New York State is spending millions of dollars to prepare counties for new lead paint rules that are set to take effect later this year.
The state Department of Health has distributed $16 million so far to help counties outside the five boroughs lay the groundwork for a new state registry of older rental buildings in communities at the highest risk of child lead poisoning. Under the new regulations, housing built in high-risk cities before 1980 with two or more rental units must be inspected and certified as lead-free every three years beginning in November.
The new regulations are part of an effort by state lawmakers to crack down on lead exposure in the home, which tends to occur more in older housing stock with a higher likelihood of paint remnants made with the toxic chemical. Lawmakers passed the bill creating the registry in 2023.
Twenty-five cities outside of the five boroughs, including Mount Vernon, Yonkers and New Rochelle, have been designated as areas of concern by the state health department because they have both the highest number of homes built before 1980 and the highest rates of elevated blood lead levels in children.
The $16 million is part of a larger $40 million allocation in the current and previous state budgets. The money will go towards lead inspections, compliance and enforcement. It will also pay for training programs to boost the number of certified assessors, and public education programs on tenant rights and lead poisoning response. Counties can receive up to $2 million a year based on the number of eligible rental units they have, said Health Department spokeswoman Erin Clary.
The city has its own lead paint regulations, which require landlords to inspect apartments built before 1960, and in some cases more recently, for lead hazards each year that children under five live there. In 2023, the city enacted stronger lead reporting and remediation laws.
The city has increased spending by millions of dollars on some lead poisoning prevention programs in recent years. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which administers many of the city’s lead paint laws, budgeted $25.9 million for lead remediation in the adopted financial plan in fiscal year 2024, up from $16.8 million in 2021. The city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene also increased funding for its Bureau of Environmental Disease Prevention, which is focused on environmental and occupational illnesses, including lead poisoning. That office received $15.8 million in fiscal year 2024, up from $13.3 in 2021.
