Title: Lead-Free Future Act of 2019
Policy area: Housing and Community Development

Summary:
Lead-Free Future Act of 2019
This bill addresses lead-based hazards, and their abatement, in residential properties.
Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to award grants to state and local governments and certain nonprofit organizations for the purpose of evaluating and reducing lead-based hazards in residential properties constructed before 1978. Additionally, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may award grants to state and local governments to monitor blood lead levels in infants, children, and pregnant women and to educate the public on the risks of lead poisoning.
To be eligible to receive funding from these grant programs and others addressing lead poisoning, a state or local government must have a blood lead reference level (i.e., the minimum concentration of lead at which it is recommended that public health actions be taken) at or below the level used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Applicants must also conduct an environmental investigation to identify environmental sources of lead exposure in residential properties and childcare facilities occupied by a child with an elevated blood lead level.
In addition, HUD, the Department of Agriculture, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the Department of Veterans Affairs must require alignment with specified federal laws, including those related to lead-risk assessment and lead-hazard remediation, as a condition of eligibility for federal mortgage programs and certain federally supported housing. These agencies must also test and remedy lead hazards in such housing.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4416 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4416

 To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to award 
  grants to eligible entities to evaluate and reduce lead-based paint 
 hazards, lead in drinking water hazards, and lead in soil hazards in 
                 pre-1978 residential real properties.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 19, 2019

 Mr. Golden (for himself, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Khanna, Ms. Roybal-Allard, 
 Mr. Engel, and Ms. Pingree) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the 
Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Veterans' Affairs, for a period 
    to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to award 
  grants to eligible entities to evaluate and reduce lead-based paint 
 hazards, lead in drinking water hazards, and lead in soil hazards in 
                 pre-1978 residential real properties.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Lead-Free Future Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Lead poisoning is an entirely preventable environmental 
        illness.
            (2) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has 
        declared that there is no safe level of lead, with even low-
        level exposure having lifelong negative impacts on children.
            (3) In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
        determined that a concentration of 5 micrograms per deciliter 
        (ug/dL) in blood is the reference level, at which it is 
        recommended that public health action be initiated.
            (4) The American Academy of Pediatrics has described lead 
        exposure as ``a causal risk factor for diminished intellectual 
        and academic abilities, higher rates of neurobehavioral 
        disorders such as hyperactivity and attention deficits, and 
        lower birth weight in children.''.
            (5) Studies of children with a history of elevated blood 
        lead levels at or above 5ug/dL show the impact over the course 
        of their life, including diminished IQ scores, which lead to 
        lower rates of high school graduation, lower earning potential, 
        and fewer Quality-Adjusted Life Years.
            (6) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has 
        found that children are at higher risk of lead or lead exposure 
        if they are low-income, a person of color, or a recent 
        immigrant, live in poorly maintained rental properties, or have 
        parents who are exposed to lead at work.
            (7) The primary sources of lead exposure are dust from 
        chipping and peeling paint found in pre-1978 homes and water as 
        a result of lead service lines used to transport drinking 
        water, although lead has also been found in food, soil, 
        jewelry, pottery, and other consumer products.
            (8) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has 
        found that about 23,000,000 housing units, most of them built 
        before 1960, have one or more lead-based paint hazards, where 
        young children under age 6 are endangered by chipping or 
        peeling lead paint or excessive amounts of lead-contaminated 
        dust.
            (9) According to the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention, there were over 88,000 new cases of lead poisoning 
        in the United States in 2016.
            (10) A 2017 study by Pew Charitable Trust indicates that 
        removing lead-based paint hazards and lead service lines from 
        older housing with low-income children results in a combined 
        return on investment of $2.77 per dollar invested.
            (11) The 2019 Interagency Task Force Lead Action Plan found 
        that a national strategy is required to holistically address 
        lead hazards in housing, drinking water, and soil.
            (12) The Federal Government has historically had a role in 
        assessing and correcting home health hazards to support the 
        national goal of providing decent, safe, and sanitary housing 
        for every family in the United States.
