The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is sending more than $6.5 million to Florida through the Capital Fund Housing-Related Hazards (HRH) & Lead-Based Paint (LBP) Capital Fund Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) awards.
“The NOFO provides a total of $157 million dollars, which 20 awards under Lead-Based Paint and 54 awards under Housing-Related Hazards. The purpose of the HRH and LBP Capital Funding is to provide funding to public housing agencies (PHAs) to evaluate and reduce residential health hazards in public housing, including lead-based paint, carbon monoxide, mold, radon, fire safety, and asbestos,” HUD announced. “In addition, the funds will help get PHAs ready to comply with the National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE). NSPIRE improves HUD’s oversight by aligning and consolidating inspection regulations used to evaluate HUD housing across multiple programs. NSPIRE strengthens HUD’s physical condition standards, and fire safety, carbon monoxide, mold and moisture and lead-based paint are all standards that we enhanced with NSPIRE.”
The Housing Authority of the City of Fort Myers will get almost $1.7 million in NOFO funds from HUD. The Palm Beach County Housing Authority will receive almost $4.9 million from HUD.
U.S. HUD Sec. Marcia Fudge announced the funds at the end of last week.
“American families deserve a safe and healthy place to call home. However, in many older homes, lead-based paint can be a serious threat to the health and well-being of children,” said Fudge. “This funding effort will help us identify homes where occupants are at risk of lead exposure and other health hazards, and build on our promise of a healthier, stronger country.”
“Lead poisoning is an entirely preventable tragedy that dramatically impacts a child’s health and ability to learn,” said U.S. HUD Principal Deputy Assistant Sec. Richard Monocchio. “This funding opportunity will help families across the country protect their children from lead poisoning and exposure to other hazardous contaminants in their homes. Particularly in many of our neighborhoods with older housing stock, it is critical to identify and remediate housing units with potential lead-based paint to ensure our kids can grow up healthy.”
