Lead paint rental registry plan unveiled by New York Department of Health

By Jennifer Patterson

In an effort advocates hope will protect children from lead poisoning, New York’s Advisory Council on Lead Poisoning Prevention convened last month to review the state Department of Health’s draft regulations for a statewide lead rental registry.

Established by the Legislature in 2023, the rental registry will require landlords in 25 upstate “communities of concern” to have their properties inspected for lead paint — and address any identified hazards — before renting those units to tenants. The program is framed after a similar one implemented in Rochester two decades ago, hailed as a success story for lowering rates of childhood lead poisoning there.

In many of the targeted areas, the registry will build on older state and federal rules, which only mandate intervention after residents have been exposed to lead. In others, it will build on and standardize rental registries established by local ordinances.

The registry, which is tentatively slated to go into effect later this year, will have a public comment period on draft regulations through Feb. 22. The goal is to have a public-facing database that prospective renters can consult while searching for a property.

The state aims to complete inspections on all covered properties within the first three years of the program. Landlords will have to get properties inspected again every three years, or when a property is sold.

Advocates have argued this more proactive approach will reduce rates of lead exposure in the state’s most vulnerable communities, cracking down on negligent landlords and addressing the problem before children are poisoned.

Even in small doses, lead paint is a serious environmental hazard, especially for young children. It can cause irreversible neurological harm, including behavioral and learning problems.

Lead paint has been illegal across the country for almost 50 years, but in buildings constructed before the ban went into effect, the toxic paint often remains, and children can ingest paint chips or dust decades later.

For information, go to https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/lead/advisory_council.