            (13) Standards for lead cleanup funding should--
                    (A) align with Federal health and environmental 
                recommendations; and
                    (B) move all States to health-protective lead 
                exposure prevention and mitigation strategies.

SEC. 3. LEAD CLEANUP GRANTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (in 
this section referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall award grants to 
eligible entities for the purpose of evaluating and reducing lead-based 
paint hazards, lead in drinking water hazards, and lead in soil hazards 
in residential real properties constructed before 1978.
    (b) Eligible Applicants.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
this section, an entity shall be one of the following:
            (1) A State or local government that has an approved 
        comprehensive housing affordability strategy under section 105 
        of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 
        U.S.C. 12705).
            (2) A State or local government that has produced a 
        comprehensive plan or strategy to address lead poisoning.
            (3) A nonprofit organization that meets the following 
        requirements:
                    (A) The nonprofit organization is a community-based 
                social and human service organization that provides 
                housing services.
                    (B) The nonprofit organization has a demonstrated 
                ability to provide, directly or through a subgrantee, 
                lead hazard control interventions.
    (c) Applications.--To seek a grant under this section, an eligible 
entity shall submit an application in such form and manner as the 
Secretary shall require. Any such application shall contain--
            (1) a description of the amount of assistance the eligible 
        entity seeks under this section;
            (2) a description of the planned activities to be 
        undertaken with the grant, including an estimate of the amount 
        of funds to be allocated to each activity;
            (3) a description of the forms of financial assistance that 
        will be provided to owners and occupants of pre-1978 housing 
        through the grant;
            (4) a demonstration that the jurisdiction, as required by 
        section 5--
                    (A) has in effect a blood lead reference level at 
                or below the blood lead reference level of the Centers 
                for Disease Control and Prevention; and
                    (B) requires an environmental investigation to 
                identify environmental sources of lead exposure in 
                residential properties and childcare facilities 
                occupied by a child with an elevated blood lead level; 
                and
            (5) such assurances as the Secretary may require regarding 
        the eligible entity's capacity to carry out the activities to 
        be funded through the grant.
    (d) Selection Criteria.--The Secretary shall select grant 
recipients under this section on the basis of--
            (1) the merit of the activities proposed to be carried out; 
        and
            (2) selection criteria including--
                    (A) the extent to which the proposed activities 
                will reduce the risk of lead poisoning for--
                            (i) low-income children under 6 years of 
                        age; and
                            (ii) pregnant women;
                    (B) the proportion of pre-1978 housing in the area 
                to be served using the grant;
                    (C) the number and percentage of homes in the area 
                to be served using the grant where household income 
                does not exceed 80 percent of the area median income;
                    (D) the degree of severity, and the extent of, 
                lead-based paint hazards, lead in drinking water 
                hazards, and lead in soil hazards in the area to be 
                served, evaluated using data concerning the housing age 
                and conditions, lead service line inventory, and 
                incidence of elevated blood lead levels according to 
                the reference blood lead level of the Centers for 
                Disease Control and Prevention;
                    (E) the ability of the applicant to leverage State, 
                local, philanthropic, and private funds to supplement 
                the grant; and
                    (F) such other factors as the Secretary determines 
                appropriate to ensure that grants made available 
                awarded under this section are used effectively in 
                accordance with this section.
