SB0942eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB0942 Engrossed LRB095 05748 KBJ 25838 b

AN ACT concerning health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Comprehensive Lead Education, Reduction, and Window Replacement Program Act.

Section 5. Findings; intent; establishment of program.

(a) The General Assembly finds all of the following:

(1) Lead-based paint poisoning is a potentially devastating, but preventable disease. It is one of the top environmental threats to children's health in the United States.

(2) The number of lead-poisoned children in Illinois is among the highest in the nation, especially in older, more affordable properties.

(3) Lead poisoning causes irreversible damage to the development of a child's nervous system. Even at low and moderate levels, lead poisoning causes learning disabilities, problems with speech, shortened attention span, hyperactivity, and behavioral problems. Recent research links low levels of lead exposure to lower IQ scores and to juvenile delinquency.

(4) Older housing is the number one risk factor for childhood lead poisoning. Properties built before 1950 are statistically much more likely to contain lead-based paint hazards than buildings constructed more recently.

(5) The State of Illinois ranks 10th out of the 50 states in the age of its housing stock. More than 50% of the housing units in Chicago and in Rock Island, Peoria, Macon, Madison, and Kankakee counties were built before 1960. More than 43% of the housing units in St. Clair, Winnebago, Sangamon, Kane, and Cook counties were built before 1950.

(6) There are nearly 1.4 million households with lead-based paint hazards in Illinois.

(7) Most children are lead poisoned in their own homes through exposure to lead dust from deteriorated lead paint surfaces, like windows, and when lead paint deteriorates or is disturbed through home renovation and repainting.

(8) Less than 25% of children in Illinois age 6 and under have been tested for lead poisoning. While children are lead poisoned throughout Illinois, counties above the statewide average include: Alexander, Cass, Cook, Fulton, Greene, Kane, Kankakee, Knox, LaSalle, Macon, Mercer, Peoria, Perry, Rock Island, Sangamon, St. Clair, Stephenson, Vermilion, Will, and Winnebago.

(9) The control of lead hazards significantly reduces lead-poisoning rates. Other communities, including New York City and Milwaukee, have successfully reduced lead-poisoning rates by removing lead-based paint hazards on windows.

(10) Windows are considered a higher lead exposure risk more often than other components in a housing unit. Windows are a major contributor of lead dust in the home, due to both weathering conditions and friction effects on paint.

(11) There is an insufficient pool of licensed lead abatement workers and contractors to address the problem in some areas of the State.

(12) Through grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, some communities in Illinois have begun to reduce lead poisoning of children. While this is an ongoing effort, it only addresses a small number of the low-income children statewide in communities with high levels of lead paint in the housing stock.

(b) It is the intent of the General Assembly to:

(1) address the problem of lead poisoning of children by eliminating lead hazards in homes;

(2) provide training within communities to encourage the use of lead paint safe work practices;

(3) create job opportunities for community members in the lead abatement industry;

(4) support the efforts of small business and property owners committed to maintaining lead-safe housing; and

(5) assist in the maintenance of affordable lead-safe housing stock.

(c) The General Assembly hereby establishes the Comprehensive Lead Education, Reduction, and Window Replacement Program to assist residential property owners through loan and grant programs to reduce lead paint hazards through window replacement in pilot area communities. Where there is a lack of workers trained to remove lead-based paint hazards, job-training programs must be initiated. The General Assembly also recognizes that training, insurance, and licensing costs are prohibitively high and hereby establishes incentives for contractors to do lead abatement work.

Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:

"Advisory Council" refers to the Lead Safe Housing Advisory Council established under Public Act 93-0789.

"CLEAR-WIN Program" refers to the Comprehensive Lead Education, Reduction, and Window Replacement Program created pursuant to this Act to assist property owners of single family homes and multi-unit residential properties in pilot area communities, through loan and grant programs that reduce lead paint hazards primarily through window replacement and, where necessary, through other lead-based paint hazard control techniques.

"Director" means the Director of Public Health.

"Lead Safe Housing Maintenance Standards" refers to the standards developed by the Lead Safe Housing Advisory Council.

"Low-income" means a household at or below 80% of the median income level for a given county as determined annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"Pilot area communities" means the counties or cities selected by the Department, with the advice of the Advisory Council, where properties whose owners are eligible for the assistance provided by this Act are located.

"Window" means the inside, outside, and sides of sashes and mullions and the frames to the outside edge of the frame, including sides, sash guides, and window wells and sills.

