Congressman Cohen Reintroduces the Home Lead Safety Tax Credit Act

WASHINGTON -- Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today reintroduced the Home Lead Safety Tax Credit Act, legislation to help American families cover the cost of eliminating lead from their homes. The Home Lead Safety Tax Credit Act would significantly broaden the national response to this public health challenge by providing refundable tax credits for homeowners, landlords, and tenants to remove lead from homes.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

"The safest place for a child should be his or her own home, but many homes built before 1978, including thousands in Memphis, have lead paint and other potential hazards. Children deserve to grow up free from the permanent harm, including neurological problems, that exposure to lead can cause. This legislation would create a tax credit to provide homeowners the resources they need to address and remove hazards within their homes, and lead to better long term health outcomes."

The legislation, which Congressman Cohen first introduced in 2020, would create tax credits worth up to $4,000 to cover half the cost of abating lead hazards in paint, pipes, or soil. The new tax credits would supplement state and local lead control programs and would be available to offset costs for removing lead from houses built before lead-based paint was banned for residential use in 1978.

Lead is a powerful neurotoxin that can severely compromise the behavioral and cognitive development of children. Despite the widespread contamination of housing stock in the United States, funding for lead abatement programs, such as the Lead Hazard Control Grant Program, have only put a dent in the problem.

The Biden-Harris Administration issued a final rule earlier this month requiring the replacement of all lead pipes associated with drinking water systems within 10 years and requiring more rigorous testing of drinking water to prevent lead exposure.

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