Here is a quick rundown of task force issues:

Upcoming Meetings

Legislation: Senator Gard carried critical lead poisoning prevention legislation in the 2001 session. After working through the language with IDEM, her Senate Bill 320 passed the Senate by a vote of 48-1. After additional revisions in the House Environmental Committee, the bill passed the House on the last possible day by a vote of 94-4. Despite a verbal agreement at a House-Senate conference committee on a single version, the committee did not sign the bill. As a result, the bill died. The bill was IKE’s top legislative priority. The bill would have:

• Prohibited especially dangerous activities such as dry sanding and burning of lead-based paint;

• Required cleanup of visible lead-based paint debris on exterior projects;
• Established a lead-safe coordinator position in state government;
• Directed IDEM to establish a sampling technician licensing program to reduce compliance costs; and
• Relaxed refresher training and license renewal requirements for Indiana licensed lead professionals from annually to two years for the first renewal and three years after subsequent ones.

Conference: The first Lead-Safe Indiana Conference is scheduled for Nov. 7 and 8 in Indy. .

Windows of Opportunity: 

HUD Rule: Cities and housing agencies continue to gear up to comply with the rule. Several local agencies asked for a Section 8 extension to August 10. In areas serviced by FSSA, compliance in Section 8 property was required on April 10.

High-Risk Neighborhoods Identified: In December, ISDH identified 667 census block groups where more than 20% of the children were expected to be lead poisoned. Census block groups generally represent neighborhoods. IKE published ISDH’s maps of these block groups/

For information on IKE's efforts regarding lead poisoning prevention.