Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-110

§4852a Task Force on Lead-based Paint Hazard Reduction and Financing

Title 42 › CHAPTER 63A — RESIDENTIAL LEAD-BASED PAINT HAZARD REDUCTION › SUBCHAPTER I — LEAD-BASED PAINT HAZARD REDUCTION › § 4852a

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, working with the EPA Administrator, must create a task force to suggest how to get more money and effort to find and fix lead paint hazards in private homes. The group must include people from HUD, the Farmers Home Administration, Veterans Affairs, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, EPA, building trades, landlords, tenants, lenders and insurers, real estate and nonprofit housing developers, public housing agencies, low-income and lead-prevention advocates, experts, and community groups in areas with lots of rental housing. The task force must recommend ways to include lead-hazard work in loan rules, make new loan products, change appraisal rules, make lead checks routine when new mortgages are made, update HUD and federal guidance, clarify landlord and lender liability and explore a "safe harbor," expand liability insurance and victim compensation options, and study requiring risk checks and tenant notices for rental units. Task force members do not get federal pay.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §4852a

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In general

The Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall establish a task force to make recommendations on expanding resources and efforts to evaluate and reduce lead-based paint hazards in private housing.

(b)Membership

The task force shall include individuals representing the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Farmers Home Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Environmental Protection Agency, employee organizations in the building and construction trades industry, landlords, tenants, primary lending institutions, private mortgage insurers, single-family and multifamily real estate interests, nonprofit housing developers, property liability insurers, public housing agencies, low-income housing advocacy organizations, national, State and local lead-poisoning prevention advocates and experts, and community-based organizations located in areas with substantial rental housing.

(c)Responsibilities

The task force shall make recommendations to the Secretary and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency concerning—

(1)incorporating the need to finance lead-based paint hazard reduction into underwriting standards;

(2)developing new loan products and procedures for financing lead-based paint hazard evaluation and reduction activities;

(3)adjusting appraisal guidelines to address lead safety;

(4)incorporating risk assessments or inspections for lead-based paint as a routine procedure in the origination of new residential mortgages;

(5)revising guidelines, regulations, and educational pamphlets issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and other Federal agencies relating to lead-based paint poisoning prevention;

(6)reducing the current uncertainties of liability related to lead-based paint in rental housing by clarifying standards of care for landlords and lenders, and by exploring the “safe harbor” concept;

(7)increasing the availability of liability insurance for owners of rental housing and certified contractors and establishing alternative systems to compensate victims of lead-based paint poisoning; and

(8)evaluating the utility and appropriateness of requiring risk assessments or inspections and notification to prospective lessees of rental housing.

(d)Compensation

The members of the task force shall not receive Federal compensation for their participation.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 4852a

Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110