Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 095-0492
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Public Act 095-0492


 

Public Act 0492 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
Public Act 095-0492
 
SB0942 Enrolled 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.

Effective Date: 1/1/2008