LEAD AND THE LAW
Title X
Public Law 102-550
102nd Congress -- 2nd Session
[H.R. 5334]
102 P.L. 550; 106 Stat. 3672
1992 Enacted H.R. 5334; 102 Enacted H.R. 5334
DATE: OCT. 28, 1992 -- PUBLIC LAW 102-550
The Residential Lead-Based Paint
Hazard Reduction Act
SEC. 1002. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that --
(1) low-level lead poisoning is widespread among American
children, afflicting as many as 3,000,000 children under age 6,
with minority and low-income communities disproportionately
affected;
(2) at low levels, lead poisoning in children causes
intelligence quotient deficiencies, reading and learning
disabilities, impaired hearing, reduced attention span,
hyperactivity, and behavior problems;
(3) pre-1980 American housing stock contains more than
3,000,000 tons of lead in the form of lead-based paint, with the
vast majority of homes built before 1950 containing substantial
amounts of lead-based paint;
(4) the ingestion of household dust containing lead from
deteriorating or abraded lead-based paint is the most common
cause of lead poisoning in children; (5) the health and
development of children living in as many as 3,800,000 American
homes is endangered by chipping or peeling lead paint, or
excessive amounts of lead-contaminated dust in their homes;
(6) the danger posed by lead-based paint hazards can be
reduced by abating lead-based paint or by taking interim measures
to prevent paint deterioration and limit children's exposure to
lead dust and chips;
(7) despite the enactment of laws in the early 1970's
requiring the Federal Government to eliminate as far as
practicable lead-based paint hazards in federally owned,
assisted, and insured housing, the Federal response to this
national crisis remains severely limited; and
(8) the Federal Government must take a leadership role in
building the infrastructure -- including an informed public,
State and local delivery systems, certified inspectors,
contractors, and laboratories, trained workers, and available
financing and insurance -- necessary to ensure that the national
goal of eliminating lead-based paint hazards in housing can be
achieved as expeditiously as possible.
|
