New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 9 - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT › Subtitle A - Governor's Office › Chapter I - Executive Orders › Part 7 - Executive Orders (David A. Paterson) › Section 7.21 - Executive order no. 21: establishing the governor's task force on the prevention of childhood lead poisoning

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
WHEREAS, it is an objective of the State of New York to
					 eliminate childhood lead poisoning, which can have devastating and irreversible
					 effects on growth and development; and
WHEREAS, several thousand new cases of childhood lead
					 poisoning are diagnosed each year and an unknown number of other cases are
					 undiagnosed, making childhood lead poisoning a serious public health issue;
					 and
WHEREAS, it is vital not only to provide timely and
					 appropriate treatment for children with lead poisoning, but also to increase
					 screening and testing rates to ensure that children with lead poisoning are
					 identified in timely fashion; and
WHEREAS, it is also critical to prevent children from
					 becoming lead poisoned in the first instance by avoiding their exposure to
					 sources of lead poisoning to the extent possible; and
WHEREAS, exposure to lead-based paint and lead-based paint
					 dust in housing built before 1978 is the primary source of lead poisoning in
					 children; and
WHEREAS, childhood lead poisoning disproportionately
					 affects low-income and minority children, making it an issue of environmental
					 justice as well as one of public health; and
WHEREAS, the State's efforts to eradicate childhood lead
					 poisoning necessitate the establishment of a body of State officials who are
					 charged with the execution of the State's policies and programs in a variety of
					 areas, for the purpose of ensuring the collaboration of such officials and
					 State agencies in the coordination and maximization of available resources and
					 expertise; and
WHEREAS, the performance of the duties of the New York
					 State Advisory Council on Lead Poisoning Prevention established pursuant to
					 Public Health Law § 1370-b, which include the development of a
					 comprehensive statewide plan to prevent lead poisoning, would be informed and
					 complemented by the activities of such body of State officials;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, David A. Paterson, Governor of the State
					 of New York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
					 laws of the State of New York, do hereby order as follows:
1. There is hereby established the Governor's
				  Task Force on the Prevention of Childhood Lead Poisoning (Task
				  Force).
2. The Task Force shall
				  consist of the following members: the First Deputy Secretary to the Governor,
				  who shall serve as the Chair of the Task Force; the Governor's Deputy Secretary
				  for Health and Human Services, who shall serve as Vice-Chair of the Task Force;
				  the Governor's Deputy Secretary for the Environment; the Governor's Deputy
				  Secretary for Economic Development and Housing; the Governor's Deputy Secretary
				  for Labor and Financial Regulation; the Governor's Deputy Secretary for Energy;
				  the Counsel to the Governor; the Commissioner of Health; the Commissioner of
				  Housing and Community Renewal; the Chief Executive Officer of the Housing
				  Finance Agency; the Secretary of State; the Commissioner of Environmental
				  Conservation; the Commissioner of Temporary and Disability Assistance; the
				  Commissioner of Children and Family Services; the Executive Director of the
				  Council on Children and Families; the Director of the Budget; the
				  Superintendent of Insurance; the Commissioner of Taxation and Finance; the
				  Commissioner of Labor; the Commissioner of Economic Development; and the
				  President of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
				  Additional State officials may be added as member of the Task Force at the
				  discretion of the Governor.
3. Each
				  member of the Task Force may designate a staff member to represent him or her
				  and participate in the Task Force on his or her behalf. A majority of the
				  members of the Task Force shall constitute a quorum and all recommendations of
				  the Task Force shall require approval of a majority of the total members of the
				  Task Force. The Task Force shall meet as often as is necessary and under
				  circumstances as are appropriate to fulfilling its duties under this
				  section.
4. The Task Force shall
				  identify primary prevention actions that are currently being undertaken by
				  State agencies. In addition, the Task Force shall review any and all
				  evaluations issued with respect to the Childhood Lead Poisoning Primary
				  Prevention Program overseen by the Department of Health.
5. The Task Force shall also consult with the
				  New York State Advisory Council on Lead Poisoning Prevention as necessary, and
				  shall also seek the guidance and expertise of stakeholders including but not
				  limited to advocacy organizations engages in efforts to end childhood lead
				  poisoning, scientific and academic institutions, professional medical
				  associations, and local governments.
6. In carrying out its functions, the Task
				  Force shall seek to target lead poisoning prevention efforts first to those
				  communities identified by the Department of Health as having significant
				  concentrations of children identified with elevated blood lead levels, and then
				  continuing these efforts across the State.
7. The Task Force shall make findings and
				  recommendations for developmental and implementation of a coordinated strategy
				  to reduce childhood exposure to lead. The recommendations shall include
				  specific action steps and projected timelines where possible. In making its
				  recommendations, the Task Force shall consider, among other relevant matters,
				  the following:
a. how to maximize available
				  State resources for the purpose of State and local primary prevention
				  activities aimed at eliminating childhood lead poisoning;
b. the need to partner with county and local
				  governments in primary prevention efforts;
c. the feasibility of measures to ensure that
				  public housing and housing supported by State assistance are free of lead-based
				  paint hazards prior to occupancy by a child under six years of age;
d. how to ensure that housing renovations
				  performed with public funding include lead-based paint hazard
				  remediation;
e. the need for an
				  education and awareness campaign targeted to parents and guardians and health
				  care practitioners about the importance of screening and testing children for
				  lead poisoning pursuant to the regulations of the Department of
				  Health;
f. how to educate the
				  owners, lessors and tenants of residential real property as to the importance
				  of allowing access to authorized inspectors for purposes of identifying the
				  presence of conditions conducive to lead poisoning;
g. how to effectively increase enforcement
				  efforts requiring owners and lessors of residential real property to comply
				  with governmental demands for alleviation of conditions conducive to lead
				  poisoning;
h. how to encourage
				  and/or mandate the use of lead-safe work practices in the renovation and
				  maintenance of pre-1978 housing by real property owners and by persons and
				  entities engaged in the construction industry;
i. whether an assessment of lead-based paint
				  hazards, including chipping or peeling paint, should be required in connection
				  with the sale and/or lease of residential real property;
j. the need to examine the status of
				  compliance with existing State and federal lead paint hazard notification
				  requirements for tenants and new homeowners upon the purchase or lease of
				  residential real property; and k. potential sources of funding or revenue,
				  including but not limited to federal grants, to help fund State and local
				  primary prevention activities aimed at eliminating childhood lead
				  poisoning.