Addressing Specific Health Hazards Through Code Enforcement

 

Lead

Blueprint for Action to Prevent Lead Poisoning 
This NCHH guide describes actions needed by the government, advocates, and the public sector to protect children from lead poisoning, which impacts more than 500,000 children. [pdf; NCHH, 2014]

Ten Effective Strategies for Preventing Childhood Lead Poisoning through Code Enforcement 
This document outlines why lead hazard control should be incorporated in code enforcement, and provides specific strategies to reduce exposure to lead-based hazards. [doc; Alliance for Healthy Housing, available from HUD, 2002]

Toolbook for Initiating Effective Policy Change:
What You Can Do in Your Community to Protect Children from Lead Poisoning
  

Written for local housing and health agencies, this comprehensive guide for assessing and developing policies to prevent lead poisoning provides guidance to assess the scope of the issue, model policies, and safe work practices. It’s relevant to anyone interested in combating lead poisoning.[pdf; Muskegon County Public Health Department, 2008]

Guidebook for Developing State and Local Lead-Based Paint Enforcement Bench Books 
This guide exists to help lead poisoning prevention professionals create legal reference manuals (“bench books”) for judges adjudicating enforcement cases involving lead-based paint. Although it does not provide a listing of laws for specific jurisdictions, it shows the user how to find relevant laws and compile them into a reference manual designed to educate and increase judges’ awareness of lead-paint laws and hazards. [pdf; NCHH, 2008]

Low Level Lead Exposure Harms Children: A Renewed Call of Primary Prevention 
These policy and strategy recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention include guidance on developing and codifying lead-safe housing practices. [url; CDC, 2012]

Building Blocks for Primary Prevention – Protecting Children from Lead-Based Paint Hazards 
Practitioners, advocates, and policy-makers can look to this comprehensive guide for help in raising awareness, organizing the community, securing funding for abatement, and creating policies and codes to protect children from lead-based hazards in the home. [url; CDC and the Alliance for Healthy Homes, 2005]

Lead Safe Policy Guidance 
This guide outlines basic lead-safety standards and includes a listing of key figures, from legislative authorities to property maintenance staff, responsible for various levels of lead protection efforts. It also provides potential opportunities for communities to enhance their codes to improve lead safety and build technical capacity for enforcement. [pdf; NCHH, 2004]

Eliminating Childhood Lead Poisoning: A Federal Strategy Targeting Lead Paint Hazards 
This reference outlines the interagency strategy employed by CDC, HUD, EPA, and other federal agencies to eliminate childhood lead poisoning as a public health problem by 2020. [url; CDC, 2000]

Mold

How Mold Is Addressed in the I-Codes 
The International Code Council details how their codes address minimum requirements for mold prevention and remediation. [url, pdf; International Code Council].

Mold Provisions in State Codes 
This list of recent laws and policy strategies adopted by states to address mold and mold remediation includes references to AR code related to LIHTC, NY, and DC laws establishing licensing and certification requirements for mold professionals, and landlord disclosure and remediation of mold. Note that it is not limited to residential properties alone. [url; Environmental Law Institute, 2015]

Example: Housing Standards: Mold (CA Code)  
This newly enacted California law (SB655, 2016) indicates that violation of mold provisions in California code is a misdemeanor punishable by fine or up to one year in the county jail. [url; FindHOALaw]

Radon

Radon Overview: State Legislation (2015) 
This comprehensive listing of radon legislation at the state level contains a review of the impact of radon and links to the EPA Radon Zone. [url; National Conference of State Legislatures]

Building Codes for Radon-Resistant New Construction (RRNC)
This resource details which ICC, National Fire Association, and ASTM codes address radon in residential building codes and provides links to state code information. [url; EPA]

 

Latest page update: June 13, 2018.