City Council Passes New Bills Tightening Lead Paint Rules

The New York City Council has passed two bills that intend to close loopholes around lead paint enforcement and bring the city closer to its goal of ending childhood lead poisoning — though advocates hope to see lawmakers pass additional reforms in the coming weeks, City Limits reports.

Intro. 193, sponsored by Councilmember Carlina Rivera, a Democrat representing Lower Manhattan, will make peeling or chipped lead-based paint a class C "immediately hazardous" violation in common areas of buildings, including co-ops and condos, where a child under 6 years old resides.

Intro. 200, sponsored by Councilmember Rafael Salamanca, a Democrat representing the South Bronx, will require the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to publish biannual reports on objections filed by building owners in response to the city’s lead abatement orders, including objections filed by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).

According to a 2022 report by the DOHMH, 2,557 New York City children aged 6 or under were tested to have blood levels of 5 micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dL) or greater in 2021, the threshold at the time that would trigger an investigation from the city.

Under Rivera’s bill, owners of multifamily dwellings, including co-op and condo boards, must immediately address peeling or chipped lead paint found in common areas, such as hallways, staircases and lobbies. The bill also instructs inspectors from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to conduct visual inspections of common areas that are on their paths to inspect apartments in buildings constructed before 1960 where a child under 6 resides.