Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act of 2020

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. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lead-Safe Housing 4 for Kids Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds that— 7 (1) according to the Centers for Disease Con- 8 trol and Prevention (CDC), in 2014 approximately 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Nov 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8713.IH H8713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8713 IH 995,600 or 4 percent of children under the age of 1 6 in the United States had elevated blood lead levels 2 above the CDC reference value of 5 micrograms per 3 deciliter (μg/dL); 4 (2) there is no safe level of lead poisoning; 5 (3) according to the CDC, the effects of lead 6 poisoning are immediate and permanent—childhood 7 exposure to lead, even at very low levels, can have 8 lifelong consequences, including decreased IQ and 9 cognitive function, developmental delays, and behav- 10 ioral problems; 11 (4) higher exposures to lead at a young age can 12 cause seizures, coma, and even death; 13 (5) according to the National Housing Law 14 Project, there are over 90,400 children in the United 15 States living in housing assisted under the Housing 16 Choice Voucher Program who have lead poisoning 17 and there are an additional 340,000 children living 18 in federally assisted housing who are at risk; 19 (6) under current program rules, children 20 whose families participate in the Housing Choice 21 Voucher Program must develop lead poisoning be- 22 fore a lead hazard risk assessment occurs; 23 (7) Columbia University estimates the potential 24 societal costs of lead poisoning in the Housing 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Nov 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8713.IH H8713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8713 IH Choice Voucher Program to be almost $1.2 billion; 1 and 2 (8) while some localities have required property 3 owners to conduct risk assessments and abate lead 4 when a child under the age of 6 will reside in a 5 dwelling unit, there has been evidence that such poli- 6 cies led to augmented instances of housing discrimi- 7 nation on the basis of familial status, making hous- 8 ing opportunities less available for families with chil- 9 dren and increasing the risk of homelessness for 10 such families. 11 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE LEAD-BASED PAINT POI- 12 SONING PREVENTION ACT. 13 Section 302(a) of the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning 14 Prevention Act (42 U.S.C. 4822(a)) is amended— 15 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para- 16 graph (5); and 17 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol- 18 lowing: 19 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL PROCEDURES FOR FAMILIES 20 WITH CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 6.— 21 ‘‘(A) RISK ASSESSMENT.— 22 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION.—In this subpara- 23 graph, the term ‘covered housing’— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Nov 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8713.IH H8713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8713 IH ‘‘(I) means housing receiving 1 Federal assistance described in para- 2 graph (1) that— 3 ‘‘(aa) was constructed prior 4 to 1978; and 5 ‘‘(bb)(AA) is public housing; 6 ‘‘(BB) receives project-based 7 rental assistance under section 8 8 of the United States Housing Act 9 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f); 10 ‘‘(CC) receives assistance 11 under the Housing Opportunities 12 for Persons With AIDS under 13 subtitle D of title VIII of the 14 Cranston-Gonzalez National Af- 15 fordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 16 12901 et seq.); or 17 ‘‘(DD) receives assistance 18 under the Supportive Housing 19 for Persons With Disabilities 20 under section 811 of the Cran- 21 ston-Gonzalez National Afford- 22 able Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 23 8013); and 24 ‘‘(II) does not include— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Nov 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8713.IH H8713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8713 IH ‘‘(aa) single-family housing 1 covered by an application for 2 mortgage insurance under the 3 National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 4 1701 et seq.); or 5 ‘‘(bb) multi-family housing 6 that— 7 ‘‘(AA) is covered by an 8 application for mortgage in- 9 surance under the National 10 Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 11 1701 et seq.); and 12 ‘‘(BB) does not receive 13 any other Federal housing 14 assistance. 15 ‘‘(ii) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 16 180 days after the date of enactment of 17 the Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act of 18 2020, the Secretary shall promulgate regu- 19 lations that— 20 ‘‘(I) require the owner of covered 21 housing in which a family with a child 22 of less than 6 years of age will reside 23 or is expected to reside to conduct an 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Nov 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8713.IH H8713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8713 IH initial risk assessment for lead-based 1 paint hazards— 2 ‘‘(aa) in the case of covered 3 housing receiving public housing 4 assistance under the United 5 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 6 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.) or project- 7 based rental assistance under 8 section 8 of the United States 9 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 10 1437f), not later than 15 days 11 after the date on which a phys- 12 ical condition inspection occurs; 13 and 14 ‘‘(bb) in the case of covered 15 housing not described in item 16 (aa), not later than a date estab- 17 lished by the Secretary; 18 ‘‘(II) provide that a visual assess- 19 ment alone is not sufficient for pur- 20 poses of complying with subclause (I); 21 ‘‘(III) require that, if lead-based 22 paint hazards are identified by an ini- 23 tial risk assessment conducted under 24 subclause (I), the public housing 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Nov 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8713.IH H8713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8713 IH agency for or owner of the covered 1 housing shall— 2 ‘‘(aa) not later than 30 days 3 after the date on which the initial 4 risk assessment is conducted, 5 control the lead-based paint haz- 6 ards, including achieving clear- 7 ance in accordance with regula- 8 tions promulgated under section 9 402 or 404 of the Toxic Sub- 10 stances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 11 2682, 2684), as applicable, ex- 12 cept that to the extent that the 13 requirements under this item re- 14 sult in additional costs, this item 15 shall be effective and apply only 16 to the extent that amounts to 17 cover such additional costs are 18 provided in advance in appropria- 19 tion Acts; and 20 ‘‘(bb) provide notice to all 21 residents in the covered housing 22 affected by the initial risk assess- 23 ment, and provide notice in the 24 common areas of the covered 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Nov 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8713.IH H8713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8713 IH housing, that lead-based paint 1 hazards were identified and will 2 be controlled within the 30-day 3 period described in item (aa); 4 and 5 ‘‘(IV) provide that there shall be 6 no extension of the 30-day period de- 7 scribed in subclause (III)(aa). 8 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTIONS.—The regulations 9 promulgated under clause (ii) shall provide 10 an exception to the requirement under sub- 11 clause (I) of such clause for covered hous- 12 ing— 13 ‘‘(I) if the public housing agency 14 for or owner of the covered housing 15 submits to the Secretary documenta- 16 tion— 17 ‘‘(aa) that the public hous- 18 ing agency or owner conducted a 19 risk assessment of the covered 20 housing for lead-based paint haz- 21 ards during the 12-month period 22 preceding the date on which the 23 family is expected to reside in the 24 covered housing; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Nov 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8713.IH H8713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8713 IH ‘‘(bb) of any clearance ex- 1 aminations of lead-based paint 2 hazard control work resulting 3 from the risk assessment de- 4 scribed in item (aa); 5 ‘‘(II) from which all lead-based 6 paint has been identified and removed 7 and clearance has been achieved in ac- 8 cordance with regulations promul- 9 gated under section 402 or 404 of the 10 Toxic Substances Control Act (15 11 U.S.C. 2682, 2684), as applicable; 12 ‘‘(III)(aa) if the dwelling unit is 13 unoccupied; 14 ‘‘(bb) if the public housing agen- 15 cy for or owner of the covered hous- 16 ing, without any further delay in occu- 17 pancy or increase in rent, provides the 18 family with another dwelling unit in 19 the covered housing that has no lead- 20 based paint hazards; and 21 ‘‘(cc) the common areas servicing 22 the new dwelling unit have no lead- 23 based paint hazards; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Nov 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8713.IH H8713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8713 IH ‘‘(IV) if the covered housing is in 1 compliance with the schedule for risk 2 assessment under the program under 3 which assistance is provided for the 4 housing and such schedule provides 5 that the period of time between the 6 most recent assessment and the next 7 assessment will not exceed 24 months. 8 ‘‘(B) RELOCATION.