    (e) Eligible Activities.--As a condition on receipt of a grant 
under this section, a grantee shall agree to use the grant to evaluate 
and reduce lead-based paint hazards in residential real properties 
constructed before 1978, which may include--
            (1) performing lead inspections and risk assessments in 
        pre-1978 housing;
            (2) providing for the remediation, abatement, and 
        replacement of, or otherwise addressing, lead-based paint 
        hazards in pre-1978 housing in accordance with applicable State 
        and municipal health and housing regulations;
            (3) providing for the additional cost of reducing lead-
        based paint hazards in units undergoing renovation funded by 
        other sources;
            (4) providing for the testing of drinking water, and 
        identifying lead service lines and leaded plumbing fixtures, to 
        identify lead hazards in drinking water;
            (5) providing for the replacement of lead service lines, in 
        communities where a water utility will or is required to 
        replace the utility-owned portion of the lead service line;
            (6) remediation of lead in soil;
            (7) monitoring the blood lead levels of workers involved in 
        the lead-hazard reduction activities funded under this section;
            (8) assisting in the temporary relocation of families 
        forced to vacate pre-1978 housing while lead-hazard-reduction 
        measures are being conducted, if;
            (9) educating the public on the nature and causes of lead 
        poisoning and measures to reduce the exposure to lead, 
        including exposure due to residential lead-based paint hazards;
            (10) testing soil, paint, interior surface dust, drinking 
        water, and the blood lead levels of children under 6 years of 
        age, and pregnant women, residing in pre-1978 housing after 
        lead-based paint hazard reduction activity has been conducted, 
        to assure that such activity does not cause excessive exposures 
        to lead;
            (11) creating or expanding workforce development, training, 
        certification, and accreditation programs; and
            (12) carrying out such activities as the Secretary 
        determines appropriate to promote the purpose described in 
        subsection (a).
    (f) Forms of Assistance.--A recipient of a grant under this section 
may use the grant to provide eligible activities described in 
subsection (e) through a variety of funding approaches, including 
subgrants, loans, equity investments, revolving loan funds, loan funds, 
loan guarantees, interest write-downs, and other forms of assistance 
approved by the Secretary for purposes of this section.
    (g) Matching Requirement.--As a condition on receipt of a grant 
under this section, a grantee shall agree to make contributions toward 
the cost of activities funded through the grant for a fiscal year in an 
amount that is not less than 4 percent of the total amount of the grant 
for such fiscal year.
    (h) Supplement Not Supplant.--As a condition on receipt of a grant 
under this section, a grantee shall agree to use amounts received 
through the grant to supplement and not supplant funds used by the 
grantee for eligible activities described in subsection (e).
    (i) Limitation on Administrative Expenses.--As a condition on 
receipt of a grant under this section, a grantee shall ensure that not 
more than 10 percent of the grant is used for administrative expenses.
    (j) Financial Records.--As a condition on receipt of a grant under 
this section, a grantee shall agree to maintain and provide the 
Secretary with financial records sufficient, in the determination of 
the Secretary, to ensure proper accounting and disbursing of amounts 
made available to the grantee through the grant.
    (k) Affordability Maintenance.--As a condition on receipt of a 
grant under this section, a grantee shall agree to require the owner of 
any rental property receiving assistance through the grant, for a 
period of 3 years after lead remediation at the rental property 
pursuant to such assistance, or throughout the term of any loan made to 
the owner pursuant to the grant, whichever is longer--
            (1) to maintain the affordability of rental units at the 
        rental property; and
            (2) to continue to rent to families with one or more 
        children under 6 years of age or a pregnant woman.
    (l) Reports.--For any fiscal year in which a grantee under this 
section expends funds received through the grant, such grantee shall 
submit a report to the Secretary on the use of the funds. For the 
respective fiscal year, any such report shall at a minimum--
            (1) specify the number and type of residential housing 
        units remediated of interior and exterior lead-based paint 
        hazards, lead dust, lead service lines, or leaded plumbing 
        fixtures; and
            (2) include community-level elevated blood lead 
        surveillance data before and after such remediation, presented 
        at the census block or census tract level.
    (m) Notice of Funding Availability.--Not later than 120 days after 
the date on which funds are first appropriated to carry out this 
section, the Secretary shall publish a notice of funding availability 
regarding grants under this section.
    (n) Relation to Other Programs.--The Secretary shall carry out the 
program under this section in conjunction with other Federal 
environmental lead hazard control and childhood lead-poisoning 
prevention programs.
