United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1994-05-13 monographic deposited born digital GA 1.13:RCED-94-137 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-137 P0b002ee180374c93 f:rc94137 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-137 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-137 RCED-94-137 Compliance Environmental legislation Children Public housing Safety regulation Toxic substances Low income housing Testing Federal property Health hazards Boston (MA) Minneapolis (MN) New Orleans (LA) St. Paul (MN) HUD Section 8 Housing Assistance Program Letter Report RCED The lead-based paint inspections that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires public housing authorities to conduct in section 8 housing mainly involve visual searches for chipped or peeling paint. These inspections do not test for lead unless a child with elevated lead levels is known to live in the home. The four public housing authorities GAO visited--Boston, Massachusetts; Minneapolis, Minnesota; New Orleans, Louisiana; and St. Paul, Minnesota--complied with these requirements, but their visual inspections did not alert them to lead hazards in intact painted surfaces, such as floors, window sashes, and window sills. HUD officials could not estimate the cost of testing section 8 housing or whether requiring such testing would discourage landlord participation in the program. Federal regulations did not adequately protect children with elevated lead levels living in the four public housing authorities GAO studied. Tests by local housing agencies showed that seven of the 11 residences selected for GAO's study contained lead-based paint hazards. The public housing authorities, however, did not know whether paint testing was being done, and local health agencies did not routinely determine whether the children they identified with high lead levels lived in section 8 housing. Therefore, they did not alert the public housing authority to the children's condition. The applicability of the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act to section 8 housing is unclear. Although the act appears to cover section 8 housing, the legislative history suggests that Congress intended to exempt such housing from the act's requirements for lead-based paint risk assessments and other control measures. Because these requirements could be costly, they could discourage landlord participation in the program, thereby reducing the stock of affordable housing. HUD, however, maintains that the act does apply to section 8 housing and plans to draft rules imposing the act's requirements for dwellings in the program. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-137/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-137.htm GAO/RCED-94-137 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-94-137 Letter Report GAO/RCED-94-137; Lead-Based Paint Poisoning: Children in Section 8 Tenant-Based Housing Are Not Adequately Protected; Compliance Environmental legislation Children Public housing Safety regulation Toxic substances Low income housing Testing Federal property Health hazards Boston (MA) Minneapolis (MN) New Orleans (LA) St. Paul (MN) HUD Section 8 Housing Assistance Program