—Not later than 180 9 days after the date of enactment of the Lead- 10 Safe Housing for Kids Act of 2020, the Sec- 11 retary shall promulgate regulations to provide 12 that a family with a child of less than 6 years 13 of age that occupies a dwelling unit in covered 14 housing in which lead-based paint hazards were 15 identified, but not controlled in accordance with 16 regulations required under clause (ii), may relo- 17 cate on an emergency basis and without place- 18 ment on any waiting list, penalty (including 19 rent payments to be made for that dwelling 20 unit), or lapse in assistance to another dwelling 21 unit in covered housing that has no lead-based 22 paint hazards.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Nov 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8713.IH H8713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8713 IH SEC. 4. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM FOR TENANT-BASED 1 HOUSING. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months after 3 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 4 Housing and Urban Development shall establish and im- 5 plement a demonstration program under which— 6 (1) an owner of a dwelling for which tenant- 7 based rental assistance under section 8 of the 8 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 9 1437f) is provided and in which a child of less than 10 6 years of age will reside or is expected to reside 11 shall conduct, and cover the costs of, an initial risk 12 assessment for lead-based paint hazards in such 13 housing; 14 (2) the Secretary shall cover the costs of abate- 15 ment of any lead-based paint hazards identified pur- 16 suant to risk assessments paid for as provided under 17 paragraph (1); and 18 (3) the owner of any dwelling unit for which 19 abatement activities are conducted pursuant to para- 20 graph (2) is required, for a period to be determined 21 by the Secretary based on the cost or percentage of 22 the cost of such abatement activities covered by the 23 Secretary, to rent the dwelling unit only to a house- 24 hold assisted with tenant-based rental assistance 25 under such section 8. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Nov 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8713.IH H8713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8713 IH (b) PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS.—Under the 1 demonstration program, the Secretary shall establish pro- 2 cedures and requirements with respect to housing covered 3 by the demonstration program that are similar to the pro- 4 cedures and requirements applicable under paragraph (1) 5 of section 302(a) of the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Pre- 6 vention Act (42 U.S.C. 4822(a)(1)) to housing covered by 7 such paragraph, except as otherwise modified by this sec- 8 tion. 9 (c) GEOGRAPHICAL DIVERSITY.—The Secretary shall 10 carry out the demonstration program under this section 11 in a variety of locations having high rates of lead poi- 12 soning, including urban areas and rural areas, in a man- 13 ner that ensures geographically diversity of housing as- 14 sisted under the program. 15 (d) COORDINATION.—Public housing agencies pro- 16 viding rental assistance for dwelling units participating in 17 the demonstration program under this section shall coordi- 18 nate with local public health agencies to determine if such 19 dwelling units had a previous history of lead poisoning and 20 if that lead poisoning was reported to the public housing 21 agency. 22 (e) MONITORING; REPORTING.— 23 (1) MONITORING.—The Secretary shall monitor 24 the extent of landlord compliance and participation 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Nov 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8713.IH H8713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 8713 IH under the demonstration program under this section 1 and shall assess the relationships between the period 2 of affordability required under subsection (a)(2), the 3 amount or portion of the cost of abatement activities 4 covered by the Secretary pursuant to such sub- 5 section, and the level of participation in the dem- 6 onstration program by landlords. 7 (2) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Secretary shall 8 submit a report annually to the Congress on land- 9 lord compliance and participation in the demonstra- 10 tion program. Each such report shall identify any 11 changes in the rate of landlord compliance and par- 12 ticipation from year to year and from immediately 13 before the implementation of the demonstration pro- 14 gram to the time of such report, and shall include 15 an analysis of whether and the extent to which the 16 availability of dwelling units to be assisted with ten- 17 ant-based rental assistance under section 8 of the 18 United States Housing Act of 1937 is restricted or 19 limited based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, 20 familial status, or national origin in any manner 21 that does not comply with the Fair Housing Act. 22 (3) INVOLVEMEN [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]