EPA, HHS Request Governors Take Steps To Remediate the Effects of Lead

Some parents may chastise their slow-moving child by urging them to “get the lead out!” The heads of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are calling for governors nationwide to do the same thing — albeit in this case, specifically requesting that state and local governments use federal funds to identify and remediate the effects of lead from early care and education (ECE) settings.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan sent a joint letter Tuesday noting that the White House’s Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan encourages federal, state and local governments to take steps to deliver clean drinking water, replace lead pipes and remediate lead paint, particularly in ECE settings including child care centers, family child care homes, preschools and Head Start programs. EPA and HHS are encouraging a “whole of government approach,” leveraging the collective expertise of the federal government, and facilitating interagency coordination to address lead exposure.

“The adverse health effects of lead exposure can be both physical and behavioral,” the letter states. “Even low levels of lead in children can lead to anemia, behavior and learning problems, and other concerns. Therefore, it is critical that states focus their coordinated efforts in places where our nation’s children spend a great deal of their time — early childhood settings.”

The letter specifically focuses on funding from:

• The American Relief Plan Act (ARPA) (Pub. L. 117-2), which includes $350 billion in Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds that can be used to invest in lead remediation projects, including in ECE facilities. ARPA also includes nearly $15 billion in Child Care and Development Fund supplemental funds that can be used to support improvements to existing child care centers and family child care programs to address lead pipes and paint.
• The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 117-58) authorized increasing funding capacity to approximately $200 million over five years for the EPA Voluntary School and Child Care Lead Testing and Reduction Grant Program for lead remediation and compliance monitoring in addition to lead testing. The act further authorized increased funding of $500 million over five years for the EPA Reducing Lead in Drinking Water Grant Program to fund water infrastructure improvements such as lead service line replacements and facility remediation at ECE settings.

The federal officials also encouraged state and local governments to:

• establish or strengthen childcare licensing and monitoring requirements to test for and address lead in early childhood settings along with funding to support the associated costs;
• provide technical assistance and supports to ECE and child care facilities to meet lead testing and remediation requirements; and
• establish or strengthen blood lead screening requirements for all children and connect ECE programs to available resources to ensure children exposed to lead receive the supports and services they need.

It will be interesting to see how state and local governments respond to this request to meet the challenges of remediating the effects of lead.

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