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New lead hazard removal grant is county-wide
YOUNGSTOWN
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded a $2.9 million, three-year hazard remediation grant to the Mahoning County Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control Program, the federal agency announced Wednesday.
Unlike the $2.5 million HUD grant for the past three years, the new grant can be used countywide, said Phil Puryear, county program director.
Under the previous $2.5 million grant that will expire July 31, the money had to be spent in targeted areas with many homes built before 1978 and with many children with elevated blood-lead levels, he said.
The sale of lead-based paint was banned in the United States in 1978.
Mahoning County Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti said she was happy to hear that the program is now expanded to all of Mahoning County.
“We need to be a part of helping all of our families in Mahoning County that fit the criteria,” she said.
“It allows us to continue to address lead-based paint issues in low-income homes, where children under the age of 6 reside and to provide a lead safe and healthy environment for those families that qualify for our services,” Puryear said.
To qualify for assistance under the grant, a household must have a child under age 6 living in it; and the income eligibility limit here is $44,300 a year for a family of four.
Top priority for service under the grant is given to homes with children under 6 with elevated blood-lead levels, Puryear said.
Elevated blood-lead levels are associated with neurological impairment.
The grant award was competitive, with 40 of 60 applicants funded, he added.
Funding was based on the area’s need, the county’s past program performance and the quality of its forthcoming work plan.
The new grant consists of $2.5 million in lead-paint remediation money and $400,000 in supplemental money that can be used for lead plumbing and fixture replacement or electrical or natural-gas fire hazard remediation in homes that are undergoing lead paint remediation.
The Mahoning County program hopes to remediate lead-paint hazards in 165 homes under the new grant and use the supplemental money in 80 of them.
Under the expiring three-year grant, lead-paint remediation was performed in 162 homes, with supplemental money used in 48 of them.