Clinton Bill Would Provide Credit for Lead Paint Removal in Older Homes

By Mrs. CLINTON (for herself and Mr. DeWine):

S. 1228: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax credit for property owners who remove lead-based paint hazards; to the Committee on Finance.

Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss a persistent, serious, and entirely preventable threat to our children's intelligence, behavior, and learning.

Lead poisoning affects 300,000 children in our Nation between the ages of one and five, and has been linked with developmental disabilities, behavioral problems, and anemia. One recent study from the New England Journal of Medicine also found that children suffered up to a 7.4 percent decrease in IQ at lead levels that CDC considers safe. At very high levels, lead poisoning can cause seizures, coma, and even death.

In New York State in 1999, over twelve thousand children suffered from lead poisoning, 9,533 of those children in New York City alone. In fact, we may even be underestimating the significance of this important public health problem.

I am glad that the Secretary of Health and Human Services considers lead poisoning to be a priority, and established a national goal of ending childhood lead poisoning by 2010. However, federal programs only have resources to remove lead-based paint hazards from less than 0.1 percent of the twenty-five million housing units that have these hazards. At this pace, we will not be able to end childhood lead poisoning by 3010, let alone 2010.

We will never stop childhood lead poisoning unless we get lead out of the buildings in which children live, work, and play. In Brooklyn, more than a third of the buildings in one community have a lead-based paint hazard. Parents of children with lead poisoning are being told that nothing can be done until their children's lead poisoning becomes worse. How can we ask children to watch and wait while their sons and daughters suffer from lead poisoning before we remove the lead from their homes?

That is why today, I am proud to introduce the Home Lead Safety Tax Credit Act of 2003 with my colleague, Senator Mike DeWine. This legislation would provide a tax credit to aide and encourage homeowners in removing lead-based paint hazards in their homes. Specifically, it would provide a tax credit for owners of residential properties built before 1978 that pay for abatement performed by a certified lead abatement contractor. Owners would receive a maximum tax credit of 50 percent of the cost of the abatement, not to exceed

$1,500 per dwelling unit. In Massachusetts, a similar tax credit helped reduce the number of new cases of childhood lead poisoning by almost two-thirds in a decade.

The Home Lead Safety Tax Credit Act of 2003 would help homeowners make approximately 85,000 homes each year safe from lead, which is more than ten times the number of homes made lead safe by current Federal programs. It would greatly accelerate our progress in ridding our nation of the significant problem of childhood lead poisoning. I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation, which will help us achieve our common goal of protecting children from threats in our environment.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

(a) SHORT TITLE. -- This Act may be cited as the "Home Lead Safety Tax Credit Act of 2003".

(b) FINDINGS. -- Congress finds that:

(1) Of the 98,000,000 housing units in the United States, 38,000,000 have lead-based paint.

(2) Of the 38,000,000 housing units with lead-based paint, 25,000,000 pose a hazard, as defined by Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Housing and Urban Development standards, due to conditions such as peeling paint and settled dust on floors and windowsills that contain lead at levels above Federal safety standards.

(3) Though the number of children in the United States ages 1 through 5 with blood levels higher than the Centers for Disease Control action level of 10 micrograms per deciliter has declined to 300,000, lead poisoning remains a serious, entirely preventable threat to a child's intelligence, behavior, and learning.

(4) The Secretary of Health and Human Services has established a national goal of ending childhood lead poisoning by 2010.

(5) Current Federal lead abatement programs, such as the Lead Hazard Control Grant Program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, only have resources sufficient to make approximately 7,000 homes lead-safe each year. In many cases, when State and local public health departments identify a lead-poisoned child, resources are insufficient to reduce or eliminate the hazards.

(6) Approximately 15 percent of children are lead-poisoned by home renovation projects performed by remodelers who fail to follow basic safeguards to control lead dust.

(7) Old windows typically pose significant risks because wood trim is more likely to be painted with lead-based paint, moisture causes paint to deteriorate, and friction generates lead dust. The replacement of old windows that contain lead based paint significantly reduces lead poisoning hazards in addition to producing significant energy savings.

(c) PURPOSE. -- The purpose of this section is to encourage the safe removal of lead hazards from homes and thereby decrease the number of children who suffer reduced intelligence, learning difficulties, behavioral problems, and other health consequences due to lead-poisoning.

SEC. 2. LEAD ABATEMENT TAX CREDIT.

(a) IN GENERAL. -- Subpart B of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 (relating to foreign tax credit, etc.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

"SEC. 30B. HOME LEAD ABATEMENT.

"(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT. -- There shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this chapter an amount equal to 50 percent of the abatement cost paid or incurred by the taxpayer during the taxable year for each eligible dwelling unit of the taxpayer.

"(b) LIMITATION. -- The amount of the credit allowed under subsection (a) for any eligible dwelling unit shall not exceed --

"(1) $1,500, over

"(2) the aggregate cost taken into account under subsection (a) with respect to such unit for all preceding taxable years.

