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EPA Lead Program Grant Fact Sheet
EPA's Targeted Lead Grants
EPA's Targeted Lead Grant Program funds projects in areas with high incidences of children with elevated blood-lead levels in vulnerable populations. In 2007 the Agency awarded more than $5.2 million in grants under this ambitious program. These targeted grants are intended to address immediate needs of the communities in which they are awarded, and will also highlight lead poison prevention strategies that can be used in similar communities across the country.
EPA's lead program is playing a major role in meeting the federal goal of eliminating childhood lead poisoning as a major public health concern by 2010, and the projects supported by these grant funds are an important part of this ongoing effort. According to the Centers for Disease Control in 1978 there were 13.5 million children in the US with elevated blood lead levels. By 2002, that number had dropped to 310,000.
Spokane, Washington - Reducing Childhood Lead Poisoning
EPA has selected the Lands Council in Spokane, Washington, for a Targeted Lead Grant.
The Lands Council plans to use $72,000 in EPA grant money to reduce childhood lead poisoning in Spokane by targeting outreach and education and increasing childhood lead screening. The project addresses an area of suspected but undocumented elevated blood-lead levels in four inner-city neighborhoods in Spokane.The project will:
- Identify children who are most at risk of having elevated blood lead levels in four inner-city Spokane neighborhoods,
- Document blood-levels among high-risk children under age six in targeted neighborhoods,
- Create a self-sustaining partnership between government agencies, neighborhood councils, academic institutions, non-profits and health care providers, and
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the education, outreach and screening.
Within the two years of the project timeframe, there will be two major outcomes: Increased awareness of childhood lead poisoning and how to prevent it in four inner-city neighborhoods, and increased documentation of elevated blood-lead levels in Spokane.
For more information about EPA's Lead Program, visit www.epa.gov/lead or call the National Lead Information Center at 1-800-424-LEAD.