I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8713 

To amend the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act to provide for 

additional procedures for families with children under the age of 6, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 30, 2020 

Mr. MCEACHIN (for himself and Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act 

to provide for additional procedures for families with 

children under the age of 6, and for other purposes. 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lead-Safe Housing 

5 for Kids Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 

8 (1) according to the Centers for Disease Con9 trol and Prevention (CDC), in 2014 approximately 


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1 995,600 or 4 percent of children under the age of 

2 6 in the United States had elevated blood lead levels 

3 above the CDC reference value of 5 micrograms per 

4 deciliter (μg/dL); 

5 (2) there is no safe level of lead poisoning; 

6 (3) according to the CDC, the effects of lead 

7 poisoning are immediate and permanent—childhood 

8 exposure to lead, even at very low levels, can have 

9 lifelong consequences, including decreased IQ and 

10 cognitive function, developmental delays, and behav11 ioral problems; 

12 (4) higher exposures to lead at a young age can 

13 cause seizures, coma, and even death; 

14 (5) according to the National Housing Law 

15 Project, there are over 90,400 children in the United 

16 States living in housing assisted under the Housing 

17 Choice Voucher Program who have lead poisoning 

18 and there are an additional 340,000 children living 

19 in federally assisted housing who are at risk; 

20 (6) under current program rules, children 

21 whose families participate in the Housing Choice 

22 Voucher Program must develop lead poisoning be23 fore a lead hazard risk assessment occurs; 

24 (7) Columbia University estimates the potential 

25 societal costs of lead poisoning in the Housing 


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1 Choice Voucher Program to be almost $1.2 billion; 

2 and 

3 (8) while some localities have required property 

4 owners to conduct risk assessments and abate lead 

5 when a child under the age of 6 will reside in a 

6 dwelling unit, there has been evidence that such poli7 cies led to augmented instances of housing discrimi8 nation on the basis of familial status, making hous9 ing opportunities less available for families with chil10 dren and increasing the risk of homelessness for 

11 such families. 

12 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE LEAD-BASED PAINT POI13 SONING PREVENTION ACT. 

14 Section 302(a) of the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning 

15 Prevention Act (42 U.S.C. 4822(a)) is amended— 

16 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para17 graph (5); and 

18 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL PROCEDURES FOR FAMILIES

21 WITH CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 6.— 

22 ‘‘(A) RISK ASSESSMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION.—In this subpara24 graph, the term ‘covered housing’— 


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1 ‘‘(I) means housing receiving 

2 Federal assistance described in para3 graph (1) that— 

4 ‘‘(aa) was constructed prior 

5 to 1978; and 

6 ‘‘(bb)(AA) is public housing; 

7 ‘‘(BB) receives project-based 

8 rental assistance under section 8 

9 of the United States Housing Act 

10 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f); 

11 ‘‘(CC) receives assistance 

12 under the Housing Opportunities 

13 for Persons With AIDS under 

14 subtitle D of title VIII of the 

15 Cranston-Gonzalez National Af16 fordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 12901 et seq.); or 

18 ‘‘(DD) receives assistance 

19 under the Supportive Housing 

20 for Persons With Disabilities 

21 under section 811 of the Cran22 ston-Gonzalez National Afford23 able Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 8013); and 

25 ‘‘(II) does not include— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) single-family housing 

2 covered by an application for 

3 mortgage insurance under the 

4 National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 

5 1701 et seq.); or 

6 ‘‘(bb) multi-family housing 

7 that— 

8 ‘‘(AA) is covered by an 

9 application for mortgage in10 surance under the National 

11 Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 

12 1701 et seq.); and 

13 ‘‘(BB) does not receive 

14 any other Federal housing 

15 assistance. 