Section 15. Grant and loan program.

(a) Subject to appropriation, the Department, in consultation with the Advisory Council, shall establish and operate the CLEAR-WIN Program in two pilot area communities selected by the Department with advice from the Advisory Council. Pilot area communities shall be selected based upon the prevalence of low-income families whose children are lead poisoned, the age of the housing stock, and other sources of funding available to the communities to address lead-based paint hazards.

(b) The Department shall be responsible for administering the CLEAR-WIN grant program. The grant shall be used to correct lead-based paint hazards in residential buildings. Conditions for receiving a grant shall be developed by the Department based on criteria established by the Advisory Council. Criteria, including but not limited to the following program components, shall include (i) income eligibility for receipt of the grants, with priority given to low-income tenants or owners who rent to low-income tenants; (ii) properties to be covered under CLEAR-WIN; and (iii) the number of units to be covered in a property. Prior to making a grant, the Department must provide the grant recipient with a copy of the Lead Safe Housing Maintenance Standards generated by the Advisory Council. The property owner must certify that he or she has received the Standards and intends to comply with them; has provided a copy of the Standards to all tenants in the building; will continue to rent to the same tenant or other low-income tenant for a period of not less than 5 years following completion of the work; and will continue to maintain the property as lead-safe. Failure to comply with the grant conditions may result in repayment of grant funds.

(c) The Advisory Council shall also consider development of a loan program to assist property owners not eligible for grants.

(d) All lead-based paint hazard control work performed with these grant or loan funds shall be conducted in conformance with the Lead Poisoning Prevention Act and the Illinois Lead Poisoning Prevention Code. Before contractors are paid for repair work conducted under the CLEAR-WIN Program, each dwelling unit assisted must be inspected by a lead risk assessor or lead inspector licensed in Illinois, and an appropriate number of dust samples must be collected from in and around the work areas for lead analysis, with results in compliance with levels set by the Lead Poisoning Prevention Act and the Illinois Lead Poisoning Prevention Code. All costs of evaluation shall be the responsibility of the property owner who received the grant or loan, but will be provided for by the Department for grant recipients and may be included in the amount of the loan. Additional repairs and clean-up costs associated with a failed clearance test, including follow-up tests, shall be the responsibility of the contractor.

(e) Within 6 months after the effective date of this Act, the Advisory Council shall recommend to the Department Lead Safe Housing Maintenance Standards for purposes of the CLEAR-WIN Program. Except for properties where all lead-based paint has been removed, the standards shall describe the responsibilities of property owners and tenants in maintaining lead-safe housing, including but not limited to, prescribing special cleaning, repair, and maintenance necessary to reduce the chance that properties will cause lead poisoning in child occupants. Recipients of CLEAR-WIN grants and loans shall be required to continue to maintain their properties in compliance with these Lead Safe Housing Maintenance Standards. Failure to maintain properties in accordance with these Standards may result in repayment of grant funds or termination of the loan.

Section 20. Lead abatement training. The Advisory Council shall determine whether a sufficient number of lead abatement training programs exist to serve the pilot sites. If it is determined additional programs are needed, the Advisory Council shall work with the Department to establish the additional training programs for purposes of the CLEAR-WIN Program.

Section 25. Insurance assistance. The Department shall make available, for the portion of a policy related to lead activities, 100% insurance subsidies to licensed lead abatement contractors who primarily target their work to the pilot area communities and employ a significant number of licensed lead abatement workers from the pilot area communities. Receipt of the subsidies shall be reviewed annually by the Department. The Department shall adopt rules for implementation of these insurance subsidies within 6 months after the effective date of this Act.

Section 30. Advisory Council. The Advisory Council shall submit an annual written report to the Governor and General Assembly on the operation and effectiveness of the CLEAR-WIN Program. The report must evaluate the program's effectiveness on reducing the prevalence of lead poisoning in children in the pilot area communities and in training and employing persons in the pilot area communities. The report also must describe the numbers of units in which lead-based paint was abated; specify the type of work completed and the types of dwellings and demographics of persons assisted; summarize the cost of lead-based paint hazard control and CLEAR-WIN Program administration; rent increases or decreases in the pilot area communities; rental property ownership changes; and any other CLEAR-WIN actions taken by the Department or the Advisory Council and recommend any necessary legislation or rule-making to improve the effectiveness of the CLEAR-WIN Program.