But the special commission studying the Lead Hazard Mitigation Law doesn't seem ready to recommend to the full Assembly that the rules be implemented.

01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, May 17, 2005

BY PETER B. LORD
Journal Environment Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Auditor General Ernest A. Almonte testified yesterday that he believes the state is prepared to go ahead on July 1 and implement new lead hazard mitigation regulations that would affect tens of thousands of property owners in Rhode Island.

But Almonte's remarks and a 17-page evaluation that he handed to the committee seemed to do little to bring together a legislative commission that is sharply divided between those who want to implement the rules as scheduled and those who want to postpone or even cancel them altogether.

Rep. Roger A. Picard, D-Woonsocket, who chaired yesterday's meeting of the Special Legislative Commission to Study the Lead Hazard Mitigation Law, said afterward that the commission had concluded gathering information. It must now present recommendations to the General Assembly. He said he thinks the committee has a deadline of June 2, but committees often miss such deadlines.

The legislature has already postponed the regulations by one year. And several weeks ago, the House voted to postpone them another six months. The Senate has not acted.

Almonte's staff reviewed the Lead Poisoning Prevention Act, which became law in 1992, and the Lead Hazard Mitigation Act, scheduled to go into effect this summer.

Under the 1992 law, he said, the incidence of new lead poisonings among Rhode Island children who receive screenings declined from 14.7 percent a year to 3.7 percent.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requires each state to develop plans to eliminate childhood lead poisonings by 2010. Rhode Island set a goal of less than 5 percent in every community.

Under the 1992 law, Almonte said, Rhode Island achieved its goal in every community but Providence and Central Falls, where the lead-poisoning rate slightly exceeds 5 percent.

The law was reactive, he said. The Health Department inspected apartments and houses after screening examinations found poisoned children. The new law was designed to be proactive, to require landlords to make their houses lead-safe so children don't get poisoned.

The new law would require that landlords attend lead-hazard awareness classes, repair hazards at their properties and get professional inspections.

Almonte concluded that the governor's office, working with the Department of Health and the Housing Resources Commission, has done a good job informing the public about the importance of lead-hazard controls. The state has spent $82,000 on television, radio and newspaper ads.

The groups also printed 100,000 educational booklets. More than 9,000 landlords have taken the lead-awareness classes and 203 inspectors have been certified.

Almonte recommended that more money be provided for the public awareness campaign and that the Health Department be given more money to increase inspections of child-care facilities, to maintain a liaison with the Housing Resources Commission and to oversee licensed inspectors.

To reduce the impact on property owners, Almonte recommended that an online lead-awareness course be created and that annual reinspections be replaced by inspections every three years. He also urged that prompt action be taken to implement the new regulations so insurance companies wouldn't be hit by extra costs for changing their policies.

Sen. Rhoda Perry, D-Providence, said a recent editorial in The Providence Journal said it would cost $28 million for landlords to comply with the regulations in the first year, and she asked Almonte whether he knew where that figure came from.

He said he didn't know. He could come up with an estimate, he said, but it would be based on a lot of assumptions.

Rep. Joseph Trillo, R-Warwick, countered with his own estimates. There are an estimated 160,000 rental units in the state, and if it cost $500 to bring each into compliance, that would put the first-year cost at $80 million, he said.

Almonte said Trillo's equation assumed that each landlord was paying the maximum for inspections.

But Trillo wasn't done. If it cost an average of $7,000 to fix each apartment, he said, the total cost could be in the billions.

"In your opinion," Trillo said, "we're down to 3.7 percent [of children poisoned]. So do you think the existing law has been successful?"

"I think it has," said Almonte.

"Would you say this new law is flawed? That it has defects? Problems?"

"I'm not saying it's flawed," Almonte responded. In fact, the decrease in poisonings has leveled off, he said. So it's time to implement new tools.

"I would say we're ready to go," Almonte said.