16 ‘‘(ii) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 

17 180 days after the date of enactment of 

18 the Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act of 

19 2020, the Secretary shall promulgate regu20 lations that— 

21 ‘‘(I) require the owner of covered 

22 housing in which a family with a child 

23 of less than 6 years of age will reside 

24 or is expected to reside to conduct an 


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1 initial risk assessment for lead-based 

2 paint hazards— 

3 ‘‘(aa) in the case of covered 

4 housing receiving public housing 

5 assistance under the United 

6 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

7 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.) or project8 based rental assistance under 

9 section 8 of the United States 

10 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

11 1437f), not later than 15 days 

12 after the date on which a phys13 ical condition inspection occurs; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(bb) in the case of covered 

16 housing not described in item 

17 (aa), not later than a date estab18 lished by the Secretary; 

19 ‘‘(II) provide that a visual assess20 ment alone is not sufficient for pur21 poses of complying with subclause (I); 

22 ‘‘(III) require that, if lead-based 

23 paint hazards are identified by an ini24 tial risk assessment conducted under 

25 subclause (I), the public housing 


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1 agency for or owner of the covered 

2 housing shall— 

3 ‘‘(aa) not later than 30 days 

4 after the date on which the initial 

5 risk assessment is conducted, 

6 control the lead-based paint haz7 ards, including achieving clear8 ance in accordance with regula9 tions promulgated under section 

10 402 or 404 of the Toxic Sub11 stances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 

12 2682, 2684), as applicable, ex13 cept that to the extent that the 

14 requirements under this item re15 sult in additional costs, this item 

16 shall be effective and apply only 

17 to the extent that amounts to 

18 cover such additional costs are 

19 provided in advance in appropria20 tion Acts; and 

21 ‘‘(bb) provide notice to all 

22 residents in the covered housing 

23 affected by the initial risk assess24 ment, and provide notice in the 

25 common areas of the covered 


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1 housing, that lead-based paint 

2 hazards were identified and will 

3 be controlled within the 30-day 

4 period described in item (aa); 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(IV) provide that there shall be 

7 no extension of the 30-day period de8 scribed in subclause (III)(aa). 

9 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTIONS.—The regulations 

10 promulgated under clause (ii) shall provide 

11 an exception to the requirement under sub12 clause (I) of such clause for covered hous13 ing— 

14 ‘‘(I) if the public housing agency 

15 for or owner of the covered housing 

16 submits to the Secretary documenta17 tion— 

18 ‘‘(aa) that the public hous19 ing agency or owner conducted a 

20 risk assessment of the covered 

21 housing for lead-based paint haz22 ards during the 12-month period 

23 preceding the date on which the 

24 family is expected to reside in the 

25 covered housing; and 


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1 ‘‘(bb) of any clearance ex2 aminations of lead-based paint 

3 hazard control work resulting 

4 from the risk assessment de5 scribed in item (aa); 

6 ‘‘(II) from which all lead-based 

7 paint has been identified and removed 

8 and clearance has been achieved in ac9 cordance with regulations promul10 gated under section 402 or 404 of the 

11 Toxic Substances Control Act (15 

12 U.S.C. 2682, 2684), as applicable; 

13 ‘‘(III)(aa) if the dwelling unit is 

14 unoccupied; 

15 ‘‘(bb) if the public housing agen16 cy for or owner of the covered hous17 ing, without any further delay in occu18 pancy or increase in rent, provides the 

19 family with another dwelling unit in 

20 the covered housing that has no lead21 based paint hazards; and 

22 ‘‘(cc) the common areas servicing 

23 the new dwelling unit have no lead24 based paint hazards; and 


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1 ‘‘(IV) if the covered housing is in 

2 compliance with the schedule for risk 

3 assessment under the program under 

4 which assistance is provided for the 

5 housing and such schedule provides 

6 that the period of time between the 

7 most recent assessment and the next 

8 assessment will not exceed 24 months. 