"(c) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES. -- For purposes of this section:

"(1) ABATEMENT COST. --

"(A) IN GENERAL. -- The term 'abatement cost' means, with respect to any eligible dwelling unit --

"(i) the cost for a certified risk assessor to conduct an assessment to determine the presence of a lead-based paint hazard,

"(ii) the cost for a certified lead abatement supervisor to perform the removal of paint and dust, the permanent enclosure or encapsulation of lead-based paint, the replacement of painted surfaces or fixtures, or the removal or permanent covering of soil when lead-based paint hazards are present in such paint, dust, or soil,

"(iii) the cost for a certified lead abatement supervisor to perform all preparation, cleanup, disposal, and postabatement clearance testing activities associated with the activities described in clause (ii), and

"(iv) costs incurred by or on behalf of any occupant of such dwelling unit for any relocation which is necessary to achieve occupant protection (as defined under section 1345 of title 24, Code of Federal Regulations).

"(B) LIMITATION. -- The term 'abatement cost' does not include any cost to the extent such cost is funded by any grant, contract, or otherwise by another person (or any governmental agency).

"(2) ELIGIBLE DWELLING UNIT. --

"(A) IN GENERAL. -- The term 'eligible dwelling unit' means any dwelling unit --

"(i) placed in service before 1978,

"(ii) located in the United States, and

"(iii) determined by a certified risk assessor to have a lead- based paint hazard.

"(B) DWELLING UNIT. -- The term 'dwelling unit' has the meaning given such term by section 280A(f)(1).

"(3) LEAD-BASED PAINT HAZARD. -- The term 'lead-based paint hazard' has the meaning given such term under part 745 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations.

"(4) CERTIFIED LEAD ABATEMENT SUPERVISOR. -- The term 'certified lead abatement supervisor' means an individual certified by the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to section 745.226 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, or an appropriate State agency pursuant to section 745.325 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations.

"(5) CERTIFIED INSPECTOR. -- The term 'certified inspector' means an inspector certified by the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to section 745.226 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, or an appropriate State agency pursuant to section 745.325 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations.

"(6) CERTIFIED RISK ASSESSOR. -- The term 'certified risk assessor' means a risk assessor certified by the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to section 745.226 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, or an appropriate State agency pursuant to section 745.325 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations.

"(7) DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED FOR CREDIT ALLOWANCE. -- No credit shall be allowed under subsection (a) with respect to any eligible dwelling unit unless --

"(A) after lead abatement is complete, a certified inspector or certified risk assessor provides written documentation to the taxpayer that includes --

"(i) a certification that the postabatement procedures (as defined by section 745.227 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations) have been performed and that the unit does not contain lead dust hazards (as defined by section 745.227(e)(8)(viii) of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations), and

"(ii) documentation showing that the lead abatement meets the requirements of this section, and

"(B) the taxpayer files with the appropriate State agency --

"(i) the documentation described in subparagraph (A),

"(ii) a receipt from the certified risk assessor documenting the costs of determining the presence of a lead-based paint hazard,

"(iii) a receipt from the certified lead abatement supervisor documenting the abatement cost (other than the costs described in paragraph (1)(A)(i)), and

"(iv) a statement indicating the age of the dwelling unit.

"(8) BASIS REDUCTION. -- The basis of any property for which a credit is allowable under subsection (a) shall be reduced by the amount of such credit (determined without regard to subsection (d)).

"(d) LIMITATION BASED ON AMOUNT OF TAX. -- The credit allowed under subsection (a) for the taxable year shall not exceed the excess of --

"(1) the sum of the regular tax liability (as defined in section 26(b)) plus the tax imposed by section 55, over

"(2) the sum of the credits allowable under subpart A and sections 27, 29, 30, and 30A for the taxable year.

"(e) CARRYFORWARD ALLOWED. --

"(1) IN GENERAL. -- If the credit amount allowable under subsection (a) for a taxable year exceeds the amount of the limitation under subsection (d) for such taxable year (referred to as the 'unused credit year' in this subsection), such excess shall be allowed as a credit carryforward for each of the 20 taxable years following the unused credit year.

"(2) RULES. -- Rules similar to the rules of section 39 shall apply with respect to the credit carryforward under paragraph (1).".

(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. --

(1) Section 1016(a) is amended by striking "and" in paragraph (27), by striking the period and inserting ", and" in paragraph (28), and by inserting at the end the following new paragraph:

"(29) in the case of an eligible dwelling unit with respect to which a credit for lead abatement was allowed under section 30B, to the extent provided in section 30B(c)(8).".

(2) The table of sections for subpart B of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 30A the following new item:

"Sec. 30B. Home lead abatement.".

(c) EFFECTIVE DATE. -- The amendments made by this section shall apply to abatement costs incurred after December 31, 2003, in taxable years ending after that date.