Earlier this month, the New York City Council introduced a package of legislation designed to tackle lead exposure in NYC from water, soil, and paint. The seventeen bills represent the largest and most concerted effort to address lead poisoning in years. Removing toxins from our environment is one of the top priorities in NYLCV’s 2018 NYC Policy Agenda, and we are thrilled to see our elected officials are up to the task. NYLCV is working with our partners to analyze the bills are formulate our response to each of these bills, but you can see below for an overview.
| Bill # | Sponsors | Summary |
| 864 | Speaker Johnson | This bill would require the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to conduct a building-wide inspection for lead if a child with an elevated blood lead level resides in a building where the lead level in water supplied for drinking or cooking exceeds the water lead action level, or where a lead-based paint hazard exists. The bill would also require DOHMH to investigate daycare facilities, preschools and schools that were attended by the person with an elevated blood level, and parks, playgrounds or other areas with bare soil that the person with elevated blood level visits. |
| 865 | Speaker Johnson | This bill would reduce the allowable amount of lead in dust, soil, and paint that triggers intervention from city agencies.
The bill would also require that the City adopt reference and action levels corresponding to future federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or Environmental Protection Agency standards, should they change in the future. |
| 868 | Ampry-Samuel | This bill would require building owners to provide tenants with water filtration pitchers that are certified to reduce lead concentrations in water, install water filtration or treatment systems that are certified to reduce lead concentrations, or take a sample annually from each fixture that supplies water for drinking or cooking purposes to be analyzed for lead, and provide the results of the test to the tenant. |
| 871 | Borelli | This bill would require when DOHMH tests water for lead, it must use the 1st draw sample. |
| 873 | Chin | This bill requires that owners of covered buildings must ensure that each unit is free of lead-based paint upon vacancy beginning 5 years after the law is enacted. |
| 874 | Chin, Torres | This bill would require more communication between city agencies in regards to lead testing. Specifically, the bill would require the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to notify the Department of Buildings if they find a violation of the lead paint hazard laws in buildings in New York City. The Department of Buildings could then use that information to issue a stop work order for any work in such buildings unless and until satisfied that any work is done safely and in compliance with the law. The bill would also allow an agency that issues after-hours construction permits to consider violations of the lead paint safety laws in deciding whether to continue or renew a permit. Finally, the bill would require, as part of the required tenant protection plan for construction in dwellings, that the applicant disclose any complaints relating to, or violations of, the lead paint laws in the prior 48 months. |
| 877 | Cornegy | The proposed bill would require City agencies, when providing services to a child under seven, to make efforts to obtain evidence from a parent or guardian that the child has received a blood lead screening. If an agency is unable to obtain such evidence, it must:
• Request additional information from the parent or guardian to help the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) determine why the child has not received a blood lead screening;
• Provide them with materials explaining the importance of obtaining blood lead screening for children; and
• Refer them to a physician or healthcare provider for a screening. |
| 881 | Dromm | This bill would require DOHMH to establish an education and outreach program on childhood lead poisoning, including impacts on children and pregnant women, including linguistically and culturally competent materials tailored to persons with limited English and specific immigrant populations. |
| 891 | Levin | This legislation would also require the permanent removal of lead paint from all pre-1960 1 and 2 family homes sold starting 1 year after the passage of the bill. |
| 892 | Levine, Constantinides, Van Bramer | This bill would require the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), in conjunction with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to test sources of potable water in parks and other DPR facilities for lead content, and post results on its website, and to remediate high lead concentrations by either 1) installing a filtration device on a potable water source to reduce lead concentrations to an acceptable level or 2) otherwise provide safe potable water at the park facility. |
| 902 | Richards | The proposed bill would require all preschools and nursery schools in the city to maintain lead levels below a water lead action level to be established by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) in all drinking water or water used for cooking. All preschools and nursery schools would be required to test water used for drinking or cooking at least once a year and provide the results of this analysis to the parent or guardian of each child that attends the facility. If results indicate a lead level above the level to be established by DOHMH, such facilities would be required to install water filtration or treatment systems to reduce lead concentrations in water, or to use other means to supply safe drinking and cooking water to occupants of such facilities. |
| 904 | Rivera | This bill would require DOHMH to conduct an investigation to identify potential sources of a pregnant woman’s elevated blood lead level when a report is made. |
| 907 | Rodriguez | The proposed bill would require owners or operators of day care facilities, preschools, nursery schools, and schools to test lead levels in soil in certain areas at least once a year. If the soil is found to have a lead level at or above a soil lead reference level to be set by DOHMH, the owners or operators of the facilities would be required to notify DOHMH and to cover or remediate the lead-contaminated soil. |
| 916 | Salamanca | This bill would require owners of multiple dwellings to annually inspect soil in areas on the premises. If the lead level of that soil is above the soil lead reference level, the owner must notify the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and cover, replace or remediate that area. |
| 918 | Torres | The proposed bill would require DOHMH, with the cooperation of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, to do a comprehensive report on the implementation, enforcement, and efficacy of all lead poisoning prevention and control measures every year. |