WHY LEAD IS STILL A PROBLEM IN NYC

In 2004, New York City enacted LL1, the most ambitious and comprehensive lead poisoning prevention law in the country, with the stated goal of ending childhood lead poisoning by 2010. LL1 has had an enormously positive impact: according to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) the number of children under age 6 with elevated blood lead levels (EBLL) declined from some 37,344 during 2005 to just 2,557 in 2021.

Nevertheless, our city’s children continue to needlessly suffer permanent neurological damage from exposure to lead-based paint and lead dust in their homes. Moreover, childhood lead poisoning disproportionately impacts children of color and low-income in New York City. As of 2021, 81 percent of children under 6 newly identified with blood lead levels of 5 μm/dL or greater were Asian, Black, or Latino/a/x. Eighty- eight percent of the children were also from moderate (51 percent) to high- poverty (37 percent) neighborhoods. Preventing lead poisoning is a matter of environmental and racial justice.

In 2018, four of the NYCCELP’s member organizations issued a report titled “Lead Loopholes – How Lax Enforcement of New York City’s Lead Paint Poisoning Prevention Laws Lets Landlords off the Hook and Leaves Children at Risk, ” calling for measures to strengthen the enforcement of LL1. Since that time, the New York City Council has enacted several measures to close many of those loopholes.

In our 2022 Lead Agenda, “A Roadmap to Eliminating Lead Poisoning in New York City, ” we outlined crucial steps for the city to reinforce existing laws and implement additional measures against childhood lead poisoning: Conducting a multi-agency oversight hearing to assess the status of lead poisoning in New York City.

1. Enacting legislation to enhance early identification, prevention, and enforcement of lead poisoning.
2. Allocating resources within the New York City budget to support children affected by lead exposure.
3. Identifying and removing lead service lines.
4. We successfully championed an oversight hearing held on April 25th, 2023, where the City Council assessed lead poisoning’s current state and proposed strategies.

We successfully championed an oversight hearing held on April 25th, 2023, where the City Council assessed lead poisoning’s current state and proposed strategies. As a coalition, we successfully negotiated with the City Council to allow affected families of childhood lead poisoning to participate in a pre-panel prior to the multiple city agencies present.

As a coalition, we successfully advocated for the passing of key legislation in 2023:

• Local Law 123 of 2023 – Mandating permanent removal of lead-based paint on friction surfaces in child- occupied dwellings.
• Local Law 122 of 2023 – Requiring audit records of lead-based paint investigations.
• Local Law 111 of 2023 – Addressing lead-based paint hazards in common areas of dwellings.
• Local Law 112 of 2023 – Mandating quarterly reporting on objections to orders for the abatement or remediation of lead conditions. Local Law 127 of 2023 – Proactively identifying and inspecting dwellings where children are at risk of lead poisoning.

To prompt city investments in child protection programs, we submitted a 2024 budget statement to relevant committees in the city. Additionally, to further our goal of eliminating lead poisoning from service lines, we released a report titled “No Excuses, NYC: Replace Lead Drinking Water Pipes Now. ”

The report emphasizes the urgent need for replacement of lead service lines in New York City and delves into various topics including government failure at regulation, lead in the city, a New Jersey case study, funding sources for lead service line replacement, and more.

While our recent successes have driven the City to do more to protect children from the irreversible and damaging effects of lead poisoning, there is still a lot of additional work that needs to be done. It is simply inexcusable that more than 2,500 New York City children and their families suffer from the life-long damage caused by childhood lead poisoning when it is entirely preventable. The NYCCELP remains committed to pursuing the additional steps needed to fully eradicate lead poisoning, ensuring the well being of all New York City residents.

Despite the progress made through recent legislation, New York will still fail to achieve its goal of eliminating lead poisoning in children without taking additional steps to strengthen the City’s policies and programs – and the funding needed to effectively implement and enforce them. The NYCCELP has developed the following policy agenda of steps city leaders must take in 2024/2025 to eliminate childhood lead poisoning.