After one year of preparation, the federal Housing and Urban Development lead rule goes into effect on Sept. 15. Special thanks to Indiana Housing and Finance Authority and Environmental Management Institute for their contributions to the effort.

The HUD rule will have significant impacts on Section 8 housing and on housing rehabilitation grant programs. The rule should bring about major progress in reducing lead poisoning in our most at-risk children. However, fears of compliance costs have raised concerns that the rule may impact the availability of Section 8 housing.

Fortunately, EPA and HUD have taken steps to address these fears through some recent actions. And with the help of Indiana’s Environmental Management Institute (EMI) and, hopefully, IDEM, Indiana should be able to take advantage of those actions. Here is a quick rundown on key efforts:

• EMI and IKE developed a four-hour course to train maintenance workers and painters. HUD approved the course in July, the first short course of general applicability in the nation. EMI is offering an eight-hour Train-the-Trainer in Indy on Sept. 22 to enable others to teach the course.
• EPA developed a Lead Sampling Technician course to ensure that the confirm that the area is safe happens more quickly and easily. EMI is offering the six-hour course in Indy on Sept. 21. Next goal is to get IDEM to set up a licensing program for the technicians.
• Through a grant from IHFA, EMI offered risk assessor and abatement supervisor training courses around the state. Once licensed, the more than 120 people took these courses will help implement the rule more effectively.
• The Apartment Association of Indiana has been especially proactive to ensure their members are educated on the new rules.
• One challenge is whether Indiana’s labs are ready to assay the thousands of dust wipe samples. IKE is helping to make the labs aware of the rules and prepare them to assay the samples.

See IKE's broader effort on lead poisoning prevention for more details.