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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 176 (Wednesday, September 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73702-73705]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-20532]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-6486-N-01]

Modifying HUD's Elevated Blood Lead Level Threshold for Children 
Under Age 6 Who are Living in Certain HUD-Assisted Target Housing 
Covered by the Lead Safe Housing Rule; Notice for Comment

AGENCY: Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes, Department of 
Housing and Urban Development, HUD.

ACTION: Notice for comment.

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SUMMARY: This notice for comment seeks public input regarding HUD's 
intention to revise the elevated blood lead level (EBLL) threshold in 
HUD's requirements for assisted housing. HUD intends to revise its EBLL 
threshold to 3.5 micrograms of lead per deciliter ([micro]g/dL) of 
blood for a child under the age of 6, consistent with the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) current blood lead reference 
value (BLRV) of 3.5 ([micro]g/dL) of blood for a child under the age of 
6. The CDC uses its BLRV for encouraging actions such as environmental 
investigations of homes to identify potential sources of lead. When HUD 
last amended its EBLL threshold in 2017, CDC's BLRV for children under 
the age of 6 was 5 [micro]g/dL, the level HUD uses as its current EBLL 
threshold.

DATES: Comment Due Date: October 11, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments responsive 
to this notice for comment. There are two methods for submitting public 
comments. All submissions must refer to the above docket number and 
title.
    1. Electronic Submission of Comments. Comments may be submitted 
electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov. HUD strongly encourages commenters to submit 
comments electronically. Electronic submission of comments allows the 
commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a comment, ensures timely 
receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to make comments immediately available 
to the public. Comments submitted electronically through 
www.regulations.gov can be viewed by other commenters and interested 
members of the public. Commenters should follow the instructions 
provided on that website to submit comments electronically.
    2. Submission of Comments by Mail. Comments may be submitted by 
mail to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department 
of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room 10276, 
Washington, DC 20410-0500.
    Public Inspection of Public Comments. All properly submitted 
comments and communications will be available for public inspection and 
copying between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. eastern time weekdays at the above 
address. Due to security measures at the HUD Headquarters building, you 
must schedule an appointment in advance to review the public comments 
by calling the Regulations Division at 202-708-3055 (this is not a 
toll-free number). HUD welcomes and is prepared to receive calls from 
individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as individuals 
with speech or communication disabilities. To learn more about how to 
make an accessible telephone call, please visit https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/telecommunications-relay-service-trs.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Warren Friedman, Office of Lead Hazard 
Control and Healthy Homes, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 
451 7th Street SW, Room 8236, Washington, DC 20410-3000, telephone 202-
402-7698 (this is not a toll-free number). HUD welcomes and is prepared 
to receive calls from individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, as 
well as individuals with speech or communication disabilities. To learn 
more about how to make an accessible telephone call, please visit 
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/telecommunications-relay-service-trs.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

A. HUD's Lead Safe Housing Rule

    On September 15, 1999, HUD published a final rule entitled 
``Requirements for Notification, Evaluation and Reduction of Lead-Based 
Paint Hazards in Federally Owned Residential Property and Housing 
Receiving Federal Assistance.'' \1\ HUD's 1999 final rule, including 
revisions made through subsequent rulemakings since the rule's original 
publication in 1999, is referred to throughout this notice for comment 
as the ``Lead Safe Housing Rule.'' The Lead Safe Housing Rule's 
requirements are codified at 24 CFR part 35. Its purpose is to 
implement the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act, as amended,\2\ 
and the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard

[[Page 73703]]

