42 USC 4822 - Requirements for housing receiving Federal assistance

View all text of Subchapter III [§ 4821 - § 4822]

§ 4822. Requirements for housing receiving Federal assistance

(a) General requirements

(1) Elimination of hazardsThe Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (hereafter in this section referred to as the “Secretary”) shall establish procedures to eliminate as far as practicable the hazards of lead based paint poisoning with respect to any existing housing which may present such hazards and which is covered by an application for mortgage insurance or housing assistance payments under a program administered by the Secretary or otherwise receives more than $5,000 in project-based assistance under a Federal housing program. Beginning on January 1, 1995, such procedures shall apply to all such housing that constitutes target housing, as defined in section 4851b of this title, and shall provide for appropriate measures to conduct risk assessments, inspections, interim controls, and abatement of lead-based paint hazards. At a minimum, such procedures shall require—

(A) the provision of lead hazard information pamphlets, developed pursuant to section 2686 of title 15, to purchasers and tenants;

(B) periodic risk assessments and interim controls in accordance with a schedule determined by the Secretary, the initial risk assessment of each unit constructed prior to 1960 to be conducted not later than January 1, 1996, and, for units constructed between 1960 and 1978—

(i) not less than 25 percent shall be performed by January 1, 1998;

(ii) not less than 50 percent shall be performed by January 1, 2000; and

(iii) the remainder shall be performed by January 1, 2002;

(C) inspection for the presence of lead-based paint prior to federally-funded renovation or rehabilitation that is likely to disturb painted surfaces;

(D) reduction of lead-based paint hazards in the course of rehabilitation projects receiving less than $25,000 per unit in Federal funds;

(E) abatement of lead-based paint hazards in the course of substantial rehabilitation projects receiving more than $25,000 per unit in Federal funds;

(F) where risk assessment, inspection, or reduction activities have been undertaken, the provision of notice to occupants describing the nature and scope of such activities and the actual risk assessment or inspection reports (including available information on the location of any remaining lead-based paint on a surface-by-surface basis); and

(G) such other measures as the Secretary deems appropriate.

(2) Additional measures

(3) Disposition of federally owned housing

(A) Pre-1960 target housing

(B) Target housing constructed between 1960 and 1978

(D) Definitions

(4) Definitions

(b) Measurement criteria

(d) Abatement required

(1) Transitional testing and abatement in public housing receiving modernization assistanceIn the case of public housing assisted with capital assistance provided under section 1437g of this title, the Secretary shall require the inspection described in subsection (c) for—

(A) a random sample of dwellings and common areas in all public housing projects assisted under such section; and

(B) each dwelling in any public housing project in which there is a dwelling determined under subparagraph (A) to have lead-based paint hazards, except that the Secretary shall not require the inspection of each dwelling if the Secretary requires the abatement of the lead-based paint hazards for the surfaces of each dwelling in the public housing project that correspond to the surfaces in the sample determined to have such hazards under subparagraph (A).

The Secretary shall require the inspection of all housing subject to this paragraph in accordance with the modernization schedule. A public housing agency may elect to test for lead-based paint using atomic absorption spectroscopy and may elect to abate lead-based paint and dust containing lead under standards more stringent than that in subsection (c), including the abatement of lead-based paint and dust which exceeds the standard of lead permitted in paints by the Consumer Product Safety Commission under this chapter, and such abatement shall qualify for capital assistance provided under section 1437g of this title. The Secretary shall require abatement of lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards in housing in which the test results equal or exceed the standard established by or under subsection (c). Final inspection and certification after abatement shall be made by a qualified inspector, industrial hygienist, or local public health official.

(2) Abatement demonstration program

(A) Abatement demonstration program

(B) ReportNot later than 18 months after the effective date of the regulations issued to carry out this subsection, the Secretary shall transmit to the Congress the findings and recommendations of the Secretary as a result of the demonstration program, including any recommendations of the Secretary for legislation to revise the requirements of this subsection. Based on the demonstration, the Secretary shall prepare and include in the report a comprehensive and workable plan for the cost-effective inspection and abatement of public housing in accordance with paragraph (3), including an estimate of the total cost of abatement in accordance with paragraph (3)(B). In preparing such report, the Secretary shall examine—

(i) the most reliable technology available for detecting lead-based paint, including X-ray fluorescence and atomic absorption spectroscopy;

(ii) the most efficient and cost-effective methods for abatement, including removal, containment, or encapsulation of the contaminated components, procedures which minimize the generation of dust (including the high efficiency vacuum removal of leaded dust), and procedures that provide for offsite disposal of the removed components, in compliance with all applicable regulatory standards and procedures;

(iii) safety considerations in testing, abatement, and worker protection;

(iv) the overall accuracy and reliability of laboratory testing of physical samples, x-ray fluorescence machines, and other available testing procedures;

(v) availability of qualified samplers and testers;

(vi) an estimate of the amount, characteristics, and regional distribution of housing in the United States that contains lead-based paint hazards at differing levels of contamination; and

(vii) the merits of an interim containment protocol for public housing dwellings that are determined to have lead-based paint hazards but for which comprehensive improvement assistance under section 1437l 1 of this title is not available.

(3) Testing and abatement of other public housing

(A) Required inspectionThe Secretary shall require the inspection described in subsection (c) for—

(i) a random sample of dwellings and common areas in all public housing that is not subject to paragraph (1); and

(ii) each dwelling in any public housing project in which there is a dwelling determined under clause (i) to have lead-based paint hazards, except that the Secretary shall not require the inspection of each dwelling if the Secretary requires the abatement of the lead-based paint hazards for the surfaces of each dwelling in the public housing project that correspond to the surfaces in the sample determined to have such hazards under clause (i).

(B) Schedule

(4) Report required

(e) ExceptionsThe provisions of this section shall not apply to—

(1) housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities, or any 0-bedroom dwelling, except for any dwelling in such housing in which any child who is under age 6 resides or is expected to reside; or

(2) any project for which an application for insurance is submitted under section 1715v, 1715w, 1715z–6, or 1715z–7 of title 12.

(f) Funding

(g) Interpretation of section

(Pub. L. 91–695, title III, § 302, as added Pub. L. 93–151, § 4(a)(1), Nov. 9, 1973, 87 Stat. 566; amended Pub. L. 100–242, title V, § 566(a), Feb. 5, 1988, 101 Stat. 1945; Pub. L. 100–628, title X, § 1088(a)–(f), (h), Nov. 7, 1988, 102 Stat. 3280–3282; Pub. L. 102–550, title X, §§ 1012(a)–(d), 1013, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 3904, 3905, 3907; Pub. L. 105–276, title V, § 522(b)(4), Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2564; Pub. L. 115–31, div. K, title II, § 237(a), May 5, 2017, 131 Stat. 788.)