N.Y. Public Health Law § 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;

(d) develop and implement public education and community outreach

programs on lead exposure, detection and risk reduction;

(e) require primary health care providers to provide the parent or

guardian of each child under six years of age anticipatory guidance on

lead poisoning prevention as part of routine care, including but not

limited to contact information for the state-designated childhood lead

poisoning primary prevention program serving their county; and

(f) develop and update as necessary, in consultation with the New York

state advisory council on lead poisoning prevention, a standardized lead

exposure risk assessment questionnaire that shall be available on the

department's website for primary health care providers to utilize

pursuant to subdivision two-a of section thirteen hundred seventy-c of

this title.

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 in

dwellings 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.