Reduction Act of 1992 \3\ and specifically, ``to ensure that housing 
receiving Federal assistance and federally owned housing that is to be 
sold does not pose lead-based paint hazards to young children.'' \4\
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    \1\ Available at 64 FR 50140.
    \2\ 42 U.S.C. 4821 et seq.
    \3\ 42 U.S.C. 4851 et seq.; see also 24 CFR 35.100(a).
    \4\ 64 FR 50140 (Sept. 15, 1999).
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    Under HUD's Lead Safe Housing Rule, when a child under age 6 
residing in certain housing built before 1978--i.e., ``target housing'' 
\5\--that is HUD-assisted is identified as having an elevated blood 
lead level, the ``designated party''--the property owner or other 
entity (e.g., Federal agency, State, local government, public housing 
agency, Indian Tribe, tribally designated housing entity, sponsor) 
responsible for complying with applicable requirements of the Lead Safe 
Housing Rule for that assistance \6\--is required to undertake certain 
actions. These required actions are generally the same for each of the 
four applicable Lead Safe Housing Rule subparts in 24 CFR part 35 
regarding HUD assistance:
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    \5\ Most housing built before 1978 is considered ``target 
housing,'' which is the focus of the Lead Safe Housing Rule and 
other HUD and Environmental Protection Agency rules and programs on 
lead safety in housing. The Lead Safe Housing Rule defines ``target 
housing,'' in part, as ``any housing constructed prior to 1978, 
except housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities (unless 
a child of less than 6 years of age resides or is expected to reside 
in such housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities) or any 
zero-bedroom dwelling.'' 24 CFR 35.110, target housing. HUD is 
preparing to amend the definition of ``target housing'' in 24 CFR 
part 35 to reflect the slight expansion of the scope of the term by 
the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (Pub. L. 115-31, enacted 
May 5, 2017) to include the small number of pre-1978 zero-bedroom 
dwellings in which a child under age 6 resides or is expected to 
reside. See the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Spring 
2024 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, HUD 
Regulatory Identification Number 2501-AE03, https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202404&RIN=2501-AE03.
    \6\ See 24 CFR 35.110, designated party.
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     Subpart H, Project-Based Assistance,
     Subpart I, HUD-Owned and Mortgagee-in-Possession 
Multifamily Property,
     Subpart L, Public Housing Programs, and
     Subpart M, Tenant-Based Rental Assistance.
    Additionally, there are slightly narrower requirements in subpart 
D, covering Project-Based Assistance Provided by a Federal Agency Other 
Than HUD, under which other agencies do not report on the case to HUD.
    During an environmental investigation, lead professionals (i.e., 
certified lead risk assessors working for a certified lead risk 
assessment firm on behalf of the designated party, or professionals 
from the local public health department) check the child's environment 
for possible causes of lead exposure and recommend ways to prevent 
further lead exposure. If the environmental investigation identifies 
any lead-based paint hazards in the HUD-assisted housing unit of the 
child, the building's other HUD-assisted units where a child under age 
6 resides are also required to have a risk assessment conducted, and a 
designated party associated with the assistance must arrange for the 
hazards to be controlled in accordance with HUD and Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) requirements, as applicable, on a schedule 
specified in the Lead Safe Housing Rule.\7\
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    \7\ For additional information on required actions where a child 
has an EBLL, see 24 CFR 35.325 (subpart D); 24 CFR 35.730; (subpart 
H), 24 CFR 35.830 (subpart I); 24 CFR 35.1130 (subpart L); and 24 
CFR 35.1225 (subpart M).
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B. CDC's Blood Level Reference Value and HUD's Elevated Blood Lead 
Level Threshold

    Through mid-2017, HUD defined ``environmental intervention blood 
lead level'' (EIBLL) as ``a confirmed concentration of lead in whole 
blood equal to or greater than 20 ug/dL for a single test or 15-19 ug/
dL in two tests taken at least 3 months apart.'' \8\ HUD used the EIBLL 
definition to specify when environmental intervention was required in 
HUD-assisted target housing.
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    \8\ 24 CFR 35.110 (Jan. 3, 2017).
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    In 2017, HUD amended the Lead Safe Housing Rule principally to 
address HUD's requirements relating to responding to elevated blood 
lead levels.\9\ Through the amendment, HUD replaced the EIBLL 
definition with a definition of ``elevated blood lead level'' in 
children under the age 6, in accordance with CDC guidance at the 
time.\10\ As noted in HUD's 2017 rule:
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    \9\ See Requirements for Notification, Evaluation and Reduction 
of Lead-Based Paint Hazards in Federally Owned Residential Property 
and Housing Receiving Federal Assistance; Response to Elevated Blood 
Lead Levels, 82 FR 4151 (Jan. 13, 2017).
    \10\ 24 CFR 35.110, elevated blood lead level.

    CDC's ``reference range value'' [also called ``reference 
value''] method for defining EBLLs is based on the blood lead level 
equaled or exceeded by 2.5 percent of U.S. children aged 1-5 years 
as determined by CDC's most recent National Health and Nutritional 
Examination Survey. Currently [i.e., in 2017], CDC's reference range 
value is 5 [mu]g/dL (5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of 
blood).\11\
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    \11\ 82 FR 4152, footnote 6 (Jan. 13, 2017).

