EPA Lead Program Grant Fact Sheet
EPA's National Community-Based Lead Grant Program
EPA grants are helping communities with older housing reduce childhood lead poisoning. The funds enable communities to educate those at risk, provide lead-awareness training and develop local ordinances aimed at lead abatement.
The National Community-Based Lead Outreach and Training Grants are aimed at promoting efforts to prevent or reduce childhood lead poisoning. In 2007 the Agency awarded more than $3.1 million in grants to fund this ambitious program. Grant recipients range from city health departments to universities and colleges, community organizations, religious groups and other non-profit organizations.
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. Projects supported by these grant funds are an important part of this ongoing effort -- and we are seeing their effects. By 2002, the number of U.S. children with elevated blood levels had dropped to 310,000 from 13.5 million in 1978, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
National Center for Healthy Housing
EPA has selected the National Center for Healthy Housing in Columbia, Maryland, for a National Community-Based Lead Outreach and Training Grant.
The center will collaborate extensively with Cooperative Extension Services in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Montana to promote training, outreach and infrastructure development aiming at reducing and preventing lead poisoning in rural America.
The project will:
- Train approximately 280 contractors in the one-day joint EPA/HUD Lead Safety for Remodeling, Repair and Painting course, Lead-Safe Work Practices (LSWP) in rural communities,
- Provide outreach on the causes of lead poisoning and lead safe work practices to more than 4,000 consumers and "do-it-yourselfers" in rural communities at greatest risk, and
- IntegrateLSWP training into the Cooperative Extension learning network by training more than 50 Extension service agents and program specialists and by providing "best practices" information at national conferences.
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.