$100 Million Will Fix Lead Hazard Problems in 20 States

Vice President Joe Biden announced the grants today following a tour of the Esperanza Community Housing Corporation in South Central Los Angeles. Esperanza is receiving a grant of $875,000 from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help identify and clean up lead and other health hazards in 225 homes.

"It is unacceptable that some 40 percent of homes in this country still contain lead-based paints, the majority of which are in low-income areas where homes have not been renovated in decades," said Vice President Biden.

The Vice President was joined by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Congressman Xavier Becerra and HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Simms to announce that the grants will help 53 local programs in 20 states and the District of Columbia to protect young children from lead poisoning and create jobs.

Lead is a toxic metal that can damage the brain, kidneys, nerves and blood, especially in children younger than six.

Lead may also cause behavioral problems, learning disabilities, seizures and in extreme cases, death. Some symptoms of lead poisoning may include headaches, stomach aches, nausea, tiredness and irritability. Children who are lead poisoned may show no symptoms.

Workers remove lead-based paint from a home in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo courtesy Project Lead Safe KC)

Both inside and outside the home, deteriorated lead-paint mixes with household dust and soil and becomes tracked in. Children may become lead poisoned by putting their hands or other lead-contaminated objects into their mouths, eating paint chips found in homes with peeling or flaking lead-based paint, or playing in lead-contaminated soil.

"These are our children, our next generation," said Biden, "and thanks to the Recovery Act, we are investing in their future by reducing lead paint in their homes, educating their families about its abundant hazards and improving the safety of the communities they grow up in."

Esperanza will use its grant in partnership with two other organizations - St. John’s Well Child and Family Center and Strategic Actions for a Just Economy - to address multiple environmental health problems in the homes of low-income residents who have a child diagnosed with asthma.

Once assessment is complete, the organizations provide education on asthma, lead hazards, lead poisoning prevention and lead-safe work practices, poison control, pest management, and non-toxic cleaning solutions. The team estimates that during the three year grant period health promoters make 36 presentations to a variety of community agencies and at community health fairs.

These grants to states and local governments are being offered by HUD’s Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control. The grant recipients were qualified applicants in the FY08 funding cycle but were not initially awarded grants because of the limited funds available at that time.

The lead abatement grants come in two sizes - around $875,000, the size of the Esperanza grant - and larger grants of about $3 million that will go to states and larger cities for their lead removal and public awareness programs.

The state of California, for instance, will be awarded $3,000,000 in federal funding under the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control grant program to provide lead hazard control in at least 305 targeted homes. The lead hazard reduction activities will be accomplished through partnerships with community-based organizations, local Health Departments’ Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Programs, and the local housing departments’ rehabilitation programs.

The city of San Francisco also will be awarded $3 million to control lead hazards in 35 owner-occupied and 120 rental housing units, as well as in 20 vacant rental units. This project will control lead hazards in several low-income districts of San Francisco that have a high concentration of rental units, low income households, and children, and low availability of affordable housing.

"In making these grants available today, the Department is acknowledging the importance of healthy homes and protecting our children from dangerous lead hazards," said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. "And not only will this program contribute to healthy, safe homes for all children and families, which is a top priority for HUD, but it will also support shovel-ready projects that are essential to getting Americans back to work and fixing the nation’s economic crisis quickly and efficiently."

The Recovery Act includes $13.61 billion for projects and programs administered by HUD, nearly 75 percent of which was allocated to state and local recipients eight days after President Obama signed the Act into law on February 17.

The remaining 25 percent of funds will be awarded through a competitive grant process in the coming months.

On Thursday, Secretary Donovan announced that 25,000 apartment units will become more energy efficient as the result of $250 million in HUD Recovery Act grants and loans.

HUD's new Green Retrofit Program for Multifamily Housing, will offer up to $15,000 per residential unit to reduce energy costs, cut water consumption, and improve indoor air quality. Eligible applicants must already be HUD assisted, either through Section 8 project-based rental assistance or the Department's Section 202 (elderly) and Section 811 (disabled) programs.

Applications for Green Retrofit Program funds are being accepted beginning June 15, 2009.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.