Action Plan Aims to Reduce Childhood Lead Exposure

The Trump administration recently announced a joint action plan by HUD, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reduce childhood lead exposures and associated health impacts. “HUD is delighted to join the other members of the Task Force in issuing this cohesive Federal Lead Action Plan,” said HUD Secretary Ben Carson. “Implementing this plan will help federal agencies, along with our state and local partners, advance efforts to remediate home health hazards and keep children safe from lead poisoning.”

Developed through cross-governmental collaboration of the President’s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children, which includes 17 federal departments and offices, the plan is a blueprint for reducing lead exposure and associated harms by working with a range of stakeholders, including states, tribes, and local communities, along with businesses, property owners, and parents.

The four goals of the Lead Action Plan are to: (1) reduce children’s exposure to lead sources; (2) identify lead-exposed children and improve their health outcomes; (3) communicate more effectively with stakeholders; and (4) support and conduct critical research to inform efforts to reduce lead exposures and related health risks. Most actions are integrated from the federal level to regional offices, state, tribal, and local governments, and community stakeholder groups, so that the intended benefits reach target populations such as pre-school and low-income children and providers serving them, health educators, school officials, industrial workers and renovation contractors.

The federal action plan can be found at www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-12/documents/fedactionplan_lead_final.pdf.