I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2875 

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

taxpayers who remove lead-based hazards. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2021 

Mr. COHEN (for himself and Mr. MCKINLEY) 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 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 2021’’. 

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. 

9 Children are more vulnerable to lead poisoning than 

10 adults. 


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1 (2) Lead poisoning is a serious, entirely pre2 ventable threat to a child’s intelligence, behavior, 

3 and learning. In severe cases, lead poisoning can re4 sult in death. 

5 (3) According to the Department of Housing 

6 and Urban Development, approximately 22,000,000 

7 housing units nationwide have at least 1 lead paint 

8 hazard. 

9 (4) While appropriated Federal lead abatement 

10 programs, such as the Lead Hazard Control and 

11 Healthy Homes grant programs, have helped reduce 

12 childhood lead poisoning, funding constraints have 

13 limited their impact to only about 400,000 homes 

14 since 1993. 

15 (5) Childhood lead poisoning can be dramati16 cally reduced by the abatement or complete removal 

17 of all lead-based hazards. Empirical studies also 

18 have shown substantial reductions in lead poisoning 

19 when the affected properties have undergone ‘‘in20 terim control measures’’ that are less costly than 

21 abatement. 

22 (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en23 courage the safe removal of lead hazards from homes and 

24 thereby decrease the number of children who suffer reVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2875.IH H2875

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1 duced intelligence, learning difficulties, behavioral prob2 lems, and other health consequences due to lead poisoning. 

3 SEC. 2. HOME LEAD HAZARD REDUCTION ACTIVITY TAX 

4 CREDIT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub6 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

7 1986 is amended by inserting after section 36B the fol8 lowing new section: 

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

10 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.— 

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

12 there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax im13 posed by this subtitle for the taxable year an amount 

14 equal to 50 percent of the lead hazard reduction ac15 tivity cost paid or incurred by the taxpayer during 

16 the taxable year for each eligible dwelling unit. 

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

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

19 elect to treat any lead hazard reduction activity cost 

20 paid or incurred by the taxpayer during the taxable 

21 year as having been paid or incurred during the pre22 ceding taxable year. 

23 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 

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

25 the amount of the credit allowed under subsection 


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

2 shall not exceed— 

3 ‘‘(A) $3,000 in the case of lead hazard re4 duction activity cost including lead abatement 

5 measures described in clauses (i), (ii), (iv), or 

6 (v) of subsection (c)(1)(A), and 

7 ‘‘(B) $1,000 in the case of lead hazard re8 duction activity cost including interim lead con9 trol measures described in clauses (i), (iii), (iv), 

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

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

12 credit against State or local tax liabilities which is 

13 allowable under the laws of any State or political 

14 subdivision thereof to a taxpayer with respect to any 

15 costs paid or incurred by the taxpayer which would 

16 otherwise qualify as lead hazard reduction activity 

17 costs under this section, the amount of the credit al18 lowed under subsection (a) for any eligible dwelling 

19 unit for any taxable year (determined after applica20 tion of paragraph (1)) shall not exceed an amount 

21 equal to the excess, if any, of— 

22 ‘‘(A) the lead hazard reduction activity 

23 cost paid or incurred by the taxpayer during 

24 the taxable year for such unit, over 


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

2 credit. 

3 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION PER RESIDENCE.—The cumu4 lative amount of the credit allowed under subsection 

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

6 shall not exceed $4,000. 

7 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For pur8 poses of this section— 

9 ‘‘(1) LEAD HAZARD REDUCTION ACTIVITY

10 COST.— 

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

12 reduction activity cost’ means, with respect to 

13 any eligible dwelling unit— 

14 ‘‘(i) the cost for a certified risk asses15 sor to conduct an assessment to determine 

16 the presence of a lead-based hazard (as 

17 such terms are defined by the Secretary, in 

18 consultation with the Administrator of the 

19 Environmental Protection Agency), 

20 ‘‘(ii) the cost for performing lead 

21 abatement measures by a certified lead 

22 abatement supervisor (as such term is de23 fined by the Secretary, in consultation with 

24 the Administrator of the Environmental 

25 Protection Agency), including the removal 


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1 of paint, dust, or pipes, the permanent en2 closure or encapsulation of lead-based 

3 paint or pipes, the replacement of painted 

4 surfaces, windows, or fixtures, or the re5 moval or permanent covering of soil when 

6 lead-based hazards are present, 

7 ‘‘(iii) the cost for performing interim 

8 lead control measures to reduce exposure 

9 or likely exposure to lead-based hazards, 

10 including specialized cleaning, repairs, 

11 maintenance, painting, temporary contain12 ment, ongoing monitoring of lead-based 

13 hazards, and the establishment and oper14 ation of management and resident edu15 cation programs, but only if such measures 

16 are evaluated and completed by a certified 

17 lead abatement supervisor using accepted 

18 methods, are conducted by a qualified con19 tractor, and have an expected useful life of 

20 more than 10 years, 

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

22 abatement supervisor, persons working 

23 under the supervision of such supervisor, 

24 or a qualified contractor to perform all 

25 preparation, cleanup, disposal, and clearVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2875.IH H2875

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1 ance testing activities associated with the 

2 lead abatement measures or interim lead 

3 control measures, and 

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

5 any occupant of such dwelling unit for any 

6 relocation which is necessary to achieve oc7 cupant protection (as such term is defined 

8 by the Secretary, in consultation with the 

9 Administrator of the Environmental Pro10 tection Agency). 

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

12 reduction activity cost’ does not include any 

13 cost to the extent such cost is funded by any 

14 grant, contract, or otherwise by another person 

15 or any governmental agency. 

16 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE DWELLING UNIT.— 

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

18 dwelling unit’ means any dwelling unit— 

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

20 1978, and 

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

22 States, 

23 without regard to whether such dwelling unit is 

24 subsidized or assisted under any Federal pro25 gram. 


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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 2021, 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 2020’ 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, 2024.’’. 

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, 2020, in taxable years 

19 ending after such date. 

Æ 


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