The
The American Radon Policy Coalition has
successfully enrolled AFHH into assisting our efforts to force HUD into
implementing an effective policy for protecting residents from radon exposure. The
Through the campaign, the
HUD is currently spending less than ¼ of 1% of their enormous budget on any issue related to health in housing. But, thanks to ARPC efforts, HUD's Department of Healthy Homes is finally starting to show some interest in addressing radon. Getting their funding increased for Healthy Homes Initiatives can play a big roll in promoting radon awareness. AARST members have been encouraged to contact their Congressman to request support for the funding increase that can ultimately make a difference in radon awareness and increase the number of radon tests and or mitigations you perform.
ARPC Efforts Result in HUD IG
Investigation
Thanks to an extensive Congressional
letter-writing campaign initiated by the American Radon Policy Coalition, the HUD
Office of Inspector General is conducting an investigation into the failure
of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to carry out legally
mandated radon testing.
The
Office of Inspector General's mission is to provide “independent and
objective reporting to the HUD Secretary and the Congress for the purpose of
bringing about positive change in the integrity, efficiency, and effectiveness
of HUD operations”. Inspector General Kenneth M. Donohue
informed Congress his staff is in the process of determining whether and to
what extent HUD has violated any Federal laws.
“Based on the response we received from the HUD Program Office,”
say Donohue in a letter distributed in response to dozens of Congressional
inquiries, “we recently requested an opinion from the Department’s Office of
General Council to determine whether HUD has any statutory requirement to
provide radon testing.”
ARPC asserts HUD has failed to comply with a
number of Federal statutes regarding radon including the 1988 Stewart B.
McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act. These Amendments (also added to the Indoor
Radon Abatement Act) clearly state their purpose is, “1. To
require HUD to develop an effective departmental policy for dealing with radon
contamination that utilizes any EPA guidelines and standards to ensure that
occupants of housing covered by this section
[HUD owned and assisted multifamily housing] are not exposed to
hazardous levels of radon, and 2. To require HUD to assist
the EPA in reducing radon contamination.” Fifteen
years after the passage of the Act, HUD has yet to implement any policy that
would require radon testing in HUD owned and assisted housing.
ARPC also claims HUD is in
violation of the Federal Code of Regulations written to require the Department
to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 24CFR50/3(i)
states, It is HUD policy that all property
proposed for use in HUD programs be free of hazardous materials, contamination,
toxic chemicals and gases, and radioactive substances where a hazard could
affect the health and safety of occupants or the utilization of the property.
Section 50.2 states, “Project means an activity, or a group of
integrally-related activities undertaken by HUD or proposed for HUD assistance
or insurance.” HUD does not require
the applicant of a federally insured mortgage to have a radon test of the
property performed even though radon is both a toxic gas and radioactive.
Inspector General Donohue has
indicated he expects to provide Congress at least an interim response by
ARPC Targets the Senate Subcommittee on VA, HUD and
Independent Agencies
ARPC’s most recent letter writing campaign is
directed toward members if the Senate Appropriations Committee, particularly
members of the Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies. Senator Mikulski of
In late 1991, the Senate
Appropriations Committee expressed concern to HUD that the Department’s policy
recommendations to Congress contained in the report HUD submitted in April of
1991, did not, in the Committees view, satisfy the requirements of Section 1091
of the McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments of 1988. HUD Secretary Kemp responded to Senator
Lautenberg of the Committee in January 1992 in which he stated, “In response
to the Committee’s request, the Department will initiate a program of testing
and mitigation in 1992…Please be assured that the Department intends to fully
comply with both the spirit and language of the Committee report.”
The Senate Appropriation
Committee’s concern came on the heels of testimony provided the U.S. General
Accounting Office in May of 1991. “In
our view,” stated GAO representative Richard Hembra,
“HUD’s recommended policy does not meet the basic requirements of the
McKinney Amendments that call for a HUD policy that includes testing and
mitigation programs to protect the residents of HUD-assisted housing…We
believe HUD’s policy falls short of recognizing that EPA has, in fact, already
established testing and mitigation procedures that are being applied in a
variety of circumstances by the public and federal government… EPA officials
are confident that testing and mitigation can proceed in this multifamily
housing now… Accordingly, we recommend that HUD redesign its policy to provide
for testing and mitigation programs for HUD-assisted housing as required by the
HUD Secretary Kemp followed up
with April 1992 letter to Senator Mikulski, then Chair of the Subcommittee on
VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies, in response to her request that HUD provide
a report on the implementation of a revised Departmental policy on radon
with 6 months of enactment of the VA-HUD Independent Agencies Appropriation
Act. Kemp again stated that the
Department would initiate a program of testing and mitigation in 1992 and would
begin by testing as a first step; all HUD-owned multifamily housing in EPA
designated high radon areas. He ended the letter by stating, “HUD recognizes
that Congress expects the Department to address the balance of the stock
identified by the
Other than the
buildings in
Now here’s the real kicker: In
February of 1995, when EPA completed this research along with the guidance
document that would finally put an end to HUD’s insistence that there just
wasn’t enough experience with radon in multifamily housing to implement a
testing and mitigation policy, HUD would not allow EPA to submit the guidance
for public review and comment. In other
words, the guidance protocol Radon Measurement in HUD Multifamily
Buildings never saw the light of day. HUD took it from EPA and quietly
buried it. (It was covertly leaked to the American Radon Policy Coalition in
2003)
The Senators are being asked to
answer two questions:
1) Why did the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies fail to follow-up with the Department to ensure the plan to protect residents of HUD assisted housing from dangerous radon exposure was finally implemented as Secretary Kemp promised?
OUTRAGED??? Get into
Action!! Contact your Senators and
Congressman ASAP.