2006 Minnesota Statutes

144.9503 PRIMARY PREVENTION.
    Subdivision 1. Primary prevention program. The commissioner shall develop and
maintain a primary prevention program to reduce lead exposure in young children and pregnant
women. A board of health serving a city of the first class shall determine areas at high risk
for toxic lead exposure before doing primary prevention lead hazard reduction activities. The
program shall provide primary prevention lead education materials, promote primary prevention
swab team services, provide lead cleanup equipment and material grants as funding allows,
monitor regulated lead work, and develop and maintain lead-safe practices in cooperation with
the commissioner of administration.
    Subd. 2. Priorities for primary prevention. (a) The commissioner of health and boards of
health serving cities of the first class shall determine areas at high risk for toxic lead exposure.
(b) A board of health serving a city of the first class shall rank order census tracts by
awarding points as specified in this paragraph. The priority for primary prevention in census tracts
at high risk for toxic lead exposure shall be based on the cumulative points awarded to each
census tract. A greater number of points means a higher priority.
(1) One point may be awarded to a census tract for each ten percent of children who were
under six years old at the time they were screened for lead in blood and whose blood lead level
exceeds ten micrograms of lead per deciliter of whole blood, provided the commissioner has
determined that the data used to award the points are comprehensive and representative.
(2) One point may be awarded for every five percent of housing that is defined as
dilapidated or deteriorated by the planning department or similar agency of the city in which
the housing is located. Where data is available by neighborhood or section within a city, the
percent of dilapidated or deteriorated housing shall apply equally to each census tract within
the neighborhood or section.
(3) One point may be awarded for every 100 parts per million of lead in soil, based on the
median soil lead values of foundation soil samples, calculated on 100 parts per million intervals,
or fraction thereof. A board of health shall use data from its own soil survey conducted according
to rules adopted under section 144.9508, except that a board of health serving Minneapolis or
St. Paul that has not conducted its own soil survey shall use the June 1988 census tract version
of the houseside map titled "Distribution of Houseside Lead Content of Soil-Dust in the Twin
Cities," prepared by the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, Humphrey Institute, University
of Minnesota, Publication 1989, Center for Urban and Regional Affairs 89-4. Where the map
displays a census tract that is crossed by two or more intervals, the board of health shall make a
reasoned determination of the median foundation soil lead value for that census tract.
(4) A board of health may award one point to each census tract for each of the following
factors based on cutoff criteria to be determined by the board of health:
(i) percent of minority population;
(ii) number of children less than six years of age;
(iii) percent of housing built before 1950; and
(iv) percent of population living in poverty.
(c) The commissioner may determine areas at high risk for toxic lead exposure at the county
level or within a county outside a city of the first class using one or more of the following criteria:
(1) blood lead levels greater than ten micrograms per deciliter of whole blood in children
under six years of age;
(2) percent of dilapidated or deteriorated housing;
(3) soil lead levels in excess of 100 parts per million;
(4) percent of minority population;
(5) percent of housing built before 1950;
(6) percent of children living in poverty; or
(7) other factors appropriate in preventing lead exposure, as determined by a federal agency
including the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States
Environmental Protection Agency, or the United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development.
    Subd. 3. Primary prevention lead education strategy. The commissioner of health shall
develop and maintain a primary prevention lead education strategy to prevent lead exposure.
The strategy includes:
(1) lead education materials that describe the health effects of lead exposure, safety measures,
and methods to be used in the lead hazard reduction process;
(2) providing lead education materials to the general public;
(3) providing lead education materials to property owners, landlords, and tenants by swab
team workers and public health professionals, such as nurses, sanitarians, health educators,
nonprofit organizations working on lead issues, and other public health professionals in areas at
high risk for toxic lead exposure; and
(4) promoting awareness of community, legal, and housing resources.
    Subd. 4. Swab team services. Primary prevention may include the use of swab team
services. The swab team services may be provided based on lead hazard screens whenever
possible and must at least include lead hazard reduction for deteriorated interior lead-based
paint, bare soil, and dust.
    Subd. 5.[Repealed, 1998 c 407 art 2 s 109]
    Subd. 6.[Repealed, 2001 c 205 art 1 s 27,43]
    Subd. 7. Lead-safe practices information. The commissioner shall develop and maintain
in cooperation with the commissioner of administration provisions and procedures to define
lead-safe practices information for residential remodeling, renovation, installation, and
rehabilitation activities that are not lead hazard reduction, but may disrupt lead-based paint
surfaces and guidance documents for the regulated industry.
    Subd. 8.[Repealed, 1998 c 407 art 2 s 109]
    Subd. 9.[Repealed, 1998 c 407 art 2 s 109]
History: 1995 c 213 art 1 s 5; 1996 c 451 art 4 s 14-16; 1998 c 407 art 2 s 53-55; 2001
c 205 art 1 s 27; 2004 c 206 s 28