lead paint

Columbus health and city leaders announced a new initiative aimed at preventing lead exposure to children in neighborhoods that were red-lined decades ago. It's called Healthy Children and Safe Homes by 2040.

The new proposal is being criticized for not proactively replacing lead service lines across the nation. It also keeps the same threshold for lead in drinking water that the U.S. currently has.

Home renovations can kick up dangerous dust from lead-based paint. A new report finds the Environmental Protection Agency is not adequately enforcing rules meant to protect kids from lead exposure.

Cleveland City Council passed new lead paint requirements for landlords Wednesday, giving Mayor Frank Jackson’s administration 18 months to develop a citywide program to reduce childhood lead poisoning. The law requires owners of rentals built before 1978 to have their properties inspected for lead hazards every two years. Cleveland’s Building and Housing Department will start enforcing the new rules in March 2021 and require all rentals to be certified as lead safe by 2023. The legislation also doubles the rental registration fee, raising it from $35 to $70.

A list of 33 recommendations for dealing with Cleveland’s ongoing lead crisis, presented to the city council Monday by experts and activists, did not include a way to pay for inspections and fixes to lead contaminated housing. Councilman Blaine Griffin, chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, hinted the funding could come from a new tax or foundation support or another source.

Cleveland’s coalition to prevent lead poisoning says the city should require landlords to protect tenants from lead paint. The Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition, which the city announced in January, plans to submit its recommendations to City Council on Wednesday.

In Governor Mike DeWine’s first budget due later this week, he plans to allocate $10 million to the State Child Health Insurance Program for lead cleanup projects, the same amount as in the previous budget. He’ll also call for a $10,000 tax credit to homeowners for lead abatement projects. DeWine laid out the new measures to address lead contamination in Ohio during a visit to University Hospital’s Rainbow Center for Women and Children Wednesday.

Gov. Mike DeWine's first joint address to the Ohio House and Senate will happen Tuesday at noon in the Statehouse, which is a change from the last seven…

Cleveland plans nearly to double its voluntary lead paint inspections of rental properties this year, according to a presentation given to city council on Monday. Building and Housing Director Ayonna Blue Donald told council the city plans to inspect 1,875 rental units for lead paint dust, a 90 percent increase over the 985 inspections conducted last year.

Advocates of lead paint legislation say they’ll go to the ballot if Cleveland City Council doesn’t adopt a measure requiring that rental properties be made safe from lead. Leaders of Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing (CLASH) want the city to require landlords to make rental properties safe from lead paint by 2021. At a news conference Monday morning, group members said they plan to collect petition signatures to force council to address the issue.