    CDC introduced its blood lead reference value method in 2012, based 
on the CDC's Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention 
(ACCLPP),\12\ recommending in January 2012:
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    \12\ The ACCLPP was formed under the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act, 5 U.S.C. 1001, which provides a mechanism for experts and 
stakeholders to participate in the executive branch decision-making 
process.

that a reference value based on the 97.5th percentile of the 
[National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey] generated [blood 
lead level (BLL)] distribution in children 1-5 years old (currently 
5 [mu]g/dL) be used to identify children with elevated BLL.\13\
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    \13\ ACCLPP, Recommendations of the Advisory Committee for 
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention (ACCLPP) ``Low Level Lead 
Exposure Harms Children: A Renewed Call of Primary Prevention'' 
(Jan. 4, 2012), https://archive.cdc.gov/#/details?url=https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/advisory/acclpp.htm.

    In its June 2012 response, CDC accepted the ACCLPP recommendations 
that the BLRV method be used and that the BLRV be set at 5 [mu]g/dL for 
children under the age of 6, based on the two then-most recent National 
Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys from 2009-2010 and 2011-
2012.\14\
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    \14\ CDC, CDC Response to Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead 
Poisoning Prevention (ACCLPP) Recommendations in ``Low Level Lead 
Exposure Harms Children: A Renewed Call of Primary Prevention'' 
(June 7, 2012), https://archive.cdc.gov/#/details?url=https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/advisory/acclpp.htm.
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    As the CDC explains, its BLRV helps to identify children with 
higher levels of lead in their blood compared to most children. The 
current BLRV is based on the 97.5th percentile of the blood lead values 
among U.S. children ages 1-5 years from 2015-2016 and 2017-2018 
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles. 
Children with blood lead levels at or above the BLRV represent those at 
the top 2.5 percent with the highest blood lead levels. The CDC 
reanalyzes blood lead data approximately every four years using the 
most recent two NHANES cycles to determine whether it should update its 
BLRV.\15\
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    \15\ See CDC, Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention, About the 
Data: Blood Lead Surveillance, Blood lead reference value (April 17, 
2024), https://www.cdc.gov/lead-prevention/php/data/blood-lead-surveillance.html#cdc_data_description_what_the_data_includes-blood-lead-reference-value.
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    With the distribution of blood lead levels of children under age 6 
consistently dropping for decades,\16\ including in recent years,\17\ 
the fraction

[[Page 73704]]

