REPLACE Act

Key Points

• The bill requires that whenever a home is inspected for lead paint under HUD's grant program, inspectors must also check for lead in the water service line and interior plumbing, combining two efforts that used to run separately.
• It expands what HUD lead grants can pay for, including post-remediation testing, repairs needed to keep homes lead-safe, and training for contractors and workers to do this specialized cleanup work.
• Grant funding decisions must now consider whether a community has older pre-1978 housing and high childhood lead exposure, directing more resources to the areas most affected by lead hazards.
• If a water lead hazard is found, families must get interim protections like certified filters or faucet replacements while they wait for permanent pipe repairs.
• The bill broadens which water pipes count as covered lead hazards to include galvanized pipes that were ever downstream of a lead line, so replacement programs address more of the contaminated pipe network, not just obvious lead pipes.
• Instead of automatically pulling funding from local agencies that fall behind on spending grant money, the bill requires HUD to first offer a corrective action plan with technical assistance and possible deadline extensions.