1370-A - Lead poisoning prevention program.
§ 1370-a. Lead poisoning prevention program. 1. The department shall establish a lead poisoning prevention program. This program shall be responsible for establishing and coordinating activities to prevent lead poisoning and to minimize risk of exposure to lead. The department shall exercise any and all authority which may be deemed necessary and appropriate to effectuate the provisions of this title. 2. The department shall: (a) promulgate and enforce regulations for screening children and pregnant women, including requirements for blood lead testing, for lead poisoning, and for follow up of children and pregnant women who have elevated blood lead levels; (b) enter into interagency agreements to coordinate lead poisoning prevention, exposure reduction, identification and treatment activities and lead reduction activities with other federal, state and local agencies and programs; (c) establish a statewide registry of lead levels of children provided such information is maintained as confidential except for (i) disclosure for medical treatment purposes; (ii) disclosure of non-identifying epidemiological data; and (iii) disclosure of information from such registry to the statewide immunization information system established by section twenty-one hundred sixty-eight of this chapter; and (d) develop and implement public education and community outreach programs on lead exposure, detection and risk reduction. 3. The department shall identify and designate areas in the state with significant concentrations of children identified with elevated blood lead levels as communities of concern for purposes of implementing a childhood lead poisoning primary prevention program, and may, within amounts appropriated, provide grants to implement approved programs. The commissioner of health of a county or part-county health district, a county health director or a public health director and, in the city of New York, the commissioner of the New York city department of health and mental hygiene, shall develop and implement a childhood lead poisoning primary prevention program to prevent exposure to lead-based paint hazards for the communities of concern in their jurisdiction. The department shall provide funding to the New York city department of health and mental hygiene or county health departments to implement the approved work plan for a childhood lead poisoning primary prevention program. The work plan and budget, which shall be subject to the approval of the department, shall include, but not be limited to: (a) identification and designation of an area or areas of high risk within communities of concern; (b) a housing inspection program that includes prioritization and inspection of areas of high risk for lead hazards, correction of identified lead hazards using effective lead-safe work practices and, appropriate oversight of remediation work; (c) partnerships with other county or municipal agencies or community-based organizations to build community awareness of the childhood lead poisoning primary prevention program and activities, coordinate referrals for services, and support remediation of housing that contains lead hazards; (d) a mechanism to provide education and referral for lead testing for children and pregnant women to families who are encountered in the course of conducting primary prevention inspections and other outreach activities; and (e) a mechanism and outreach efforts to provide housing inspections for lead hazards upon request. The commissioner of health of a county or part-county health district, a county health director or a public health director and, in the city of New York, the commissioner of the New York city department of health and mental hygiene, shall also enter into an agreement or subcontract with a municipal government regarding inspection of the paint conditions indwellings built prior to nineteen hundred seventy-eight for the area defined as the community of concern and may, when qualified staff exists, designate the local housing maintenance code enforcement agency in which the community of concern is located as an agency authorized to administer the provisions of this title pursuant to subdivision one of section thirteen hundred seventy-five of this title. A portion of grant funding received to support the local primary prevention plan may be used to reduce barriers to lead testing of children and pregnant women within the communities of concern, including the purchase of lead testing devices and supplies when the need for such resources is identified within the community. The commissioner, the commissioner of health of a county or part-county health district, a county health director or a public health director and, in the city of New York, the commissioner of the New York city department of health and mental hygiene, is authorized to enter into agreements, contracts, subcontracts or memoranda of understanding with, and provide technical and other resources to, local health officials, local building code officials, real property owners, and community organizations in such areas to create and implement policies, education and other forms of community outreach to address lead exposure, detection and risk reduction. Primary prevention plans shall target children less than six years of age living in the highest risk housing in the communities of concern identified. The plans shall also take into consideration the extent the weatherization assistance program and other such programs can be used in conjunction with lead-based paint hazard risk reduction. Funding provided for this program shall be used for the activities described in this section and shall not be used for other activities required by this title.