BILL REQ. #:  S-1510.1 

Read first time 02/12/2007.   Referred to Committee on Health & Long-Term Care.

     AN ACT Relating to lead poisoning prevention; adding a new chapter to Title 70 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds:
     (1) Nearly three hundred thousand American children may have levels of lead in their blood in excess of ten micrograms per deciliter. Unless prevented or treated, elevated blood-lead levels in egregious cases may result in impairment of the ability to think, concentrate, and learn.
     (2) A significant cause of lead poisoning in children is the ingestion of lead particles from deteriorating lead-based paint in older, poorly maintained residences.
     (3) Childhood lead poisoning can be prevented if parents, property owners, health professionals, and those who work with young children are informed about the risks of childhood lead poisoning and how to prevent it.
     (4) Knowledge of lead-based-paint hazards and their control, mitigation, abatement, and risk avoidance is not sufficiently widespread.
     (5) Most children who live in older homes and who otherwise may be at risk for childhood lead poisoning are not tested for the presence of elevated lead levels in their blood.
     (6) Testing for elevated lead levels in the blood can lead to the mitigation or prevention of the harmful effects of childhood lead poisoning and may also prevent similar injuries to other children living in the same household.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Affected property" means a room or group of rooms within a property constructed before January 1, 1960, or within a property constructed between January 1, 1960, and January 1, 1978, where the owner has actual knowledge of the presence of lead-based paint, that form a single independent habitable dwelling unit for occupation by one or more individuals and that have living facilities with permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation. "Affected property" does not include:
     (a) An area not used for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, or sanitation, such as an unfinished basement;
     (b) A unit within a hotel, motel, or similar seasonal or transient facility, unless such unit is occupied by one or more persons at risk for a period exceeding thirty days;
     (c) An area that is secured and inaccessible to occupants; or
     (d) A unit that is not offered for rent.
     (2) "Dust-lead hazard" means surface dust in a residential dwelling or a facility occupied by a person at risk which contains a mass-per-area concentration of lead equal to or exceeding forty micrograms per square foot on floors or two hundred fifty micrograms per square foot on interior windowsills based on wipe samples.
     (3) "Elevated blood-lead level" means a quantity of lead in whole venous blood, expressed in micrograms per deciliter, which exceeds ten micrograms per deciliter or such other level as specifically provided in this chapter.
     (4) "Lead-based paint" means paint or other surface coatings that contain lead equal to or exceeding one milligram per square centimeter, one-half percent by weight, or five thousand parts per million by weight.
     (5) "Lead-based paint hazard" means paint-lead hazards and dust-lead hazards.
     (6) "Owner" means a person, firm, corporation, nonprofit organization, partnership, government, guardian, conservator, receiver, trustee, executor, or other judicial officer, or other entity which, alone or with others, owns, holds, or controls the freehold or leasehold title or part of the title to property, with or without actually possessing it. "Owner" includes a vendee who possesses the title, but does not include a mortgagee or an owner of a reversionary interest under a ground rent lease. "Owner" includes any authorized agent of the owner, including a property manager or leasing agent.
     (7) "Paint-lead hazard" means any one of the following:
     (a) Any lead-based paint on a friction surface that is subject to abrasion and where the dust-lead levels on the nearest horizontal surface underneath the friction surface, such as the windowsill or floor, are equal to or greater than the dust-lead hazard levels defined in this section;
     (b) Any damaged or otherwise deteriorated lead-based paint on an impact surface that is caused by impact from a related building material, such as a door knob that knocks into a wall or a door that knocks against its door frame;
     (c) Any chewable lead-based painted surface on which there is evidence of teeth marks; or
     (d) Any other deteriorated lead-based paint in or on the exterior of any residential building or any facility occupied by a person at risk.
     (8) "Person at risk" means a child under the age of six years or a pregnant woman who resides or regularly spends at least twenty-four hours per week in an affected property.
     (9) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department of health.
