount of the credit allowed under subsection 

8 (a) for an eligible dwelling unit for all taxable years 

9 shall not exceed $4,000. 

10 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For pur11 poses of this section— 

12 ‘‘(1) LEAD HAZARD REDUCTION ACTIVITY

13 COST.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘lead hazard 

15 reduction activity cost’ means, with respect to 

16 any eligible dwelling unit— 

17 ‘‘(i) the cost for a certified risk asses18 sor to conduct an assessment to determine 

19 the presence of a lead-based hazard (as 

20 such terms are defined by the Secretary, in 

21 consultation with the Administrator of the 

22 Environmental Protection Agency), 

23 ‘‘(ii) the cost for performing lead 

24 abatement measures by a certified lead 

25 abatement supervisor (as such term is deVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:18 Nov 25, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4908.IS S4908

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1 fined by the Secretary, in consultation with 

2 the Administrator of the Environmental 

3 Protection Agency), including the removal 

4 of paint, dust, or pipes, the permanent en5 closure or encapsulation of lead-based 

6 paint or pipes, the replacement of painted 

7 surfaces, windows, or fixtures, or the re8 moval or permanent covering of soil when 

9 lead-based hazards are present, 

10 ‘‘(iii) the cost for performing interim 

11 lead control measures to reduce exposure 

12 or likely exposure to lead-based hazards, 

13 including specialized cleaning, repairs, 

14 maintenance, painting, temporary contain15 ment, ongoing monitoring of lead-based 

16 hazards, and the establishment and oper17 ation of management and resident edu18 cation programs, but only if such measures 

19 are evaluated and completed by a certified 

20 lead abatement supervisor using accepted 

21 methods, are conducted by a qualified con22 tractor, and have an expected useful life of 

23 more than 10 years, 

24 ‘‘(iv) the cost for a certified lead 

25 abatement supervisor, persons working 


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1 under the supervision of such supervisor, 

2 or a qualified contractor to perform all 

3 preparation, cleanup, disposal, and clear4 ance testing activities associated with the 

5 lead abatement measures or interim lead 

6 control measures, and 

7 ‘‘(v) costs incurred by or on behalf of 

8 any occupant of such dwelling unit for any 

9 relocation which is necessary to achieve oc10 cupant protection (as such term is defined 

11 by the Secretary, in consultation with the 

12 Administrator of the Environmental Pro13 tection Agency). 

14 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The term ‘lead hazard 

15 reduction activity cost’ does not include any 

16 cost to the extent such cost is funded by any 

17 grant, contract, or otherwise by another person 

18 or any governmental agency. 

19 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE DWELLING UNIT.— 

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

21 dwelling unit’ means any dwelling unit— 

22 ‘‘(i) which was placed in service before 

23 1978, and 

24 ‘‘(ii) which is located in the United 

25 States. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DWELLING UNIT.—The term ‘dwell2 ing unit’ has the meaning given such term by 

3 section 280A(f)(1). 

4 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED CONTRACTOR.—The term 

5 ‘qualified contractor’ means any contractor who has 

6 successfully completed a training course on lead safe 

7 work practices which has been approved by the De8 partment of Housing and Urban Development and 

9 the Environmental Protection Agency. 

10 ‘‘(4) DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED FOR CREDIT

11 ALLOWANCE.—No credit shall be allowed under sub12 section (a) with respect to any eligible dwelling unit 

13 for any taxable year unless, after lead hazard reduc14 tion activity is complete, a certified inspector (as 

15 such term is defined by the Secretary, in consulta16 tion with the Administrator of the Environmental 

17 Protection Agency) or certified risk assessor pro18 vides written documentation to the taxpayer that in19 cludes— 

20 ‘‘(A) evidence that— 

21 ‘‘(i) the eligible dwelling unit meets 

22 the lead hazard reduction criteria defined 

23 by the Secretary, in consultation with the 

24 Administrator of the Environmental Pro25 tection Agency, or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the eligible dwelling unit meets 

2 lead hazard evaluation criteria established 

3 under an authorized State or local pro4 gram, and 

5 ‘‘(B) documentation showing that the lead 

6 hazard reduction activity meets the require7 ments of this section. 

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

9 property for which a credit is allowable under sub10 section (a) shall be reduced by the amount of such 

11 credit. 

12 ‘‘(6) NO DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Any deduction al13 lowable for costs taken into account in computing 

14 the amount of the credit for lead hazard reduction 

15 activity shall be reduced by the amount of such cred16 it attributable to such costs. 

17 ‘‘(d) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—In the case of any 

18 taxable year beginning in a calendar year after 2020, each 

19 of the dollar amounts in subsection (b) shall be increased 

20 by an amount equal to— 

21 ‘‘(1) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

22 ‘‘(2) the cost-of-living adjustment determined 

23 under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which 

24 the taxable year begins, determined by substituting 


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1 ‘calendar year 2019’ for ‘calendar year 2016’ in sub2 paragraph (A)(ii) thereof. 

3 Any increase determined under the preceding sentence 

4 shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of $100. 

5 ‘‘(e) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 

6 any amount paid or incurred after December 31, 2023.’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

8 (1) Section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United 

9 States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, 36C’’ after 

10 ‘‘36B’’. 

11 (2) The table of sections for subpart C of part 

12 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev13 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting before 

14 the item relating to section 37 the following new 

15 item: 

‘‘Sec. 36C. Home lead hazard reduction activity.’’. 

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

17 this section shall apply to lead hazard reduction activity 

18 costs incurred after December 31, 2019, in taxable years 

19 ending after such date. 

Æ 


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