Lead Package - Investigations by the department of health and mental hygiene in connection with lead poisoning incidents.

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to investigations by the department of health and mental hygiene in connection with lead poisoning incidents

This bill would expand the investigations that the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) is required to conduct under existing law whenever it is alerted about a child with an elevated blood lead level. Under this legislation, DOHMH or another relevant city agency would be required to inspect not just the dwelling unit where a poisoned child resides, but also any daycare, preschool, or nursery school where the child routinely spends 10 or more hours per week, as well as any park or playground where DOHMH determines that bare soil presents a potential source of lead exposure. DOHMH would also be required to inspect any apartment with a child under 1 in the same building as the dwelling unit where a poisoned child resides. These inspections would include analysis by an x-ray fluorescence analyzer (XRF) of all friction surfaces, chewable surfaces and impact surfaces, as well as assisting with the ordering of a free water test kit and testing of soil from any area on the property covered in bare soil that may be a potential source of lead exposure. When DOHMH issues an order to abate a lead paint hazard, landlords would be required to report XRF results for all surfaces in a unit to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) within 60 days. DOHMH or another relevant city agency would be required to notify all residents of the building that a lead hazard was identified, and to provide specific notice to residents of units it intends to inspect, as well as refer these residents to resources to learn more about their rights under the city’s lead laws. This legislation also requires that DOHMH provide information regarding special education services available from the department of education to the parent or guardian of any child under the age of 18 determined to have an elevated blood lead level.