City Lead Paint Law Nullified

Facts: Certain public interest groups sued to nullify Local Law 38 of 1999, which replaced Local Law 1 of 1982. Local Law 1 had required removal of lead paint in apartments housing children under the age of 7. Local Law 38 changed the requirements, so that landlords had only to repair peeling paint in apartments housing children under the age of 6. The groups that sued claimed that the new law was rushed through the City Council without conducting an environmental impact review. They claimed that an environmental impact statement was required before changing the law because the new law eliminated lead dust and related conditions from the definition of lead paint hazards, removed 6-year-olds from the class to be protected from lead-based paint, established a 21-day period in which landlords cited for violations could escape the Health Code standards for safe lead-based paint removal, allowed very long periods for lead hazard removal and enforcement, and eliminated the deadline for HPD's enforcement of lead-based paint violations in one- and two-family dwellings. Court: Public interest groups win. An environmental impact statement is needed before approval of any lead-based paint removal procedures. The City Council didn't do so in this case. In its meetings on the new law, the council only acknowledged that the new law wasn't perfect, but that they would address problems as they came up. This was improper. The court struck down Local Law 38 and reinstated Local Law 1 of 1982.

NYC Coalition to End Lead Poisoning, Inc. v. Vallone: NYLJ, 10/16/00, p. 26, col. 1 (Sup. Ct. NY; York, J)