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1 | AN ACT concerning 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 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | ||||||
5 | Comprehensive Lead Education, Reduction, and Window | ||||||
6 | Replacement Program Act . | ||||||
7 | Section 5. Findings; intent; establishment of program. | ||||||
8 | (a) The General Assembly finds all of the following: | ||||||
9 | (1) Lead-based paint poisoning is a potentially | ||||||
10 | devastating, but preventable disease. It is one of the top | ||||||
11 | environmental threats 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, more | ||||||
15 | affordable properties.
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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, problems with speech, shortened attention | ||||||
20 | span, hyperactivity, and behavioral problems. Recent | ||||||
21 | research links low levels of lead exposure to lower IQ | ||||||
22 | scores and to juvenile delinquency. | ||||||
23 | (4) Older housing is the number one risk factor for |
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1 | childhood lead poisoning. Properties built before 1950 are | ||||||
2 | statistically much more likely to contain lead-based paint | ||||||
3 | hazards than buildings constructed more recently.
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4 | (5) The State of Illinois ranks 10th out of the 50 | ||||||
5 | states in the age of its housing stock. More than 50% of | ||||||
6 | the housing units in Chicago and in Rock Island, Peoria, | ||||||
7 | Macon, Madison, and Kankakee counties were built before | ||||||
8 | 1960. More than 43% of the housing units in St. Clair, | ||||||
9 | Winnebago, Sangamon, Kane, and Cook counties were built | ||||||
10 | before 1950.
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11 | (6) There are nearly 1.4 million households with | ||||||
12 | lead-based paint hazards in Illinois. | ||||||
13 | (7) Most children are lead poisoned in their own homes | ||||||
14 | through exposure to lead dust from deteriorated lead paint | ||||||
15 | surfaces, like windows, and when lead paint deteriorates or | ||||||
16 | is disturbed through home renovation and repainting.
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17 | (8) Less than 25% of children in Illinois age 6 and | ||||||
18 | under have been tested for lead poisoning. While children | ||||||
19 | are lead poisoned throughout Illinois, counties above the | ||||||
20 | statewide average include: Alexander, Cass, Cook, Fulton, | ||||||
21 | Greene, Kane, Kankakee, Knox, LaSalle, Macon, Mercer, | ||||||
22 | Peoria, Perry, Rock Island, Sangamon, St. Clair, | ||||||
23 | Stephenson, Vermilion, Will, and Winnebago. | ||||||
24 | (9) The control of lead hazards significantly reduces | ||||||
25 | lead poisoning rates. Other communities, including New | ||||||
26 | York City and Milwaukee, have successfully reduced lead |
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1 | poisoning rates by removing lead-based paint hazards on | ||||||
2 | windows. | ||||||
3 | (10) Windows are considered a higher lead exposure risk | ||||||
4 | more often than other components in a housing unit. Windows | ||||||
5 | are a major contributor of lead dust in the home, due to | ||||||
6 | both weathering conditions and friction effects on paint.
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7 | (11) There is an insufficient pool of licensed lead | ||||||
8 | abatement workers and contractors to address the problem in | ||||||
9 | some areas of the State. | ||||||
10 | (12) Through grants from the U.S. Department of Housing | ||||||
11 | and Urban Development, some communities in Illinois have | ||||||
12 | begun to reduce lead poisoning of children. While this is | ||||||
13 | an ongoing effort, it only addresses a small number of the | ||||||
14 | low-income children statewide in communities with high | ||||||
15 | levels of lead paint in the housing stock. | ||||||
16 | (b) It is the intent of the General Assembly to: | ||||||
17 | (1) address the problem of lead poisoning of children | ||||||
18 | by eliminating lead hazards in homes; | ||||||
19 | (2) provide training within communities to encourage | ||||||
20 | the use of lead-paint safe work practices; | ||||||
21 | (3) create job opportunities for community members in | ||||||
22 | the lead abatement industry; | ||||||
23 | (4) support the efforts of small business and property | ||||||
24 | owners committed to maintaining lead-safe housing; and | ||||||
25 | (5) assist in the maintenance of affordable lead-safe | ||||||
26 | housing stock. |
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1 | (c) The General Assembly hereby establishes the | ||||||
2 | Comprehensive Lead Education, Reduction, and Window | ||||||
3 | Replacement Program to assist residential property owners | ||||||
4 | through loan and grant programs to reduce lead paint hazards | ||||||
5 | through window replacement in pilot area communities. Where | ||||||
6 | there is a lack of workers trained to remove lead-based paint | ||||||
7 | hazards, job-training programs must be initiated. The General | ||||||
8 | Assembly also recognizes that training, insurance, and | ||||||
9 | licensing costs are prohibitively high and hereby establishes | ||||||
10 | incentives for contractors to do lead abatement work. | ||||||
11 | Section 10. Definitions. In this Act: | ||||||
12 | "Advisory Council" refers to the Lead Safe Housing Advisory | ||||||
13 | Council established under Public Act 93-0789. | ||||||
14 | "CLEAR-WIN Program" refers to the Comprehensive Lead | ||||||
15 | Education, Reduction, and Window Replacement Program created | ||||||
16 | pursuant to this Act to assist property owners of single family | ||||||
17 | homes and multi-unit residential properties in pilot area | ||||||
18 | communities, through loan and grant programs that reduce | ||||||
19 | lead-paint hazards primarily through window replacement and, | ||||||
20 | where necessary, through other lead-based paint hazard control | ||||||
21 | techniques.
