HUD AWARDS $3.3 MILLION IN GRANTS TO SUPPORT RESEARCH TO REDUCE HOUSING-RELATED HEALTH HAZARDS

Funding to improve methods to identify and control key residential hazards

WASHINGTON – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it is making $3.3 million available in cooperative agreements to support research to develop and improve methods for the identification and control of key residential health hazards and to improve the implementation of policies that address these hazards. Key hazards to be addressed include pest infestation and mold which can trigger asthma and other illnesses, poor indoor air quality such as exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and other contaminants, and injury hazards. It is especially important to protect vulnerable populations, such as children, seniors, and people with chronic illnesses such as asthma, from exposure to these hazards. Read a complete project-by-project summary of the programs awarded grants today.

The following is a state-by-state breakdown of the funding:

HUD Secretary Julián Castro is focused on advancing policies that create opportunities for all Americans, including helping children and families secure quality housing by protecting them from the hazards of lead-based paint and other home health and safety hazards. Last month, HUD proposed a new rule to further protect young children living in federally assisted housing by lowering the Department’s threshold of lead in the child’s blood to match the standard used by CDC. HUD’s proposed action level for lead in a young child’s blood would be lowered from 20 µg/dL to 5 µg/dL, and continue to be aligned with CDC recommendations in the future. This important change to HUD’s 17-year-old Lead Safe Housing Rule will allow for an earlier response when a child under six years old is exposed to lead-based paint hazards in their HUD-assisted homes.

HUD also announced The Lead-Safe Homes, Lead-Free Kids Toolkit, to help ensure HUD housing is lead-safe and launched the new Healthy Homes App, which provides consumers with information about potentially serious health and safety problems in the home, and the steps they can take to protect themselves. In addition, HUD has published a proposed rule to prohibit the use of lit tobacco products in housing managed by public housing agencies, and continues to promote the voluntary adoption of these policies in other HUD-assisted housing. Read more.

“Keeping the homes of Americans safe and healthy is important to families and saves money,” said Jon L. Gant, Director of the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes. “While we know that poor quality housing can contribute to injury and illness, these important grants provide the knowledge base needed to prevent harm and create healthy home environments for families and their children.”

HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes promotes local efforts to eliminate dangerous lead paint and other housing-related health and safety hazards from lower income homes, stimulate private sector investment in lead hazard control, support cutting-edge research on methods for assessing and controlling housing-related health and safety hazards, and educate the public about the dangers of hazards in the home.

The grants to states and local governments, institutions of higher education, and both for-profit and nonprofit organizations are being offered through HUD’s Healthy Homes Technical Studies Grant Program.

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HUD’s mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all.
More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet
at www.hud.gov and http://espanol.hud.gov.

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Shantae Goodloe
(202) 708-0685