AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LEAD-BASED PAINT.

Although lead-based paint is prevalent in many Delaware residences and causes extraordinary neurological damage in children, including seizures, behavioral disorders, developmental delays, and cognitive disabilities, Delaware does not have a comprehensive system to eliminate lead-based paint from those residences where children are still exposed to lead. This Act creates such a system, including: (1) Creating a system by which all properties where a child who is found to have high blood lead levels live are promptly screened for lead-based paint and, where that paint is found, treated to abate or remediate the lead-based paint. (2) Prohibiting landlords of properties where the State has paid for lead-based paint abatement from raising rents on those properties for a period of 3 years. (3) Taking steps to ensure that neither landlords nor local governments present unreasonable delays to the abatement of lead-based paint. (4) Creating a dedicated fund for abatement and remediation of lead-based paint hazards so that all levels of state government can be held accountable for funding lead-based paint abatement efforts. (5) Expanding the duties of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Advisory Committee to include a plan for prompt inspection and, where necessary, abatement or remediation of lead-based paint in all pre-1978 rental properties.