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22 | "Director" means the Director of Public Health. | ||||||
23 | "Lead Safe Housing Maintenance Standards" refers to the | ||||||
24 | standards developed by the Lead Safe Housing Advisory Council. | ||||||
25 | "Low-income" means a household at or below 80% of the |
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1 | median income level for a given county as determined annually | ||||||
2 | by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. | ||||||
3 | "Pilot area communities" means the counties or cities | ||||||
4 | selected by the Department, with the advice of the Advisory | ||||||
5 | Council, where properties whose owners are eligible for the | ||||||
6 | assistance provided by this Act are located.
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7 | "Window" means the inside, outside, and sides of sashes and | ||||||
8 | mullions and the frames to the outside edge of the frame, | ||||||
9 | including sides, sash guides, and window wells and sills.
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10 | Section 15. Grant and loan program. | ||||||
11 | (a) Subject to appropriation, the Department, in | ||||||
12 | consultation with the Advisory Council, shall establish and | ||||||
13 | operate the CLEAR-WIN Program in two pilot area communities | ||||||
14 | selected by the Department with advice from the Advisory | ||||||
15 | Council. Pilot area communities shall be selected based upon | ||||||
16 | the prevalence of low-income families whose children are lead | ||||||
17 | poisoned, the age of the housing stock, and other sources of | ||||||
18 | funding available to the communities to address lead based | ||||||
19 | paint hazards. | ||||||
20 | (b) The Department shall be responsible for administering | ||||||
21 | the CLEAR-WIN grant program. The grant shall be used to correct | ||||||
22 | lead-based paint hazards in residential buildings. Conditions | ||||||
23 | for receiving a grant shall be developed by the Department | ||||||
24 | based on criteria established by the Advisory Council. | ||||||
25 | Criteria, including but not limited to the following program |
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1 | components, shall include (i) income eligibility for receipt of | ||||||
2 | the grants, with priority given to low-income tenants or owners | ||||||
3 | who rent to low income tenants; (ii) properties to be covered | ||||||
4 | under CLEAR-WIN; and (iii) the number of units to be covered in | ||||||
5 | a property. Prior to making a grant, the Department must | ||||||
6 | provide the grant recipient with a copy of the Lead Safe | ||||||
7 | Housing Maintenance Standards generated by the Advisory | ||||||
8 | Council. The property owner must certify that he or she has | ||||||
9 | received the Standards and intends to comply with them; has | ||||||
10 | provided a copy of the Standards to all tenants in the | ||||||
11 | building; will continue to rent to the same tenant or other | ||||||
12 | low-income tenant for a period of not less than 5 years | ||||||
13 | following completion of the work; and will continue to maintain | ||||||
14 | the property as lead-safe. Failure to comply with the grant | ||||||
15 | conditions may result in repayment of grant funds. | ||||||
16 | (c) The Advisory Council shall also consider development of | ||||||
17 | a loan program to assist property owners not eligible for | ||||||
18 | grants. | ||||||
19 | (d) All lead-based paint hazard control work performed with | ||||||
20 | these grant or loan funds shall be conducted in conformance | ||||||
21 | with the Lead Poisoning Prevention Act and the Illinois Lead | ||||||
22 | Poisoning Prevention Code. Before contractors are paid for | ||||||
23 | repair work conducted under the CLEAR-WIN Program, each | ||||||
24 | dwelling unit assisted must be inspected by a lead risk | ||||||
25 | assessor or lead inspector licensed in Illinois, and an | ||||||
26 | appropriate number of dust samples must be collected from in |
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1 | and around the work areas for lead analysis, with results in | ||||||
