News Release

MARTINEZ ANNOUNCES $147 MILLION TO PROTECT CHILDREN AND FAMILIES FROM DANGEROUS LEAD AND OTHER HOME HEALTH AND SAFETY HAZARDS
Record funding kicks off October as National Healthy Homes Month

WASHINGTON - Thousands of children and families in 27 states and the District of Columbia will live in healthier homes due to more than $147 million in grants announced today by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez. Martinez made today's record funding announcement to officially launch National Healthy Homes Month during October.

The grants will help 70 local programs around the country to remove potentially dangerous lead from lower income homes; to stimulate private sector investment in lead hazard control; to educate the public about the dangers of lead-based paint; to fund model programs promoting healthier and safer home environments; and, to support scientific research into innovative methods of identifying and eliminating health hazards in housing (see attached list).

"Whether it's eliminating lead hazards in housing or studying new ways to make our homes healthier, the funds we announce today are all designed to protect our most precious resource - our children," said Martinez. "Today we continue HUD's investment in making our homes a healthier and safer place for parents to raise their kids."

Lead Hazard Control Grant Programs

The funding announced today includes $124 million to eliminate dangerous lead paint hazards in thousands of privately owned, low-income housing units. These funds are provided through HUD's Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control and the Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration grant programs

In addition, HUD's Operation LEAP (Lead Elimination Action Program) will provide $9.9 million to stimulate private sector contributions that will enable children to grow up in homes that are free from lead-based paint hazards. HUD will also award $2.4 million in Lead Outreach grants to support public education campaigns on the hazards of lead-based paint and what parents, building owners and others can do to protect children. Further, $2.8 million will assist local research institutions to study ways to drive down the cost and increase the effectiveness of lead hazard identification and control.

HUD's lead hazard control program is working. Today, the Department estimates that 26 million fewer homes have lead-based paint compared to 1990 when the program began. Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the average amount of lead in children's blood has declined by 50 percent from a decade ago. Ten years ago, there was no federal funding for local lead hazard control work in privately owned housing; today, the HUD program is active in over 250 communities across the country.

Healthy Homes Initiative

HUD's Healthy Homes Initiative builds upon the Department's existing activities in housing-related health and safety issues - including lead hazard control, building structural safety, electrical safety, and fire protection - to address multiple childhood diseases and injuries in the home. The Initiative takes a holistic approach to these activities by addressing housing-related hazards in a coordinated fashion, rather than addressing a single hazard at a time.

Included in the funding announced today is more than $5.9 million in demonstration grants to help local communities identify and eliminate housing conditions that contribute to children's disease and injury, such as asthma, lead poisoning, mold exposure, and carbon monoxide contamination. HUD is also providing more than $2 million in technical studies grants to support scientific research into innovative methods of identifying and eliminating health hazards in housing.

The following is a breakdown of the funding announced today:

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities, creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans, supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development as well as enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet.

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The following is a state-by-state breakdown of the funding announced today: