Lead Remediation and Abatement Grant Program Awards $38M+

Environment

On Feb 1, 2023

Gov. Murphy and Lieutenant Governor Oliver today announced the award of more than $38 million in funding to 20 nonprofits and local governments across the state through the Lead Remediation and Abatement Grant Program. The announcement is part of the Murphy-Oliver administration’s investment of $180 million in American Rescue Plan State Fiscal Recovery Funds through the State Fiscal Year 2022 and 2023 budgets to address the ongoing threat of childhood lead poisoning.

This investment helps achieve the administration’s overall goal of identifying and addressing lead hazards at scale, as called for in the lead paint hazard inspection law enacted in 2021 (P.L.2021, c.182). As hazards are identified in inspections called for by the law, these funds and grantees will be available to help homeowners and landlords address those hazards.

Grants have been awarded to selected organizations in response to a Request for Proposals for the first tranche of this funding. An additional Request for Proposals for a second and larger tranche of funding will be announced prior to the end of the state fiscal year in June. An additional pool of funding will be available to high-performing agencies and to organizations proposing innovative methods of abatement and rapid response to emerging issues.

“Today marks the start of our next phase in combatting the growing crisis of lead exposure that affects far too many families in New Jersey,” said Murphy. “This funding will allow nonprofits and local governments here in New Jersey to assist residents in their lead remediation and abatement efforts, including thousands of Black and Brown families and children who disproportionately suffer from lead poisoning. Lt. Governor Oliver and I are committed to this cause and will continue to work together to reduce these numbers.”

“This funding is creating new and equitable investments in improving people’s health and in remediating and abating lead hazards in homes across the state,” said Lt. Governor Sheila Y. Oliver, who serves as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA). “As a result, community-based organizations will be able to conduct lead-safe repairs and energy efficiency improvements in residential units. The funding will also help build capacity within DCA and at the local government level to address lead hazards through new hires and apprenticeships, training, and seed capital to attract new community-based organizations into the field.”

The grant funds will be used to identify and remediate lead-based paint hazards through encapsulation, replacement, or abatement. Encapsulation and replacement are measures designed to temporarily reduce human exposure to lead-based paint hazards. Lead abatement measures provide a long-term solution to removing lead-based paint hazards from surfaces via replacement and/or repair. Priority will be given to proposals that serve areas with the highest level of need, based on the number of children under the age of six with elevated blood lead levels.

This work will follow the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule from 2010. The RRP rule requires that firms performing renovation, repair, and painting projects that disturb lead-based paint in homes, childcare facilities, and preschools built before 1978 be certified by EPA (or an EPA-authorized state), use certified renovators who are trained by EPA-approved training providers to do the work, and follow lead-safe work practices. The lead-safe work standards require renovation firms to do the following:

1. Comply with specific requirements for containing the work area;
2. Refrain from using certain high-dust-generating work practices; and
3. Adhere to a specific cleaning protocol, including a step called “cleaning verification,” after finishing the paint-disturbing tasks involved in a renovation.

At predetermined intervals, grantees will be required to report program data to DCA. The Department will analyze this data to develop program best practices and to consider any potential program expansion. Among other data, DCA will collect information on the location of remediated units, type of housing, year of construction, project scope, hazard types, remediation costs per unit, etc.

The following awards were announced today:

Lead Remediation and Abatement Grant Program Awards

DCA offers on its website  a Guide to Lead-Based Paint in Rental Dwellings, which provides a comprehensive overview of lead-based paint hazards, how to inspect for such hazards, and how hazards can be mitigated or eliminated for compliance with P.L.2021, c.182.  The five-part guide is intended to serve owners and residents of rental dwellings throughout the State of New Jersey.

Additionally, DCA, in partnership with the New Jersey Departments of Health (DOH) and Environmental Protection (DEP), recently announced the launch of an expanded version of the Potential Lead Exposure Mapping (PLEM) tool, which provides new publicly available data that indicate potential sources of lead exposure. The tool can be found here: Potential Lead Exposure Mapping (PLEM) – Housing in New Jersey (arcgis.com).

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