9 ‘‘(B) RELOCATION.—Not later than 180 

10 days after the date of enactment of the Lead11 Safe Housing for Kids Act of 2020, the Sec12 retary shall promulgate regulations to provide 

13 that a family with a child of less than 6 years 

14 of age that occupies a dwelling unit in covered 

15 housing in which lead-based paint hazards were 

16 identified, but not controlled in accordance with 

17 regulations required under clause (ii), may relo18 cate on an emergency basis and without place19 ment on any waiting list, penalty (including 

20 rent payments to be made for that dwelling 

21 unit), or lapse in assistance to another dwelling 

22 unit in covered housing that has no lead-based 

23 paint hazards.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM FOR TENANT-BASED 

2 HOUSING. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

5 Housing and Urban Development shall establish and im6 plement a demonstration program under which— 

7 (1) an owner of a dwelling for which tenant8 based rental assistance under section 8 of the 

9 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

10 1437f) is provided and in which a child of less than 

11 6 years of age will reside or is expected to reside 

12 shall conduct, and cover the costs of, an initial risk 

13 assessment for lead-based paint hazards in such 

14 housing; 

15 (2) the Secretary shall cover the costs of abate16 ment of any lead-based paint hazards identified pur17 suant to risk assessments paid for as provided under 

18 paragraph (1); and 

19 (3) the owner of any dwelling unit for which 

20 abatement activities are conducted pursuant to para21 graph (2) is required, for a period to be determined 

22 by the Secretary based on the cost or percentage of 

23 the cost of such abatement activities covered by the 

24 Secretary, to rent the dwelling unit only to a house25 hold assisted with tenant-based rental assistance 

26 under such section 8. 


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1 (b) PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS.—Under the 

2 demonstration program, the Secretary shall establish pro3 cedures and requirements with respect to housing covered 

4 by the demonstration program that are similar to the pro5 cedures and requirements applicable under paragraph (1) 

6 of section 302(a) of the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Pre7 vention Act (42 U.S.C. 4822(a)(1)) to housing covered by 

8 such paragraph, except as otherwise modified by this sec9 tion. 

10 (c) GEOGRAPHICAL DIVERSITY.—The Secretary shall 

11 carry out the demonstration program under this section 

12 in a variety of locations having high rates of lead poi13 soning, including urban areas and rural areas, in a man14 ner that ensures geographically diversity of housing as15 sisted under the program. 

16 (d) COORDINATION.—Public housing agencies pro17 viding rental assistance for dwelling units participating in 

18 the demonstration program under this section shall coordi19 nate with local public health agencies to determine if such 

20 dwelling units had a previous history of lead poisoning and 

21 if that lead poisoning was reported to the public housing 

22 agency. 

23 (e) MONITORING; REPORTING.— 

24 (1) MONITORING.—The Secretary shall monitor 

25 the extent of landlord compliance and participation 


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1 under the demonstration program under this section 

2 and shall assess the relationships between the period 

3 of affordability required under subsection (a)(2), the 

4 amount or portion of the cost of abatement activities 

5 covered by the Secretary pursuant to such sub6 section, and the level of participation in the dem7 onstration program by landlords. 

8 (2) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Secretary shall 

9 submit a report annually to the Congress on land10 lord compliance and participation in the demonstra11 tion program. Each such report shall identify any 

12 changes in the rate of landlord compliance and par13 ticipation from year to year and from immediately 

14 before the implementation of the demonstration pro15 gram to the time of such report, and shall include 

16 an analysis of whether and the extent to which the 

17 availability of dwelling units to be assisted with ten18 ant-based rental assistance under section 8 of the 

19 United States Housing Act of 1937 is restricted or 

20 limited based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, 

21 familial status, or national origin in any manner 

22 that does not comply with the Fair Housing Act. 

23 (3) INVOLVEMENT OF OFFICE OF FAIR HOUS24 ING AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY.—In conducting 

25 monitoring pursuant to paragraph (1) and preparing 


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1 reports pursuant to paragraph (2), the Secretary 

2 shall involve and consult with the Office of Fair 

3 Housing and Equal Opportunity. 

4 (4) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than the expira5 tion of the 6-month period beginning upon the ter6 mination of the demonstration program under sub7 section (h), the Secretary shall submit a final report 

8 on the program to the Congress that shall include 

9 the following information: 

10 (A) ANNUAL REPORT INFORMATION.—All 

11 information required to be submitted pursuant 

12 to paragraph (2) in each annual report under 

13 such paragraph. 