    (o) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--To carry out this section, there is 
        authorized to be appropriated $12,000,000,000 for the period of 
        fiscal years 2020 through 2024.
            (2) Funding allocation.--The Secretary may allow grantees 
        under this section, collectively, to allocate for each of 
        fiscal years 2020 through 2024, a total of up to $300,000 for 
        capacity building described in subsection (e)(11).

SEC. 4. BLOOD LEAD LEVEL SURVEILLANCE AND EDUCATION FUNDING.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services may 
award grants to States, the District of Columbia, Territories, and 
local governments to--
            (1) increase blood lead level screening, including 
        screening for elevated blood lead levels in infants, children, 
        and pregnant women;
            (2) ensure referral for treatment of, and environmental 
        intervention for, infants and children with elevated blood lead 
        levels;
            (3) conduct blood lead level surveillance;
            (4) facilitate data collection and analysis to better 
        understand lead poisoning risk, including with respect to 
        health, housing, and other environmental lead exposure source 
        data;
            (5) support data analysis for lead-poisoning prevention 
        resource targeting; and
            (6) educate the public on the impact of lead poisoning, 
        including education to prevent and mitigate the impact of 
        childhood lead poisoning.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated $500,000,000 for the period of 
fiscal years 2020 through 2024.

SEC. 5. ALIGNMENT WITH FEDERAL HEALTH AND HOUSING STANDARDS.

    To be eligible to receive funding under section 3 or 4 of this Act, 
under any program of the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy 
Homes of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or under the 
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, a State or local government (or any subdivision 
thereof) shall--
            (1) have in effect a blood lead reference level at or below 
        the blood lead reference level of the Centers for Disease 
        Control and Prevention; and
            (2) require an environmental investigation, in accordance 
        with the 2012 edition of the Department of Housing and Urban 
        Development's ``Guidelines for the Evaluation and Control of 
        Lead-Based Paint Hazards in Housing'', to identify 
        environmental sources of lead exposure in residential 
        properties and childcare facilities occupied by a child with an 
        elevated blood lead level.

SEC. 6. LEAD HAZARD INSPECTION, DISCLOSURE, AND REMEDIATION, 
              REPLACEMENT, AND REPAIR IN FEDERALLY SUPPORTED HOUSING 
              AND HOUSING WITH FEDERALLY RELATED MORTGAGES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 
the Secretary of Agriculture, the Director of the Federal Housing 
Finance Agency, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall mandate 
alignment with Federal laws, including those related to lead-risk 
assessment and lead-hazard remediation, as a condition of eligibility 
for--
            (1) any Federal mortgage assistance, any direct Federal 
        mortgage, or any mortgage insurance or guarantee, through the 
        Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of 
        Agriculture, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Federal 
        National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage 
        Corporation, or the Federal Home Loan Banks; or
            (2) any federally supported housing (as such term is 
        defined in section 7).
    (b) Standard Activities Required in Federally Assisted Housing.--
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of 
Agriculture, the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall require the following 
activities, when appropriate, with respect to any federally supported 
housing and any housing for which any mortgage, or mortgage assistance, 
insurance, or guarantee referred to in subsection (a)(1) is provided:
            (1) Lead-risk assessments including lead dust wipe testing, 
        carried out by professionals with Environmental Protection 
        Agency-required training and certification.
            (2) Drinking water testing and identification of lead 
        service line and leaded plumbing fixtures.
            (3) Testing of soil for lead hazards.
            (4) Lead remediation or abatement, lead-based paint hazards 
        in accordance with State or municipal health and housing 
        regulations.
            (5) Replacement of leaded plumbing and lead service line 
        replacement in communities where water utility will or is 
        required to replace the utility-owned portion.
            (6) Remediation of lead hazards in soil.
            (7) Disclosure of identified lead hazards to relevant 
        parties including tenants, buyers, sellers, investors, Federal, 
        State, and local housing and health officials as required by 
        law or regulation, and other required parties.
