A compromise was reached between those City Council members pushing for the lead poisoning bill and members of the Homeowners Association of Philadelphia, which HAPCO considers fair and have decided to no longer oppose the bill — even if they’re not happy with it.

“It’s an amendment the Department of Health can live with,” says Alan Krigman of KRF Management in University City, “and at this point there’s no sense in antagonizing Councilwomen Blondell Reynolds Brown and Marian Tasco.”

I previously detailed both sides of the bill in two separate print articles for PW. The original bill, introduced by Councilwomen Brown and Tasco, would have forced landlords to get all units inspected for lead in between leases. On the one side was the Public Citizens for Children and Youth, which supported the bill on behalf of the 1,100 children still getting lead poisoning each year in Philadelphia. On the other was HAPCO, who opposed it on the basis of economics and relevance.

The amendment allows for exempting the test for people without children under the age of 7 in their rental property, since those over the age of 7 are likely not affected by lead in the household.

During prior hearings, City Councilmembers said amending the bill to include forced lead testing only for those renting to families with children may be considered discrimination. Now, not so much. In addition to this amendment, the bill will allow certified landlords to conduct the lead poisoning tests themselves. Many landlords who testified last Wednesday said the backlog on lead inspectors would hurt their business, especially as tenants often move in and move out of units the same weekend.

Victor Pinckney, President of HAPCO, called the original, unamended bill an “unsustainable business model for HAPCO,” during testimony.

“For someone like me,” says Krigman, “I’m in University City. I’ll get a few people who have children but not many. Mostly I get grad students and young professional people…For the vast majority of private rental housing providers, especially the kind they’re concerned about, they’re in lower income neighborhoods, anyway, and families with children are their market.”

An internal HAPCO email sent out this morning calls the bill, “better, but not great. Undoubtedly the best we can hope for under the circumstances. Congratulations.”

In addition, according to the email, future bills should perhaps include “an economic impact statement” and “several possible and potentially viable alternatives.” Especially since many landlords who opposed this bill from the outset don’t believe their fight is over.

Since, as I wrote this week, the EPA states lead poisoning comes from dirty households, the email recommends the city begin “a public education campaign through public service announcements or ads” which would remind parents to damp-mop and damp-wipe floors, window sills, and window troughs at least twice a month. It also adds this public education campaign could stress foods with Vitamin C while avoiding foods with high fat content, which can stop the absorption of lead into the system.

Last Wednesday, the bill passed through committee and it is up for a vote in general Council today.

The Philadelphia Weekly – December 8, 2011 – Читать статью онлайн