14 (B) EFFECTIVENESS IN PREVENTING LEAD

15 POISONING.—Identification of— 

16 (i) the overall number of dwelling 

17 units where a risk assessment identified a 

18 lead hazard before a child under age six 

19 occupied the unit; and 

20 (ii) if feasible, for each dwelling with 

21 such an identified lead hazard— 

22 (I) whether the unit had visual 

23 signs of a lead hazard or had pre24 viously passed a visual inspection; and 


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1 (II) any documented cases of 

2 lead poisoning in children previously 

3 residing in the dwelling unit. 

4 (C) ACTUAL COST.—Identification of— 

5 (i) the actual cost of conducting pre6 occupancy risk assessments of dwelling 

7 units, including the varying cost based on 

8 the age, building type, and location of the 

9 unit; 

10 (ii) the actual cost of lead-based paint 

11 hazard control activities conducted after a 

12 risk assessment that indicated the presence 

13 of a lead-based paint hazard in the partici14 pating units; and 

15 (iii) the actual cost of the clearance 

16 examination conducted after completion of 

17 lead-based paint hazard control activities. 

18 (D) PARTICIPATING TENANTS.—Identifica19 tion of— 

20 (i) the number, age, race, and eth21 nicity of children who would have lived in 

22 dwelling units where a lead hazard was 

23 discovered after a pre-occupancy risk as24 sessment; and 


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1 (ii) the number, age, race, and eth2 nicity of children residing in dwelling units 

3 in buildings in which a participating dwell4 ing unit having a lead-based paint hazard 

5 is located. 

6 (E) PARTICIPATING UNITS.—Identification 

7 of— 

8 (i) the age of participating dwelling 

9 units; 

10 (ii) the block in which participating 

11 units are located and, if not available, the 

12 census tract in which participating units 

13 are located; 

14 (iii) the type of building in which par15 ticipating units are located; and 

16 (iv) the number of participating units 

17 in which a lead-based paint hazard was 

18 discovered. 

19 (F) RISK ASSESSMENTS.—Identification 

20 of— 

21 (i) the number of inspectors available 

22 in each locality to conduct risk assessments 

23 under the program; 


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1 (ii) the amount of time elapsed from 

2 making of a request for a risk assessment 

3 until completion of the assessment; and 

4 (iii) the agency employing each in5 spector. 

6 (f) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The 

7 Secretary shall make information collected pursuant to the 

8 demonstration program under this section publicly avail9 able on the website of the Department in a manner that 

10 does not provide any personally identifiable information 

11 regarding individuals or households participating in the 

12 program. 

13 (g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

14 terms ‘‘risk assessment’’, ‘‘inspection’’, ‘‘interim con15 trols’’, and ‘‘lead-based paint hazard’’ have the same 

16 meaning given such terms in section 1004 of the Residen17 tial Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 (42 

18 U.S.C. 4851b). 

19 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

20 authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 for fiscal years 

21 2021 through 2025 to carry out this section. 

22 (i) TERMINATION.—The demonstration program es23 tablished under this section shall terminate 5 years after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. RISK ASSESSMENTS. 

2 Paragraph (25) of section 1004 of the Residential 

3 Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 (42 

4 U.S.C. 4851b(25)) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as sub6 paragraph (G); and 

7 (2) by striking subparagraphs (C) and (D) and 

8 inserting the following new subparagraphs: 

9 ‘‘(C) dust sampling; 

10 ‘‘(D) soil sampling; 

11 ‘‘(E) paint testing; 

12 ‘‘(F) water testing; and’’. 

13 SEC. 6. NOTICE TO ASSISTED FAMILIES REGARDING FAIR 

14 HOUSING RIGHTS AND LEAD-BASED PAINT. 

15 Subtitle F of title V of the Quality Housing and Work 

16 Responsibility Act of 1998 is amended— 

17 (1) in section 578(c) (42 U.S.C. 13663(c)), by 

18 striking ‘‘section 579(a)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

19 580(a)(2)’’; 

20 (2) by redesignating section 579 (42 U.S.C. 

21 13664) as section 580; and 

22 (3) by inserting after section 578 (42 U.S.C. 