            (8) Temporary relocation of families while lead hazard 
        reduction measures are being conducted.
            (9) Other activities that the agency heads specified in 
        subsection (a) determine appropriate to promote the purposes of 
        this Act.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Abatement.--The term ``abatement'' means the complete 
        and permanent elimination of lead hazards.
            (2) Blood lead reference level.--The term ``blood lead 
        reference level'' means the minimum concentration of lead in an 
        individual's blood, at or above which the jurisdiction or the 
        Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as applicable, 
        recommends public health actions be taken.
            (3) Federally supported housing.--The term ``federally 
        supported housing'' means housing for which assistance is 
        provided by the Federal Government under--
                    (A) section 221(d)(3) or 236 of the National 
                Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715l(d)(3); 1715z-1);
                    (B) section 101 of the Housing and Urban 
                Development Act of 1965 (12 U.S.C. 1701s);
                    (C) section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 
                1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f); or
                    (D) sections 502(a), 504, 514, 515, 516, or 533 of 
                the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1472(a), 1474, 1484, 
                1485, 1486, 1490m).
            (4) Lead-based paint.--The term ``lead-based paint'' means 
        paint or other surface coatings that contain lead in excess of 
        limits established under section 302(c) of the Lead-Based Paint 
        Poisoning Prevention Act (42 U.S.C. 4822(c)).
            (5) Lead-based paint hazard.--The term ``lead-based paint 
        hazard'' means any condition that causes exposure to lead from 
        lead-contaminated dust, lead-contaminated soil, lead-
        contaminated paint that is deteriorated or present in 
        accessible surfaces, friction surfaces, or impact surfaces that 
        would result in adverse human health effects as established by 
        the appropriate Federal agency.
            (6) Lead-contaminated dust.--The term ``lead-contaminated 
        dust'' means surface dust in residential dwellings that 
        contains an area or mass concentration of lead in excess of 
        levels determined by the appropriate Federal agency to pose a 
        threat of adverse health effects in pregnant women or young 
        children.
            (7) Lead dust wipe testing.--The term ``lead dust wipe 
        testing'' means the process of verifying that the 
        concentrations of lead dust present on household interior 
        surfaces are lower than allowable standards.
            (8) Lead service line.--The term ``lead service line'' 
        means a pipe that connects the water main to the building inlet 
        and contains lead.
            (9) Loan guarantee.--The term ``loan guarantee'' means a 
        formal agreement that 1 party will assume the debt obligation 
        of a borrower if they are no longer able to pay the principal 
        or interest of a loan.
            (10) Remediation.--The term ``remediation'' means an action 
        taken to eliminate lead hazards in a nonpermanent way.
            (11) Residential dwelling.--The term ``residential 
        dwelling'' means--
                    (A) a single-family dwelling, including attached 
                structures such as porches and stoops; or
                    (B) a single-family dwelling unit in a structure 
                that contains more than 1 separate residential dwelling 
                unit, and in which each such unit is used or occupied, 
                or intended to be used or occupied, in whole or in 
                part, as the home or residence of one or more persons.
            (12) Residential real property.--The term ``residential 
        real property'' means real property on which there is situated 
        one or more residential dwellings used or occupied, or intended 
        to be used or occupied, in whole or in part, as the home or 
        residence of one or more persons.
            (13) Revolving loan fund.--The term ``revolving loan fund'' 
        means a self-replenishing financing mechanism that utilizes 
        debt payments as capital to issue new loans.
            (14) Risk assessment.--The term ``risk assessment'' means 
        an on-site investigation to determine and report the existence, 
        nature, severity, and location of lead-based paint hazards in 
        the residential dwellings, including--
                    (A) information gathering regarding the age and 
                history of the housing and occupancy by children under 
                age 6;
                    (B) visual inspection;
                    (C) limited wipe sampling or other environmental 
                sampling techniques;
                    (D) other activity as may be appropriate; and
                    (E) provision of a report explaining the results of 
                the investigation.
                                 <all>