     (10) "Tenant" means the individual named as the lessee in a lease, rental agreement, or occupancy agreement for a dwelling unit.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   The secretary shall sponsor a series of public service announcements on radio, television, the internet, and print media about the nature of lead-based paint hazards, the importance of standards for lead poisoning prevention in properties, the certification and training program administered by the department of community, trade, and economic development under chapter 70.103 RCW, and the purposes and responsibilities set forth in this chapter. In developing and coordinating this public information initiative, the secretary shall seek the participation and involvement of private industry organizations, including those involved in real estate, insurance, mortgage banking, and pediatrics.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   By January 1, 2008, the secretary shall develop culturally and linguistically appropriate information pamphlets regarding childhood lead poisoning, the importance of testing for elevated blood-lead levels, prevention of childhood lead poisoning, treatment of childhood lead poisoning, and, where appropriate, the requirements of this chapter. These information pamphlets shall be distributed to parents or other legal guardians of children six years of age or younger on the following occasions:
     (1) By a health care provider at the time of a child's birth and at the time of any childhood immunization or vaccination unless it is established that such information pamphlet has been provided previously to the parent or legal guardian by the health care provider within the prior twelve months; and
     (2) By the owner or operator of any child care facility or preschool or kindergarten class on or before October 15th of each calendar year.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   (1) The secretary shall establish a program for early identification of persons at risk of having elevated blood-lead levels. The program shall systematically screen children under six years of age in the target populations identified in subsection (2) of this section for the presence of elevated blood-lead levels. Children within the specified target populations shall be screened with a blood-lead test at age twelve months and age twenty-four months, or between the ages of thirty-six months and seventy-two months if they have not previously been screened. The secretary shall, after consultation with recognized professional medical groups and such other sources as the secretary deems appropriate, adopt rules establishing:
     (a) The means by which and the intervals at which such children under six years of age shall be screened for lead poisoning and elevated blood-lead levels; and
     (b) Guidelines for the medical followup on children found to have elevated blood-lead levels.
     (2) In developing screening programs to identify persons at risk with elevated blood-lead levels, priority shall be given to persons within the following categories:
     (a) All children enrolled in the medicaid program at ages twelve months and twenty-four months, or between the ages of thirty-six months and seventy-two months if they have not previously been screened;
     (b) Children under the age of six years exhibiting delayed cognitive development or other symptoms of childhood lead poisoning;
     (c) Persons at risk residing in the same household, or recently residing in the same household, as another person at risk with a blood-lead level of ten micrograms per deciliter or greater;
     (d) Persons at risk residing, or who have recently resided, in buildings or geographical areas in which significant numbers of cases of lead poisoning or elevated blood-lead levels have recently been reported;
     (e) Persons at risk residing, or who have recently resided, in an affected property contained in a building that during the preceding three years has been subject to enforcement for violations of lead poisoning prevention statutes, ordinances, rules, or regulations as specified by the secretary;
     (f) Persons at risk residing, or who have recently resided, in a room or group of rooms contained in a building whose owner also owns a building containing affected properties which during the preceding three years has been subject to an enforcement action for a violation of lead poisoning prevention statutes, ordinances, rules, or regulations; and
     (g) Persons at risk residing in other buildings or geographical areas in which the secretary reasonably determines there to be a significant risk of affected individuals having a blood-lead level of ten micrograms per deciliter or greater.
     (3) The secretary shall maintain comprehensive records of all screenings conducted pursuant to this section. Such records shall be indexed geographically and by owner in order to determine the location of areas of relatively high incidence of lead poisoning and other elevated blood-lead levels.
     (4) All cases or probable cases of lead poisoning found in the course of screenings conducted pursuant to this section shall be reported to the affected individual, to his or her parent or legal guardian if he or she is a minor, and to the secretary.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   If any part of this act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to the allocation of federal funds to the state, the conflicting part of this act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding does not affect the operation of the remainder of this act in its application to the agencies concerned. Rules adopted under this act must meet federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   Sections 1 through 5 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 70 RCW.