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EPA Lead Program

Grant Fact Sheet

Community Based Healthy
Home Maintenance Program

Kalamazoo, Michigan

EPA selected the City of Kalamazoo, Ml
for a Targeted Lead Grant.

The City, in conjunction with Kalamazoo
Valley Community College, the county of
Kalamazoo, and the Wayne County
Prosecutors Office, will implement a four-
tiered innovative approach to address and
reduce the risk of lead poisoning.

Specifically, the project will:

•	Provide lead-safe work practices classes
for contractors, landlords, agents and
other people who work on older housing
stock;

•	Provide classes to educate realtors,
landlords, tenants, and homeowners
about the new lead-safe law in Michigan;

•	Conduct a public awareness campaign
involving public service announcements
on local television and radio, as well as
billboards and print media; and

•	Provide lead hazard assessments for rental houses that have suspected, but not
confirmed, lead hazards. The intention of this portion of the program is to educate
landlords about the hazards of lead and provide a 50:50 match of the cost of a lead
assessment so that if lead hazards are found, they can be addressed before there is an
actual elevated blood lead level in a tenant.

EPA's Targeted Lead Grants

EPA's Targeted Lead Grant Program funds
projects in areas with high incidences of
children with elevated blood-lead levels in
vulnerable populations. In 2007 the Agency
awarded more than $5.2 Million in grants
under this ambitious program. These
targeted grants are intended to address
immediate needs of the communities in
which they are awarded, and will also
highlight lead poison prevention strategies
that can be used in similar communities
across the country.

EPA's lead program is playing a major role
in meeting the federal goal of eliminating
childhood lead poisoning as a major public
health concern by 2010, and the projects
supported by these grant funds are an
important part of this ongoing effort.
According to the Centers for Disease
Control in 1978 there were 13.5 million
children in the US with elevated blood lead
levels. By 2002, that number had dropped
to 310,000.

For more information about EPA's Lead
Program, visit www.epa.gov/lead or call
the National Lead Information Center at
1-800-424-LEAD.

2007 Targeted Lead Grant Program

Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics

www.epa.gov/lead

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