Members of congress and senators introduced a package of bills to protect military families from the threat of lead exposure, the Jacksonville Daily News reports.
The separate bills would:
- Guarantee testing for children at risk of lead exposure
- Require testing and mitigation for lead and lead-based paint at Department of Defense schools
- Prevent the military from discouraging the testing of DOD family homes
- Allow third party testing for lead-based paint on military bases and in homes
- Ensure military leaders follow regulations from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for inspecting lead-based paint in military homes
The proposed legislation comes nearly eight months after a Reuters report that 1,000 children of soldiers have suffered from lead poisoning while living in on-post housing. The U.S. Army announced a plan to evaluate tens of thousands of homes on military bases in August, according to the Army Times. The inspection of all the potentially impacted homes on military bases could cost as much as $386 million, Reuters reported in August.
More recently, the Army announced plans to demolish a substantial amount of its government-owned housing units by 2026. The plans to remove Q3 and Q4 housing—the lowest level of Army housing—came on the heels of strong criticism about safety on military bases after the Reuters report.
Congresswoman Jackie Speier from California, the chair of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee, said the military's response to lead contamination in base housing and schools is "appalling" before stating that "Congress must act now," in a news release reported on by the Jacksonville Daily News.
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