2 | compliance with levels set by the Lead Poisoning Prevention Act | ||||||
3 | and the Illinois Lead Poisoning Prevention Code. All costs of | ||||||
4 | evaluation shall be the responsibility of the property owner | ||||||
5 | who received the grant or loan, but will be provided for by the | ||||||
6 | Department for grant recipients and may be included in the | ||||||
7 | amount of the loan. Additional repairs and clean-up costs | ||||||
8 | associated with a failed clearance test, including follow-up | ||||||
9 | tests, shall be the responsibility of the contractor. | ||||||
10 | (e) Within 6 months after the effective date of this Act, | ||||||
11 | the Advisory Council shall recommend to the Department Lead | ||||||
12 | Safe Housing Maintenance Standards for purposes of the | ||||||
13 | CLEAR-WIN Program. Except for properties where all lead-based | ||||||
14 | paint has been removed, the standards shall describe the | ||||||
15 | responsibilities of property owners and tenants in maintaining | ||||||
16 | lead-safe housing, including but not limited to, prescribing | ||||||
17 | special cleaning, repair, and maintenance necessary to reduce | ||||||
18 | the chance that properties will cause lead poisoning in child | ||||||
19 | occupants. Recipients of CLEAR-WIN grants and loans shall be | ||||||
20 | required to continue to maintain their properties in compliance | ||||||
21 | with these Lead Safe Housing Maintenance Standards. Failure to | ||||||
22 | maintain properties in accordance with these Standards, may | ||||||
23 | result in repayment of grant funds or termination of the loan. | ||||||
24 | Section 20. Lead-abatement training. The Advisory Council | ||||||
25 | shall determine whether a sufficient number of lead abatement |
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1 | training programs exist to serve the pilot sites. If it is | ||||||
2 | determined additional programs are needed, the Advisory | ||||||
3 | Council shall work with the Department to establish the | ||||||
4 | additional training programs for purposes of the CLEAR-WIN | ||||||
5 | Program. | ||||||
6 | Section 25. Insurance assistance. The Department shall | ||||||
7 | make available, for the portion of a policy related to lead | ||||||
8 | activities,
100% insurance subsidies to licensed lead | ||||||
9 | abatement contractors who primarily target
their work to the | ||||||
10 | pilot area communities and employ a significant number of | ||||||
11 | licensed lead abatement workers from the pilot area | ||||||
12 | communities. Receipt of the subsidies shall be reviewed | ||||||
13 | annually by the Department. The Department shall adopt rules | ||||||
14 | for implementation of these insurance subsidies within 6 months | ||||||
15 | after the effective date of this Act.
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16 | Section 30. Advisory Council. The Advisory Council shall | ||||||
17 | submit an annual written report to the Governor and General | ||||||
18 | Assembly on the operation and effectiveness of the CLEAR-WIN | ||||||
19 | Program. The report must evaluate the program's effectiveness | ||||||
20 | on reducing the prevalence of lead poisoning in children in the | ||||||
21 | pilot area communities and in training and employing persons in | ||||||
22 | the pilot area communities. The report also must describe the | ||||||
23 | numbers of units in which lead-based paint was abated; specify | ||||||
24 | the type of work completed and the types of dwellings and |
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1 | demographics of persons assisted; summarize the cost of | ||||||
2 | lead-based paint hazard control and CLEAR-WIN Program | ||||||
3 | administration; rent increases or decreases in the pilot area | ||||||
4 | communities; rental property ownership changes; and any other | ||||||
5 | CLEAR-WIN actions taken by the Department or the Advisory | ||||||
6 | Council and recommend any necessary legislation or rule-making | ||||||
7 | to improve the effectiveness of the CLEAR-WIN Program. |