2006 Minnesota Statutes

144.9504 SECONDARY PREVENTION.
    Subdivision 1. Jurisdiction. (a) A board of health serving cities of the first class must
conduct lead risk assessments for purposes of secondary prevention, according to the provisions
of this section. A board of health not serving cities of the first class must conduct lead risk
assessments for the purposes of secondary prevention, unless they certified in writing to the
commissioner by January 1, 1996, that they desired to relinquish these duties back to the
commissioner. At the discretion of the commissioner, a board of health may, upon written request
to the commissioner, resume these duties.
(b) Lead risk assessments must be conducted by a board of health serving a city of the first
class. The commissioner must conduct lead risk assessments in any area not including cities of
the first class where a board of health has relinquished to the commissioner the responsibility
for lead risk assessments. The commissioner shall coordinate with the board of health to ensure
that the requirements of this section are met.
(c) The commissioner may assist boards of health by providing technical expertise,
equipment, and personnel to boards of health. The commissioner may provide laboratory or
field lead-testing equipment to a board of health or may reimburse a board of health for direct
costs associated with lead risk assessments.
    Subd. 2. Lead risk assessment. (a) An assessing agency shall conduct a lead risk assessment
of a residence according to the venous blood lead level and time frame set forth in clauses (1)
to (4) for purposes of secondary prevention:
(1) within 48 hours of a child or pregnant female in the residence being identified to the
agency as having a venous blood lead level equal to or greater than 60 micrograms of lead per
deciliter of whole blood;
(2) within five working days of a child or pregnant female in the residence being identified
to the agency as having a venous blood lead level equal to or greater than 45 micrograms of
lead per deciliter of whole blood;
(3) within ten working days of a child in the residence being identified to the agency as
having a venous blood lead level equal to or greater than 15 micrograms of lead per deciliter of
whole blood; or
(4) within ten working days of a pregnant female in the residence being identified to the
agency as having a venous blood lead level equal to or greater than ten micrograms of lead
per deciliter of whole blood.
(b) Within the limits of available local, state, and federal appropriations, an assessing agency
may also conduct a lead risk assessment for children with any elevated blood lead level.
(c) In a building with two or more dwelling units, an assessing agency shall assess the
individual unit in which the conditions of this section are met and shall inspect all common areas
accessible to a child. If a child visits one or more other sites such as another residence, or a
residential or commercial child care facility, playground, or school, the assessing agency shall
also inspect the other sites. The assessing agency shall have one additional day added to the time
frame set forth in this subdivision to complete the lead risk assessment for each additional site.
(d) Within the limits of appropriations, the assessing agency shall identify the known
addresses for the previous 12 months of the child or pregnant female with venous blood lead
levels of at least 15 micrograms per deciliter for the child or at least ten micrograms per deciliter
for the pregnant female; notify the property owners, landlords, and tenants at those addresses that
an elevated blood lead level was found in a person who resided at the property; and give them
primary prevention information. Within the limits of appropriations, the assessing agency may
perform a risk assessment and issue corrective orders in the properties, if it is likely that the
previous address contributed to the child's or pregnant female's blood lead level. The assessing
agency shall provide the notice required by this subdivision without identifying the child or
pregnant female with the elevated blood lead level. The assessing agency is not required to obtain
the consent of the child's parent or guardian or the consent of the pregnant female for purposes
of this subdivision. This information shall be classified as private data on individuals as defined
under section 13.02, subdivision 12.
(e) The assessing agency shall conduct the lead risk assessment according to rules adopted by
the commissioner under section 144.9508. An assessing agency shall have lead risk assessments
performed by lead risk assessors licensed by the commissioner according to rules adopted under
section 144.9508. If a property owner refuses to allow a lead risk assessment, the assessing agency
shall begin legal proceedings to gain entry to the property and the time frame for conducting
a lead risk assessment set forth in this subdivision no longer applies. A lead risk assessor or
assessing agency may observe the performance of lead hazard reduction in progress and shall
enforce the provisions of this section under section 144.9509. Deteriorated painted surfaces, bare
soil, and dust must be tested with appropriate analytical equipment to determine the lead content,
except that deteriorated painted surfaces or bare soil need not be tested if the property owner
agrees to engage in lead hazard reduction on those surfaces. The lead content of drinking water
must be measured if another probable source of lead exposure is not identified. Within a standard
metropolitan statistical area, an assessing agency may order lead hazard reduction of bare soil
without measuring the lead content of the bare soil if the property is in a census tract in which soil
sampling has been performed according to rules established by the commissioner and at least 25
percent of the soil samples contain lead concentrations above the standard in section 144.9508.
(f) Each assessing agency shall establish an administrative appeal procedure which allows
a property owner to contest the nature and conditions of any lead order issued by the assessing
agency. Assessing agencies must consider appeals that propose lower cost methods that make
the residence lead safe. The commissioner shall use the authority and appeal procedure granted
under sections 144.989 to 144.993.
(g) Sections 144.9501 to 144.9509 neither authorize nor prohibit an assessing agency from
charging a property owner for the cost of a lead risk assessment.
    Subd. 3. Lead education strategy. At the time of a lead risk assessment or following a
lead order, the assessing agency shall ensure that a family will receive a visit at their residence
by a swab team worker or public health professional, such as a nurse, sanitarian, public health
educator, or other public health professional. The swab team worker or public health professional
shall inform the property owner, landlord, and the tenant of the health-related aspects of lead
exposure; nutrition; safety measures to minimize exposure; methods to be followed before,
during, and after the lead hazard reduction process; and community, legal, and housing resources.
If a family moves to a temporary residence during the lead hazard reduction process, lead
education services should be provided at the temporary residence whenever feasible.
