HUD Not Fulfilling Responsibility To Eliminate Lead-Based Paint Hazard in Federal Housing

GAO was asked to review the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) administration of its research and program responsibilities under the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act. This Act and subsequent amendments authorized HUD to conduct research on the nature and extent of childhood lead paint poisoning and to develop cost effective techniques for eliminating lead paint from houses. Although some evidence suggests that the incidence of lead poisoning in children is declining, an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 young children have undue amounts of lead in their bodies.

In its review, GAO found that HUD is not fully complying with many of its own regulations and procedures directed at eliminating the hazards of lead-based paint in federally assisted housing. It needs a new agenda for its research into the problem, better administrative procedures, and a stronger commitment to eliminating lead hazards in housing. Although 9 years and $9 million of HUD-sponsored research have yielded innovative lead paint abatement products and techniques, their high cost has prevented any of them from having a practical use. Moreover, several unresolved issues still exist regarding the responsibility of HUD to research the nature and extent of childhood lead paint poisoning. Finally, HUD regulations and procedures for eliminating lead paint hazards in housing contain many limitations, which include: (1) limiting its regulations to correcting only peeling or chipping paint; (2) inspecting and eliminating lead paint only when dwelling units change occupancy; (3) notifying tenants of lead paint hazards only in pre-1950 dwelling units; and (4) not clarifying the issue of whether or not the hazard elimination program is limited to pre-1950 housing.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: No director on record Team: No team on record Phone: No phone on record