23 13663) the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 579. NOTICE TO ASSISTED FAMILIES REGARDING 

2 FAIR HOUSING RIGHTS AND LEAD-BASED 

3 PAINT. 

4 ‘‘(a) REQUIRED PROVISION.—The Secretary shall re5 quire each public housing agency and owner of housing 

6 described in subsection (d) to provide written notice under 

7 subsection (b) to each— 

8 ‘‘(1)(A) applicant who is selected from the wait9 ing list for admission to such federally assisted hous10 ing or to such a federally assisted housing program; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(B) assisted family who moves to a different 

13 such federally assisted housing dwelling unit; and 

14 ‘‘(2) whose household at the time of such selec15 tion or move, includes a child of less than 6 years 

16 of age who will reside or is expected to reside in 

17 such housing. 

18 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS; TIMING.—Written notice under this 

19 subsection shall be notice, in the form developed under 

20 subsection (c) that is provided at the time of the selection 

21 or move, as applicable, described in subsection (a)(1), that 

22 includes information sufficient to describe to the applicant 

23 or assisted family— 

24 ‘‘(1) the adverse health effects lead poisoning 

25 can have on individuals and particularly on children; 


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1 ‘‘(2) their rights under the Fair Housing Act 

2 and other applicable State or local laws regarding 

3 fair housing, including how to report housing dis4 crimination violations under such Act and laws; 

5 ‘‘(3) the extent of the owner’s responsibility to 

6 ensure that their housing is controlled for lead-based 

7 paint; 

8 ‘‘(4) that the responsibility described pursuant 

9 to paragraph (2) should not limit the ability of the 

10 applicant or assisted family to secure federally as11 sisted housing based on Fair Housing rights under 

12 such paragraph; and 

13 ‘‘(5) that all children enrolled in Medicaid, in14 cluding children enrolled for medical assistance 

15 under a State plan under title XIX of the Social Se16 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) (or a waiver of 

17 such a plan) and children enrolled for child health 

18 assistance under a State child health plan under title 

19 XXI of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.) (or a 

20 waiver of such a plan), are required to receive blood 

21 lead screening tests at ages 12 months and 24 

22 months and that, in addition, any child between 24 

23 and 72 months with no record of a previous blood 

24 lead screening test must receive such a screening 

25 test. 


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1 ‘‘(c) STANDARD FORM.—The Secretary shall develop 

2 a standard form of the notice required under this section 

3 that complies with all of the requirements of this section 

4 and shall make such standard form available to public 

5 housing agencies and owners of federally assisted housing 

6 to facilitate compliance with the requirements this section. 

7 ‘‘(d) COVERED HOUSING PROGRAMS.—Housing de8 scribed in this subsection is housing that is— 

9 ‘‘(1) specified in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or 

10 (F) of section 580(a)(1); or 

11 ‘‘(2) assisted under the Housing Opportunities 

12 for Persons With AIDS under subtitle D of title 

13 VIII of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 

14 Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.)’’. 

15 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

17 the amendments made by section 2 such sums as may be 

18 necessary for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024 for— 

19 (1) covering administrative costs of public hous20 ing agencies and other owners of covered housing in 

21 complying with such amendments, including cost of 

22 providing notice under section 

23 302(a)(4)(A)(ii)(III)(bb) of the Lead-Based Paint 

24 Poisoning Prevention Act (as added by the amend25 ment made by section 2(2) of this Act) and section 


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1 579 of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility 

2 Act of 1998 (as added by section 5(3) of this Act); 

3 (2) costs of the Department of Housing and 

4 Urban Development for training individuals to con5 duct risk assessments to be conducted under section 

6 302(a) of the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Preven7 tion Act and under the demonstration program 

8 under section 4 of this Act; 

9 (3) the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Op10 portunity of the Department of Housing and Urban 

11 Development— 

12 (A) for carrying out a national education 

13 campaign regarding lead-based paint on Fair 

14 Housing Act protections and for tenant out15 reach and landlord engagement; and 

16 (B) for enforcement activities, including 

17 activities under the Fair Housing Initiatives 

18 Program under section 561 of the Housing and 

19 Community Development Act of 1987 (42 

20 U.S.C. 3616a); and 

21 (4) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel22 opment to conduct a study of universal lead abate23 ment that is phased in over time. 

Æ 


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