NH seeks $1 million in federal COVID relief for lead abatement

New Hampshire officials are asking to spend $1 million from the state's remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds – its COVID relief dollars – to help lower-income homeowners remediate lead.

In a request to the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee, the Governor's Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery is proposing to give the million dollars to New Hampshire Housing's Lead Paint Hazard Remediation Fund.

That fund allows any family living in an owner-occupied single-family home whose income is at or below 80 percent of area median income to apply for grant funding. In order to qualify, there must be someone pregnant or a child under 6 living at the property. The funding can go to landlords – provided they live in the single-family home – but it cannot be used for apartment buildings.

“New Hampshire homes are among the oldest in the country leading to hundreds of New Hampshire children poisoned each year by lead found in paint, dust, and soil,” the office said in an explanation for the request.

The grant program is limited to houses built before 1978, the year the federal government banned lead-based paints for residential use. Those who participate must pay for a match of at least 10 percent of the grant for the federal money, but they can apply for a corresponding state grant to cover the final 10 percent.

Homes that are ordered to abate lead may receive up to $12,000 of federal assistance; those that haven't been ordered may qualify for up to $6,500.

All qualifying homeowners can receive up to $11,000 of state assistance.

The ARPA funds would bring the state's remediation fund up from $88 million to $89 million. State officials are attempting to transfer around $55 million in unused ARPA funds and re-allocate them to other programs, GOFERR said in a submission to the Fiscal Committee.

The committee will take up the request at its meeting Friday.

New Hampshire Bulletin.