Senate Bill 9 Summary

• Establishes the Delaware State Lead-Based Paint Program within the Department of Health and Social Services to identify, assess, and remediate lead-based paint hazards in homes where children have elevated blood lead levels (3.5 micrograms per deciliter or the CDC's federal reference value, whichever is lower).

• Creates the Delaware Lead-Based Paint Abatement and Remediation Fund to pay for lead risk assessments, remediation work by certified contractors, temporary lodging for displaced residents, and program administration, with funds that do not lapse or revert to the General Fund.

• Requires the Division of Public Health to investigate children with elevated blood lead levels within 60 days to determine the lead exposure site and property owner, then notify the Program within 10 days for remediation efforts.

• Prohibits property owners from increasing rental fees for 3 years on multi-unit or previously rented properties where lead abatement or remediation was performed at state expense, unless the owner pays the estimated remediation costs within 30 days.

• Establishes a Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Advisory Committee to oversee the Program, approve competitive bids for abatement work, and submit annual reports to the General Assembly; requires the Committee to recommend by January 1, 2024, a plan for mandatory lead screening of all pre-1978 rental properties.