We have reviewed the FY2025 budget proposal for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) ‘s Lead Hazard Reduction Grants. These grants are essential to making privately owned, low-income, unassisted older housing lead-safe in rural, suburban, and urban communities nationwide.
HUD proposes that 80 percent of the requested funds be awarded using a formula rather than the traditional and procedurally more complex one to apply for and award competitive grants. The new program design would allow more efficient funding distribution to the communities with the highest needs, streamline the selection and award of grants for communities facing large lead paint problems, and enable funded communities to build a sustainable cadre of contractors to perform the work safely. The formula approach would complement the existing competitive grants for the fund’s balance, helping maximize funding utilization.
For these reasons, the Lead and Environmental Hazards Association strongly encourages Congress to adopt HUD’s proposal to allocate 80% of its Lead Hazard Reduction Grant funds to a formula-based approach with the balance awarded competitively. We also ask that Congress direct HUD to apply the formula to award all previously unobligated funds so that the funds can be used for their intended purpose—to protect children from lead and other housing-related health problems.
