An Act to Designate the Department of Health and Human Services as the Implementing Department of the Lead-safe Housing Registry
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 0490
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: CRAVEN
Amends: 22 MRSA §1322-E, 22 MRSA §1331, 38 MRSA §1291, 38 MRSA §1298

Legislative Document
No. 490
H.P. 307
House of Representatives, February 7, 2023
An Act to Designate the Department of Health and Human Services 
as the Implementing Department of the Lead-safe Housing Registry
Submitted by the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 204.
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative CRAVEN of Lewiston.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §1322-E, sub-§3, ¶G, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 628, Pt. A, §5, 
is amended to read:
G.  Implementation of the lead-safe housing registry by the Department of 
Environmental Protection department pursuant to Title 38, chapter 12‑B and achieving 
the goal of elimination of childhood lead poisoning risks in the State section 1331.
Sec. 2.  22 MRSA §1331 is enacted to read:
§1331.  Registry of leased lead-safe residential dwellings
1.  Definitions.  As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings.
A. "Lead-based paint" has the same meaning as in Title 38, section 1291, subsection 
16.
B. "Residential dwelling" has the same meaning as in Title 38, section 1291, subsection 
26-A.
2.  Registry.  The department shall maintain a registry of leased residential dwellings 
built before 1978 that are lead-safe as designated by the residential dwelling owners in 
accordance with subsection 3.
3.  Designation as lead-safe.  A leased residential dwelling may be designated as lead-
safe for the purposes of this section if the residential dwelling owner has submitted to the 
department an application for the leased residential dwelling to be placed on the registry 
created pursuant to subsection 2. Submission of an application to the registry is voluntary 
on the part of the residential dwelling owner.
4.  Application.  The application under subsection 3 must be submitted together with 
a report by a lead inspector that indicates that the leased residential dwelling has been tested 
for the presence of lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust or a report by a lead dust 
sampling technician that indicates the leased residential dwelling has been tested for lead-
contaminated dust. The report must indicate that the leased residential dwelling meets the 
requirements for inclusion on the registry in accordance with the standards and procedures 
established by the department.
Sec. 3.  38 MRSA §1291, sub-§19-A, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 628, Pt. B, §1, is 
repealed.
Sec. 4.  38 MRSA §1291, sub-§23-A, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 628, Pt. B, §2, is 
repealed.
Sec. 5.  38 MRSA §1298, as amended by PL 2009, c. 501, §14, is repealed.
SUMMARY
This bill replaces the Department of Environmental Protection with the Department of 
Health and Human Services as the agency responsible for implementing the registry of 
leased lead-safe residential dwellings.