Bush Budget Would Cut Lead Funds(cuts Poison Prevention funds)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2477-2004Apr10.html

Bush Budget Would Cut Lead Funds(Poison Prevention) By Avram Goldstein Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, April 11, 2004; Page C01



The Bush administration's proposed 2005 budget would cut $35 million from the national lead poisoning prevention program, a 20 percent reduction that is opposed by key legislators, some environmental groups and D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D).


The program pays for expert home evaluations and repairs to prevent young children from being exposed to paint particles, dust or soil containing lead. The toxic metal can cause permanent intellectual, behavioral and psychiatric problems that might not become apparent for years after exposure.

Crumbling paint is the largest source of environmental exposure to lead. The federal program was not designed to address problems with lead in tap water, which emerged recently as a potentially significant source of lead exposure in the District, where water tests at thousands of homes uncovered lead levels that exceed the federal standard.

The $139 million Bush budget request for the Department of Housing and Urban Development's lead hazard control program is down from this year's $174 million expenditure. Advocacy groups say the proposed cut could mean that as many as 40,000 homes nationwide would not be made lead-safe next year. Jane Malone, housing policy director for the Alliance for Healthy Homes, said the cut would eliminate a $50 million HUD fund that awards competitive grants to cities or states with large numbers of older homes where lead-based paint was used. <snip>

<snip> The next year(2003), the president proposed $126 million, and Congress added $50 million. For the 2004 budget, the president asked for $136 million, and Congress increased the funding to $174 million.