Title X

On October 28, 1992, President Bush signed into law the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992, an omnibus housing bill which includes as Title X the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992. Title X, as this bill is commonly referred to, is one of the most significant instances of federal lead poisoning prevention legislation.

Under Title X, federal agencies are directed to develop a national lead program and supporting policies to prevent and reduce lead-based paint exposures and hazards. Title X altered virtually every aspect of dealing with lead-based paint hazards in U.S. housing, prompting profound changes in efforts to prevent childhood lead poisoning across the nation. These changes affect property owners, landlords, lenders, realtors, insurers, parents, tenants, abatement contractors, inspectors, laboratories, trainers, home remodelers, and state and local government agencies.

Title X was conceived as a transitional bill, not the final solution to lead-based paint hazards in housing. In addition to inspections to determine the presence of lead-based paint, Title X mandates risk assessments to identify conditions causing lead exposures of concern. Title X's central purpose is to mobilize national resources to support expanded prevention efforts on a broad scale. This goal is advanced by several strategies:

• Developing a new framework for lead hazard reduction to focus resources for maximum health benefit and to trigger a range of actions appropriate to various hazard and housing situations,
• Imposing specific requirements and deadlines on federally owned, insured and assisted housing to make the federal government a model landlord, encourage the growth and development of a quality abatement industry, and begin to clarify confusion over standards of care in private rental housing,
• Providing increased resources for abatement, specific timetables for action, and clear standards for licensing contractors, protecting workers, certifying laboratories, and accrediting training programs.