of children with blood lead levels at or above 5 [mu]g/dL has 
decreased. Based on HUD's survey research \18\ and lead hazard 
reduction grant data analysis research,\19\ it is clear that assisted 
housing has distributions of dust-lead levels well below the national 
distribution of dust-lead levels both during routine occupancy and 
after lead hazard reduction activities. HUD's survey research also 
indicates that HUD-assisted housing has a lower prevalence of lead-
based paint hazards than unassisted housing. Consistent with those 
findings, HUD-CDC data analysis research indicates that the 
distribution of blood lead levels in children under age 6 residing in 
HUD-assisted housing is significantly lower than the distribution of 
blood lead levels in socio-demographically matched children in 
unassisted housing.\20\
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    \16\ See, e.g., Brown MJ and Falk H. Toolkit for Establishing 
Laws to Control the Use of Lead Paint. Module C.iii. Conducting 
blood lead prevalence studies, Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead 
Paint, slide 8 (2017), https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/21470/Module%20Ciii%20Blood%20Lead%20Prevalence%20Studies_Final%20%20July%2017.pdf.
    \17\ See, e.g., Tsoi M-F, Cheung C-L, Cheung TT, Cheung BMY, 
Continual Decrease in Blood Lead Level in Americans: United States 
National Health Nutrition and Examination Survey 1999-2014 (2016), 
American Journal of Medicine 129(11):1213-1218, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2016.05.042; Egan KB, Cornwell CR, Courtney JG, 
Ettinger AS, Blood Lead Levels in U.S. Children Ages 1-11 Years, 
1976-2016 (2021), Environmental Health Perspectives 129(3):037003, 
https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP793.
    \18\ See Jacobs DE, Clickner RP, Zhou JY, Viet SM, Marker DA, 
Rogers JW, Zeldin DC, Broene P, and Friedman W, The Prevalence of 
Lead-Based Paint Hazards in U.S. Housing (2002), Environmental 
Health Perspectives 110(10):A599-A606, https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.021100599; Dewalt FG, Cox DC, O'Haver R, Salatino B, Holmes D, 
Ashley PJ, Pinzer EA, Friedman W, Marker D, Viet SM, and Fraser A, 
Prevalence of Lead Hazards and Soil Arsenic in U.S. Housing (2015), 
Journal of Environmental Health 78(5):22-29, https://www.neha.org/node/6429; HUD Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes, 
American Healthy Homes Survey II Lead Findings (2021), www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/HH/documents/AHHS_II_Lead_Findings_Report_Final_29oct21.pdf.
    \19\ See, e.g., Cox, David and Gary Dewalt (2015), Lead Hazard 
Control Clearance Survey: Final Report. HUD, Office of Lead Hazard 
Control and Healthy Homes, https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/ClearanceSurvey_24Oct15.pdf.
    \20\ See, e.g., Ahrens KA, Haley BA, Rossen LM, Lloyd PC, Aoki 
Y, Housing Assistance and Blood Lead Levels: Children in the United 
States, 2005-2012, American Journal of Public Health 106(11):2049-
2056 (Nov. 1, 2016), https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303432.
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    On May 14, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services' Lead 
Exposure and Prevention Advisory Committee (LEPAC) \21\ voted to 
recommend that CDC update its BLRV for children under the age of 6 from 
5 [mu]g/dL to 3.5 [mu]g/dL based on CDC data from the 2015-2016 and 
2017-2018 NHANES cycles.\22\ CDC accepted LEPAC's recommendation and 
publicized its implementation by creating and updating several web 
pages on its website.\23\
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    \21\ For additional information on LEPAC, see CDC, Childhood 
Lead Poisoning Prevention, Lead Advisory Committees, https://www.cdc.gov/lead-prevention/php/lead-advisory-committee/index.html.
    \22\ See CDC, Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention, Agenda and 
Minutes of Lead Exposure and Prevention Advisory Committee Meeting, 
May 14, 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/lead-prevention/php/lead-advisory-committee/meeting-5-14-2021.html.
    \23\ See, e.g., https://www.cdc.gov/lead-prevention/about/index.html; https://www.cdc.gov/lead-prevention/php/data/blood-lead-surveillance.html; https://www.cdc.gov/lead-prevention/php/data/index.html; https://www.cdc.gov/lead-prevention/hcp/clinical-guidance/index.html.
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C. HUD's Intention To Revise Its EBLL Threshold for Children Under the 
Age of 6

    HUD intends to revise its EBLL threshold to 3.5 [mu]g/dL of blood 
for a child under age 6, consistent with CDC's current BLRV of 3.5 
[mu]g/dL of blood for a child under age 6.\24\ HUD's intended revision 
to its EBLL threshold would encourage healthcare providers and public 
health professionals to use the CDC-recommended follow-up actions that 
include arranging for an environmental investigation of the home to 
identify potential sources of lead.\25\ The revision would require the 
environmental investigation by the designated party (unless the public 
health department has evaluated the home in regard to the child's EBLL 
case) when the child resides in certain HUD-assisted target housing 
covered by the Lead Safe Housing Rule.
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    \24\ For additional information, see CDC, Childhood Lead 
Poisoning Prevention, About the Data: Blood Lead Surveillance, 
https://www.cdc.gov/lead-prevention/php/data/blood-lead-surveillance.html.
    \25\ For additional information, see CDC, Childhood Lead 
Poisoning Prevention, Recommended Actions Based on Blood Lead Level, 
https://www.cdc.gov/lead-prevention/hcp/clinical-guidance/index.html.
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    When HUD's Lead Safe Housing Rule was last amended in 2017,\26\ CDC 
guidance was to use 5 [mu]g/dL as the BLRV threshold for children under 
the age of 6 when recommending an environmental investigation. HUD has 
used that level as the EBLL threshold for the Lead Safe Housing Rule 
since 2017. Given that CDC has now revised its BLRV to 3.5 [mu]g/dL for 
children under the age of 6, HUD believes that it is appropriate to 
revise its EBLL threshold to be consistent with CDC's BLRV.
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    \26\ See 82 FR 4151 (Jan. 13, 2017).
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    Conforming HUD's EBLL threshold for children under 6 to CDC's 
current BLRV would result in more environmental investigations of pre-
1978 assisted housing units and more lead hazard control work being 
performed in those units than at present. The number of environmental 
investigations and lead hazard control activities would be comparable 
to the number at the time the EBLL was set in 2017, because the CDC 
guidance criterion for setting the BLRV--the blood lead level at or 
above which are the highest 2.5 percent of the national population of 
children under age 6 (formally, ages 1 to 5)--is the same. Because HUD 
already has overall safety and LSHR monitoring and response programs, 
the percentage of children under age 6 with EBLLs in HUD-assisted 
housing is expected to remain lower than that national 2.5 percentage.

