Putting the Pieces Together: Controlling Lead Hazards in the Nation's Housing

Title X of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 addresses the control of lead-based paint hazards in federally assisted housing. It also provides for consistency and quality control in evaluating and controlling lead hazards in all housing. At the time of sale or rental of privately owned housing built before 1978, the year the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the residential use of lead-based paint, Title X requires delivery of an educational pamphlet and disclosure of any known lead-based paint hazards. Title X also requires that lead-based paint hazard evaluation and abatement activities in privately owned housing be carried out by certified contractors. In enacting Title X, Congress recognized that it did not have solutions for the difficult problems posed by lead-based paint in private housing. Congress directed the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to create a Task Force to make recommendations on lead-based paint hazard reduction and financing. Secretary Cisneros appointed individuals to this Task Force, representing the spectrum of organizations and interests affected by lead-based