Rep. Arthur L. Turner

Filed: 3/31/2004

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4481

2     AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4481 by replacing
3 everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4     "Section 5. The Lead Poisoning Prevention Act is amended by
5 changing Section 11.05 as follows:
 
6     (410 ILCS 45/11.05)
7     Sec. 11.05. Advisory Council.
8     (a) The General Assembly finds the following:
9         (1) Lead-based paint poisoning is a potentially
10 devastating but preventable disease and is the number one
11 environmental threat to children's health in the United
12 States.
13         (2) The number of lead-poisoned children in Illinois is
14 among the highest in the nation, especially in older,
15 affordable properties.
16         (3) Lead poisoning causes irreversible damage to the
17 development of a child's nervous system. Even at low and
18 moderate levels, lead poisoning causes learning
19 disabilities, speech problems, shortened attention span,
20 hyperactivity, and behavioral problems. Recent research
21 links high levels of lead exposure to lower IQ scores and
22 to juvenile delinquency.
23         (4) Older housing is the number one risk factor for
24 childhood lead poisoning. Properties built before 1950 are

 

 

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1 statistically much more likely to contain lead-based paint
2 hazards than buildings constructed more recently.
3         (5) Illinois ranks 10th out of the 50 states in the age
4 of its housing stock. More than 50% of the housing units in
5 Chicago and in Rock Island, Peoria, Macon, Madison, and
6 Kankakee counties were built before 1960 and more than 43%
7 of the housing units in St. Clair, Winnebago, Sangamon,
8 Kane, and Cook counties were built before 1950.
9         (6) There are nearly 1.4 million households with
10 lead-based paint hazards in Illinois.
11         (7) Most children are lead-poisoned in their own homes
12 through exposure to lead dust from deteriorated lead-paint
13 surfaces, like windows, and when lead paint deteriorates or
14 is disturbed through home renovation and repainting.
15         (8) The control of lead hazards significantly reduces
16 lead poisoning rates. Other communities, including New
17 York City and Milwaukee, have successfully reduced lead
18 poisoning rates by removing lead-based paint hazards on
19 windows.
20         (9) Windows are considered a higher lead exposure risk
21 more often than other components in a housing unit. Windows
22 are a major contributor of lead dust in the home, due to
23 both weathering conditions and friction effects on paint.
24         (10) There is an insufficient pool of licensed lead
25 abatement workers and contractors to address the problem in
26 some areas of the State.
27         (11) Training, insurance, and licensing costs for lead
28 removal workers are prohibitively high.
29         (12) Through grants from the United States Department
30 of Housing and Urban Development, some communities in
31 Illinois have begun to reduce lead poisoning of children.
32 While this is an ongoing effort, it addresses only a small
33 number of the low-income children statewide in communities
34 with high levels of lead paint in the housing stock.

 

 

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1     (b) For purposes of this Section:
2     "Advisory Council" means the Lead-Safe Housing Advisory
3 Council created under subsection (c).
4     "Lead-Safe Housing Maintenance Standards" or "Standards"
5 means standards developed by the Advisory Council pursuant to
6 this Section.
7     "Low-income" means a household at or below 80% of the
8 median income level for a given county as determined annually
9 by the United States Department of Housing and Urban
10 Development.
11     "Primary prevention" means removing lead hazards before a
12 child is poisoned rather than relying on identification of a
13 lead poisoned child as the triggering event.
14     (c) The Lead-Safe Housing Advisory Council is created to
15 advise the Department on lead poisoning prevention activities.
16 The Advisory Council shall be chaired by the Director or his or
17 her designee and the chair of the Illinois Lead Safe Housing
18 Task Force and provided with administrative support by the
19 Department. The Advisory Council shall be comprised of (i) the
20 directors, or their designees, of the Illinois Housing
21 Development Authority and the Environmental Protection Agency;
22 and (ii) the directors, or their designees, of public health
23 departments of counties identified by the Department that
24 contain communities with a concentration of high-risk,
25 lead-contaminated properties.
26     The Advisory Council shall also include the following
27 members appointed by the Governor:
28         (1) One representative from the Illinois Association
29 of Realtors.
30         (2) One representative from the insurance industry.
31         (3) Two pediatricians or other physicians with
32 knowledge of lead-paint poisoning.
33         (4) Two representatives from the private-sector,
34 lead-based-paint-abatement industry who are licensed in

 

 

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1 Illinois as an abatement contractor, worker, or risk
2 assessor.
3         (5) Two representatives from community based
4 organizations in communities with a concentration of high
5 risk lead contaminated properties. High-risk communities
6 shall be identified based upon the prevalence of low-income
7 families whose children are lead poisoned and the age of
8 the housing stock.
9         (6) At least 3 lead-safe housing advocates, including
10 (i)  the parent of a lead-poisoned child, (ii) a
11 representative from a child advocacy organization, and
12 (iii) a representative from a tenant housing organization.
13         (7) One representative from the Illinois paint and
14 coatings industry.
15     Within 9 months after its formation, the Advisory Council
16 shall submit a written report to the Governor and the General
17 Assembly on:
18         (1) developing a primary prevention program for
19 addressing lead poisoning;
20         (2) developing a sufficient pool of lead abatement
21 workers and contractors;
22         (3) targeting blood lead screening to children
23 residing in high-risk buildings and neighborhoods;
24         (4) ensuring lead-safe work practices in all
25 remodeling, rehabilitation, and weatherization work;
26         (5) funding mechanisms to assist residential property
27 owners in costs of lead abatement and mitigation;
28         (6) providing insurance subsidies to licensed lead
29 abatement contractors who target their work to high-risk
30 communities; and
31         (7) developing any necessary legislation or rulemaking
32 to improve the effectiveness of State and local programs in
33 lead abatement and other prevention and control
34 activities.

 

 

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1     The Advisory Council shall develop handbooks and training
2 for property owners and tenants explaining the Standards and
3 State and federal requirements for lead-safe housing.
4     The Advisory Council shall meet at least quarterly. Its
5 members shall receive no compensation for their services, but
6 their reasonable travel expenses actually incurred shall be
7 reimbursed by the Department.
8 (Source: P.A. 93-348, eff. 1-1-04.)".