II. This Notice for Comment

    Through this notice for comment, HUD is giving notice of, and 
opportunity for public comment on, as required by 24 CFR part 35,\27\ 
HUD's intention to revise its elevated blood lead level threshold to 
3.5 [mu]g/dL of blood for a child under age 6.
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    \27\ 24 CFR 35.110, elevated blood lead level.
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    HUD requests public input regarding HUD's intention to make the 
described update to its EBLL threshold under HUD's Lead Safe Housing 
Rule. HUD seeks public comment on whether HUD should adopt the CDC's 
3.5 [mu]g/dL BLRV to replace the EBLL 5 [mu]g/dL threshold for children 
under the age of 6 currently used in HUD's Lead Safe Housing Rule. This 
adoption of a lower EBLL threshold would result in the percentage of 
HUD assisted pre-1978 housing units prompting environmental 
investigations to return to approximately the same percentage as in 
2017.

III. Specific Information Requested

    While HUD welcomes all comments relevant to HUD's intention to 
update the Lead Safe Housing Rule's EBLL threshold from 5 to 3.5 [mu]g/
dL of blood for a child under 6, consistent with CDC's recommendation, 
HUD is particularly interested in receiving input on the questions 
listed below. To assist commenters, HUD provides the following guidance 
and list of specific information requested.
     Please indicate in your written comments the area of 
interest and the topic number(s) below you are commenting on and 
provide specific information to illustrate your comments where 
possible.
     You do not need to address every topic and should focus on 
those where you have relevant expertise, experience, or data.
     To the extent possible, please cite any public data, peer-
reviewed journal articles, and other publicly accessible information 
related to the topic or that supports your responses.
     If information or data is available, but is non-public, 
describe the

[[Page 73705]]

information or data to the extent permissible, noting that it is non-
public.
    Because any responses received by HUD will be publicly available, 
responses should not include any personally identifiable information 
(other than identifying the submitter, unless the submitter wishes to 
submit anonymously, or identifying authors or editors of publicly 
available information) or confidential commercial information.
    HUD thanks commenters in advance for their information and comments 
that will assist the Department in evaluating its current EBLL 
threshold and the appropriateness of HUD's intention to revise its EBLL 
threshold.

1. Considerations for Revising the Lead Safe Housing Rule's Elevated 
Blood Lead Level Threshold

    a. Reasoning in this notice. Is the reasoning discussed throughout 
this notice for comment appropriate for determining to decrease the 
Lead Safe Housing Rule's EBLL threshold from 5 to 3.5 [mu]g/dL of blood 
for children under 6? Is the justification reasonable and balanced?
    b. Other considerations. Are there other considerations for 
determining the appropriate EBLL, and, if so, what are those 
considerations and how should they be addressed?

2. Compliance Period Following a Revision to the Lead Safe Housing 
Rules Elevated Blood Lead Level Threshold

    If HUD revises its EBLL threshold under the Lead Safe Housing Rule 
by decreasing it to CDC's current BLRV, should HUD set a 6-month 
compliance period for requiring environmental interventions at the 
decreased EBLL threshold, as HUD did when it last decreased its Lead 
Safe Housing Rule blood lead level threshold in 2017, or should HUD set 
some other compliance period?
    HUD recognizes that its clients conducting ongoing program 
activities in pre-1978 housing covered by the Lead Safe Housing Rule 
would need time to incorporate any revised EBLL threshold level 
requirements related to responding to cases of children with EBLLs into 
their programs. As a result, HUD is considering setting a compliance 
date of 6 months after any revision to the EBLL threshold for requiring 
environmental intervention and related activities. Setting a delayed 
compliance period of 6 months would be intended to allow all covered 
parties--lead-based paint professionals, housing agencies, State, 
Tribal, and local government agencies, public and private residential 
property owners, residential property management firms, and others--
time to prepare for proper implementation of any revised requirements. 
HUD shares the public health concern that further delaying required 
compliance with a revised EBLL threshold may expose children under age 
6 to higher lead levels for a longer period of time; however, HUD 
believes that setting a shorter compliance date, such as a 30-day 
compliance date, may be impractical because the organizational 
infrastructure necessary to implement a revised EBLL threshold will 
take time to put in place.

Matthew Ammon,
Director, Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes.
[FR Doc. 2024-20532 Filed 9-10-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P
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