    Subd. 4.[Repealed, 2001 c 205 art 1 s 43]
    Subd. 5. Lead orders. (a) An assessing agency, after conducting a lead risk assessment, shall
order a property owner to perform lead hazard reduction on all lead sources that exceed a standard
adopted according to section 144.9508. If lead risk assessments and lead orders are conducted
at times when weather or soil conditions do not permit the lead risk assessment or lead hazard
reduction, external surfaces and soil lead shall be assessed, and lead orders complied with, if
necessary, at the first opportunity that weather and soil conditions allow.
(b) If the paint standard under section 144.9508 is violated, but the paint is intact, the
assessing agency shall not order the paint to be removed unless the intact paint is a known source
of actual lead exposure to a specific person. Before the assessing agency may order the intact
paint to be removed, a reasonable effort must be made to protect the child and preserve the intact
paint by the use of guards or other protective devices and methods.
(c) Whenever windows and doors or other components covered with deteriorated lead-based
paint have sound substrate or are not rotting, those components should be repaired, sent out for
stripping or planed down to remove deteriorated lead-based paint, or covered with protective
guards instead of being replaced, provided that such an activity is the least cost method. However,
a property owner who has been ordered to perform lead hazard reduction may choose any method
to address deteriorated lead-based paint on windows, doors, or other components, provided that
the method is approved in rules adopted under section 144.9508 and that it is appropriate to
the specific property.
(d) Lead orders must require that any source of damage, such as leaking roofs, plumbing,
and windows, be repaired or replaced, as needed, to prevent damage to lead-containing interior
surfaces.
(e) The assessing agency is not required to pay for lead hazard reduction. The assessing
agency shall enforce the lead orders issued to a property owner under this section.
    Subd. 6. Swab team services. After a lead risk assessment or after issuing lead orders, the
assessing agency, within the limits of appropriations and availability, shall offer the property
owner the services of a swab team free of charge and, if accepted, shall send a swab team within
ten working days to the residence to perform swab team services as defined in section 144.9501.
If the assessing agency provides swab team services after a lead risk assessment, but before the
issuance of a lead order, swab team services do not need to be repeated after the issuance of
the lead order if the swab team services fulfilled the lead order. Swab team services are not
considered completed until the clearance inspection required under this section shows that the
property is lead safe.
    Subd. 7. Relocation of residents. (a) Within the limits of appropriations, the assessing
agency shall ensure that residents are relocated from rooms or dwellings during a lead hazard
reduction process that generates leaded dust, such as removal or disruption of lead-based paint
or plaster that contains lead. Residents shall not remain in rooms or dwellings where the lead
hazard reduction process is occurring. An assessing agency is not required to pay for relocation
unless state or federal funding is available for this purpose. The assessing agency shall make an
effort to assist the resident in locating resources that will provide assistance with relocation costs.
Residents shall be allowed to return to the room or dwelling after completion of the lead hazard
reduction process. An assessing agency shall use grant funds under section 144.9507 if available,
in cooperation with local housing agencies, to pay for moving costs and rent for a temporary
residence for any low-income resident temporarily relocated during lead hazard reduction. For
purposes of this section, "low-income resident" means any resident whose gross household
income is at or below 185 percent of federal poverty level.
(b) A resident of rental property who is notified by an assessing agency to vacate the
premises during lead hazard reduction, notwithstanding any rental agreement or lease provisions:
(1) shall not be required to pay rent due the landlord for the period of time the tenant vacates
the premises due to lead hazard reduction;
(2) may elect to immediately terminate the tenancy effective on the date the tenant vacates
the premises due to lead hazard reduction; and
(3) shall not, if the tenancy is terminated, be liable for any further rent or other charges
due under the terms of the tenancy.
(c) A landlord of rental property whose tenants vacate the premises during lead hazard
reduction shall:
(1) allow a tenant to return to the dwelling unit after lead hazard reduction and clearance
inspection, required under this section, is completed, unless the tenant has elected to terminate the
tenancy as provided for in paragraph (b); and
(2) return any security deposit due under section 504B.178 within five days of the date the
tenant vacates the unit, to any tenant who terminates tenancy as provided for in paragraph (b).
    Subd. 8. Property owner notification responsibility. If the property owner does not hire a
person licensed by the commissioner under section 144.9505 for compliance with the lead orders,
the property owner shall submit a notice as to when regulated lead work will begin, according to
section 144.9505, subdivision 4, to the assessing agency within 30 days after receiving the orders.
    Subd. 9. Clearance inspection. After completion of swab team services and compliance
with the lead orders by the property owner, including any repairs ordered by a local housing
or building inspector, the assessing agency shall conduct a clearance inspection by visual
identification of deteriorated paint and bare soil and retest the dust lead concentration in the
residence to assure that violations of the lead standards under section 144.9508 no longer exist.
The assessing agency is not required to test a dwelling unit after lead hazard reduction that was
not ordered by the assessing agency.
    Subd. 10. Case closure. A lead risk assessment is completed and the responsibility of the
assessing agency ends when all of the following conditions are met:
(1) lead orders are written on all known sources of violations of lead standards under section
144.9508;
(2) compliance with all lead orders has been completed; and
(3) clearance inspections demonstrate that no deteriorated lead paint, bare soil, or lead dust
levels exist that exceed the standards adopted under section 144.9508.
    Subd. 11.[Repealed, 2001 c 205 art 1 s 43]
History: 1995 c 213 art 1 s 6; 1996 c 451 art 4 s 17-19; 1997 c 205 s 26; 1997 c 228 s 12;
1998 c 407 art 2 s 56-65; 1999 c 199 art 2 s 3; 2001 c 205 art 1 s 28-32; 1Sp2005 c 4 art 6 s 32