Lead Poisoning Prevention Campaign
The goal of NJCA’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program is to create a lead-free environment for all of New Jersey’s children, by:
- Educating parents and members of the public about the hazards of lead poisoning and the resources available to them during 30-minute Free Lead Education and Outreach presentations;
- Offering free, comprehensive Lead Train-the-Trainers to ensure health, building, and construction professionals who work on lead safety issues are up-to-date about the latest lead laws and regulations;
- Distributing free home lead testing kits;
- Helping property owners across the state remove lead hazards from their homes using low-interest or forgivable loans through the Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund.
- Holding state and local officials accountable to policies that emphasize prevention by ensuring an adequate stock of lead-safe housing through Lead Inspection on Request.
The following educational publications are made available by the NJ Department of Community Affairs:
- "Lead Paint: Are You at Risk?" (PDF)
- "Questions Parents Ask About Childhood Lead Poisoning" (PDF)
- "Living Safely with Lead" (PDF)
- "Landlords and Lead" (PDF)
- "Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund FAQ" (Web page)
What Can I Do to Protect Myself and My Family?
Test Your Home for Lead with a Free Lead Test Kit
NJCA can provide you with help in determining whether or not there are lead hazards in your home.
These hazards can result from cracking or chipping paint, dust created by opening and closing doors and windows or by remodeling or repair work, and from lead brought in from outside sources such as contaminated soil.
If the place you live was built before 1978 or you are unsure when it was built and you believe you may be living with a lead hazard please contact Sean Kinney at sean@njcitizenaction.org or 732-246-4772 x 13 for a free lead test kit and to discuss how to use it in your home. Results are fully confidential.
What Should I Do if There is Lead in My Home?
Financial Assistance with Lead Remediation: Lead Hazard Control Assistance Act
The Lead Hazard Assistance Fund offers financial assistance to homeowners and property owners to reduce lead-based paint hazards in the home.
Eligible housing includes both owner occupied and investor owned properties that contain lead hazards. The housing must have been built before 1978, when lead based paint was banned in the United States.
The LHCA fund provides deferred payment 3% interest loans, with some opportunities for forgivable loans for low-to-moderate income households. Property owners from all income levels are eligible to apply for repayable loans. Contact Atif Malik at atif@njcitizenaction.org or 973-643-8800 x 30 to find out if you qualify for a forgivable loan.
Download a one-page FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on the LHCA, or for more information or to apply for the LHCA fund, contact Atif Malik at atif@njcitizenaction.org or at 973-643-8800 x 30. You may also download the LHCA application for a 1–4 Family Dwelling.
Sponsored by the State of New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.
Lead Poisoning Prevention Train-the-Trainer Workshops
Full details coming soon — in mid- to late April 2009!
Law Passed to Expand Lead Inspection Requirements to All NJ Rental Properties
On Friday, January 4, 2008, Governor Corzine signed S2622 — a law that will significantly help protect New Jersey's young children from lead poisoning, a fully preventable but extremely dangerous disease.
The law amends the current Hotel and Multiple Dwellings Code and requires the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to inspect every single-family and two-family rental dwelling for lead-based paint hazards at least once every 5 years. Until now, one and two unit dwellings had been exempt from lead hazard inspections, as the previous Code applied only to rental units in multiple dwellings and left a great number of New Jersey's residents more exposed to the dangers of lead hazards.
This is a major victory for NJCA, as we have long been fighting the battle against childhood lead poisoning and do not believe that children should be used as lead detectors.
Lead Hazard Control Assistance Act
The Lead Hazard Control Assistance Act (S-1348/Rice, A-1947/Weinberg) was signed by Governor McGreevy on January 20, 2004. Thank you to everyone who called, wrote letters and supported us on this campaign!
This is a major victory for NJ families, homeowners, and landlords who will now have the means to remove hazardous lead paint from their homes. And it moves us closer to the goal of New Jersey Citizen Action's Lead Poisoning Prevention Campaign to create a lead-free environment for all New Jersey's children. The bill will:
- Create the "Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund" to provide landlords and homeowners with loans and grants to help with the high cost of lead abatement.
- Add a $20 fee per unit on all rented housing units under the Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law. The fee will be added to the "Fund."
- Set aside a portion of the sales tax generated by paint sales. Either $7,000,000 or $0.50 per container of paint sold in NJ, whichever is more. The sales tax set-aside will be added to the "Fund".
- Create a registry of lead safe housing in NJ.
- Create the Emergency Lead Poisoning Relocation Fund and puts $2,000,000 into that fund from the Catastrophic Illness in Children Relief Fund.
- Empower the State Department of Community Affairs to look for lead hazards as part of their 5-year cyclical inspections they do on all buildings under the Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law (buildings with 3 or more units.)
- Require those engaged in Lead Safe Maintenance work to take a free 6 hour course on lead safe work practices.
Owners of properties with four or fewer units will be eligible for the grants based on their income. Owners of larger buildings will only be eligible for the loans.
Leveraging the Disclosure Law
Federal law requires owners of pre-1978 housing units to disclose what they know or do not know about the presence of lead hazards in a unit they are renting or selling.
The owners must provide the tenant or buyer with a disclosure statement, and a brochure entitled "Protect Your Family from Lead In Your Home". Landlords must also provide tenants or buyers with the "Renovate Right" brochure prior to renovation activities in the unit.
By finding landlords who did not follow the disclosure rule, we can use HUD's enforcement power to have them comply with the law.
If you are sure that your landlord did not follow this disclosure law, contact Sean Kinney at sean@njcitizenaction.org or 732-246-4772 x 13.
Lead Inspection on Request
Inspecting a home for lead hazards before a child is poisoned makes sense and should be available to at least the highest-risk individuals in the highest–risk areas. Until recently this was not the case in Newark, where the City would only come to inspect your home for lead hazards after your child was lead poisoned.
NJCA and the Newark Partnership for Lead-Safe Children campaigned in 2000 for "Lead Inspections on Request." As a result, Newark’s Lead Program says it will do inspections on request. We need other towns to follow Newark's example and institute a program of lead inspections on request." Iif you want Inspections on Request in your town, contact Sean Kinney at sean@njcitizenaction.org or 732-246-4772 x 13.