HUD Lead Standards 'Indefensible,' Durbin Says

NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS | By Brian Mackey

Published April 25, 2016 at 4:00 AM CDT

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin addresses Springfield reporters in this 2014 file photo.

Fallout continues from the lead contamination of the water supply in Flint, Michigan.

Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin is among the Democratic lawmakers pushing for a series of new laws in response to the crisis.

Brian Mackey reports on the legislative push in the aftermath of the lead contamination scandal in Flint, Michigan.

Durbin says while lead poisoning rates have fallen over the past few decades, the risk disproportionately affects minority children living in federally subsidized housing.

Because of that, he says the lead rules of one particular government agency are “indefensible."

“The Department of Housing and Urban Development has a different acceptability standard for lead … in the bloodstream, than many other agencies," Durbin says. "In fact, it’s four times the level."

Durbin says his legislation would require HUD to meet the more stringent standard of the Centers for Disease Control.

Another Democratic proposal calls for a decade-long push to improve the nation’s water infrastructure. That plan carries a price tag of $70 billion.