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1 | AN ACT concerning public health.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Lead Poisoning Prevention Act is amended by | ||||||
5 | changing
Section 11.05 as follows:
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6 | (410 ILCS 45/11.05)
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7 | Sec. 11.05. Advisory Council.
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8 | (a) The General Assembly finds the following:
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9 | (1) Lead-based paint poisoning is a potentially | ||||||
10 | devastating
but preventable disease and is the number one
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11 | environmental threat to children's health in the United
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12 | States.
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13 | (2) The number of lead-poisoned children in Illinois is | ||||||
14 | among
the highest in the nation, especially in older, | ||||||
15 | affordable
properties.
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16 | (3) Lead poisoning causes irreversible damage to the
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17 | development of a child's nervous system. Even at low and
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18 | moderate levels, lead poisoning causes learning
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19 | disabilities, speech problems, shortened attention span,
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20 | hyperactivity, and behavioral problems. Recent research
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21 | links high levels of lead exposure to lower IQ scores and
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22 | to juvenile delinquency.
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23 | (4) Older housing is the number one risk factor for | ||||||
24 | childhood
lead poisoning. Properties built before 1950 are
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25 | statistically much more likely to contain lead-based paint
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26 | hazards than buildings constructed more recently.
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27 | (5) Illinois ranks 10th out of the 50 states in
the age | ||||||
28 | of its housing stock. More than 50% of the
housing units in | ||||||
29 | Chicago and in Rock Island, Peoria,
Macon, Madison, and | ||||||
30 | Kankakee counties were built before
1960 and more than 43% | ||||||
31 | of the housing units in St. Clair,
Winnebago, Sangamon, | ||||||
32 | Kane, and Cook counties were built
before 1950.
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1 | (6) There are nearly 1.4 million households with | ||||||
2 | lead-based
paint hazards in Illinois.
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3 | (7) Most children are lead-poisoned in their own homes
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4 | through exposure to lead dust from deteriorated lead-paint
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5 | surfaces, like windows, and when lead paint deteriorates or
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6 | is disturbed through home renovation and repainting.
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7 | (8) The control of lead hazards significantly reduces | ||||||
8 | lead poisoning
rates. Other communities, including New | ||||||
9 | York City
and Milwaukee, have successfully reduced lead | ||||||
10 | poisoning
rates by removing lead-based paint hazards on | ||||||
11 | windows.
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12 | (9) Windows are considered a higher lead exposure risk
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13 | more often than other components in a housing unit. Windows
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14 | are a major contributor of lead dust in the home, due to
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15 | both weathering conditions and friction effects on paint.
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16 | (10) There is an insufficient pool of licensed lead
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17 | abatement workers and contractors to address the problem in
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18 | some areas of the State.
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19 | (11) Training, insurance, and licensing costs for lead
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20 | removal workers are prohibitively high.
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21 | (12) Through grants from the United States Department | ||||||
22 | of Housing and
Urban Development, some communities in | ||||||
23 | Illinois have begun
to reduce lead poisoning of children. | ||||||
24 | While this is an
ongoing effort, it addresses only a small | ||||||
25 | number of the
low-income children statewide in communities | ||||||
26 | with high
levels of lead paint in the housing stock.
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27 | (b) For purposes of this Section:
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28 | "Advisory Council" means the Lead-Safe Housing Advisory
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29 | Council created under subsection (c).
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30 | "Lead-Safe Housing Maintenance Standards" or "Standards"
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31 | means standards developed by the Advisory Council pursuant
to | ||||||
32 | this Section.
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33 | "Low-income" means a household at or below 80% of the | ||||||
34 | median
income level for a given county as determined annually | ||||||
35 | by
the United States Department of Housing and Urban
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36 | Development.
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1 | "Primary prevention" means removing lead hazards before a | ||||||
2 | child is
poisoned
rather than relying on identification of a | ||||||
3 | lead poisoned child as the
triggering event.
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4 | (c) The Lead-Safe Housing Advisory
Council is created to | ||||||
5 | advise the Department on lead poisoning prevention
activities. | ||||||
6 | The Advisory Council shall be
chaired by the Director or his or | ||||||
7 | her designee and the chair of the Illinois
Lead Safe Housing | ||||||
8 | Task Force and provided with administrative support by the
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9 | Department. The Advisory Council shall be comprised of (i) the | ||||||
10 | directors, or
their designees, of the Illinois Housing | ||||||
11 | Development Authority and the
Environmental Protection Agency; | ||||||
12 | and (ii) the directors, or their designees,
of public health | ||||||
13 | departments of counties identified by the Department that
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14 | contain communities with a concentration of
high-risk, | ||||||
15 | lead-contaminated properties.
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16 | The Advisory Council shall also include the following | ||||||
17 | members appointed by
the Governor:
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18 | (1) One representative from the Illinois Association | ||||||
19 | of Realtors.
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20 | (2) One representative from the insurance industry.
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21 | (3) Two pediatricians or other physicians with
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22 | knowledge of lead-paint poisoning.
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23 | (4) Two representatives from the private-sector,
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24 | lead-based-paint-abatement
industry who are licensed in
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25 | Illinois as an abatement contractor,
worker, or risk | ||||||
26 | assessor.
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27 | (5) Two representatives from community based | ||||||
28 | organizations in
communities with a concentration of high | ||||||
29 | risk lead contaminated properties.
High-risk
communities | ||||||
30 | shall be identified based upon the prevalence of low-income
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31 | families whose
children are lead poisoned and the age of | ||||||
32 | the housing stock.
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33 | (6) At least 3 lead-safe housing advocates, including
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34 | (i) the parent of a lead-poisoned child, (ii) a
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35 | representative from a child advocacy organization,
and | ||||||
36 | (iii) a representative from a tenant housing
organization.
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1 | (7) One representative from the Illinois paint and | ||||||
2 | coatings industry. | ||||||
3 | Within 9 months after its
formation, the Advisory Council
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4 | shall submit a written report to the Governor and the General | ||||||
5 | Assembly on:
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6 | (1) developing a primary prevention program for | ||||||
7 | addressing lead
poisoning;
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8 | (2) developing a sufficient pool of lead abatement | ||||||
9 | workers and
contractors;
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10 | (3) targeting blood lead screening to children | ||||||
11 | residing in high-risk
buildings and neighborhoods;
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12 | (4) ensuring lead-safe work practices in all | ||||||
13 | remodeling, rehabilitation,
and weatherization work;
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14 | (5) funding mechanisms to assist residential property | ||||||
15 | owners in costs of
lead abatement and mitigation;
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16 | (6) providing insurance subsidies to licensed lead | ||||||
17 | abatement contractors
who target their work to high-risk | ||||||
18 | communities; and
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19 | (7) developing any necessary legislation or rulemaking | ||||||
20 | to improve the
effectiveness of State and local programs in | ||||||
21 | lead abatement and other
prevention and control | ||||||
22 | activities.
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23 | The Advisory Council shall develop handbooks and training | ||||||
24 | for property owners
and tenants
explaining the Standards and | ||||||
25 | State and federal requirements for
lead-safe housing.
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26 | The Advisory Council shall meet at least quarterly. Its | ||||||
27 | members shall
receive no compensation for
their services, but | ||||||
28 | their reasonable travel expenses actually incurred shall be
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29 | reimbursed by the Department.
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30 | (Source: P.A. 93-348, eff. 1-1-04.)
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