§ 1370-A — Lead poisoning prevention program

§ 1370-a. Lead poisoning prevention program. 1. The department shall\nestablish a lead poisoning prevention program. This program shall be\nresponsible for establishing and coordinating activities to prevent lead\npoisoning and to minimize risk of exposure to lead. The department shall\nexercise any and all authority which may be deemed necessary and\nappropriate to effectuate the provisions of this title.\n 2. The department shall:\n (a) promulgate and enforce regulations for screening children and\npregnant women, including requirements for blood lead testing, for lead\npoisoning, and for follow up of children and pregnant women who have\nelevated blood lead levels;\n (b) enter into interagency agreements to coordinate lead poisoning\nprevention, exposure reduction, identification and treatment activities\nand lead reduction activities with other federal, state and local\nagencies and programs;\n (c) establish a statewide registry of lead levels of children provided\nsuch information is maintained as confidential except for (i) disclosure\nfor medical treatment purposes; (ii) disclosure of non-identifying\nepidemiological data; and (iii) disclosure of information from such\nregistry to the statewide immunization information system established by\nsection twenty-one hundred sixty-eight of this chapter;\n (d) develop and implement public education and community outreach\nprograms on lead exposure, detection and risk reduction;\n (e) require primary health care providers to provide the parent or\nguardian of each child under six years of age anticipatory guidance on\nlead poisoning prevention as part of routine care, including but not\nlimited to contact information for the state-designated childhood lead\npoisoning primary prevention program serving their county; and\n (f) develop and update as necessary, in consultation with the New York\nstate advisory council on lead poisoning prevention, a standardized lead\nexposure risk assessment questionnaire that shall be available on the\ndepartment's website for primary health care providers to utilize\npursuant to subdivision two-a of section thirteen hundred seventy-c of\nthis title.\n 3. The department shall identify and designate areas in the state with\nsignificant concentrations of children identified with elevated blood\nlead levels as communities of concern for purposes of implementing a\nchildhood lead poisoning primary prevention program, and may, within\namounts appropriated, provide grants to implement approved programs. The\ncommissioner of health of a county or part-county health district, a\ncounty health director or a public health director and, in the city of\nNew York, the commissioner of the New York city department of health and\nmental hygiene, shall develop and implement a childhood lead poisoning\nprimary prevention program to prevent exposure to lead-based paint\nhazards for the communities of concern in their jurisdiction. The\ndepartment shall provide funding to the New York city department of\nhealth and mental hygiene or county health departments to implement the\napproved work plan for a childhood lead poisoning primary prevention\nprogram. The work plan and budget, which shall be subject to the\napproval of the department, shall include, but not be limited to: (a)\nidentification and designation of an area or areas of high risk within\ncommunities of concern; (b) a housing inspection program that includes\nprioritization and inspection of areas of high risk for lead hazards,\ncorrection of identified lead hazards using effective lead-safe work\npractices and, appropriate oversight of remediation work; (c)\npartnerships with other county or municipal agencies or community-based\norganizations to build community awareness of the childhood lead\npoisoning primary prevention program and activities, coordinate\nreferrals for services, and support remediation of housing that contains\nlead hazards; (d) a mechanism to provide education and referral for lead\ntesting for children and pregnant women to families who are encountered\nin the course of conducting primary prevention inspections and other\noutreach activities; and (e) a mechanism and outreach efforts to provide\nhousing inspections for lead hazards upon request. The commissioner of\nhealth of a county or part-county health district, a county health\ndirector or a public health director and, in the city of New York, the\ncommissioner of the New York city department of health and mental\nhygiene, shall also enter into an agreement or subcontract with a\nmunicipal government regarding inspection of the paint conditions in\ndwellings built prior to nineteen hundred seventy-eight for the area\ndefined as the community of concern and may, when qualified staff\nexists, designate the local housing maintenance code enforcement agency\nin which the community of concern is located as an agency authorized to\nadminister the provisions of this title pursuant to subdivision one of\nsection thirteen hundred seventy-five of this title. A portion of grant\nfunding received to support the local primary prevention plan may be\nused to reduce barriers to lead testing of children and pregnant women\nwithin the communities of concern, including the purchase of lead\ntesting devices and supplies when the need for such resources is\nidentified within the community. The commissioner, the commissioner of\nhealth of a county or part-county health district, a county health\ndirector or a public health director and, in the city of New York, the\ncommissioner of the New York city department of health and mental\nhygiene, is authorized to enter into agreements, contracts, subcontracts\nor memoranda of understanding with, and provide technical and other\nresources to, local health officials, local building code officials,\nreal property owners, and community organizations in such areas to\ncreate and implement policies, education and other forms of community\noutreach to address lead exposure, detection and risk reduction. Primary\nprevention plans shall target children less than six years of age living\nin the highest risk housing in the communities of concern identified.\nThe plans shall also take into consideration the extent the\nweatherization assistance program and other such programs can be used in\nconjunction with lead-based paint hazard risk reduction. Funding\nprovided for this program shall be used for the activities described in\nthis section and shall not be used for other activities required by this\ntitle.\n