Warren Friedman, Ph.D., CIH
Senior Advisor to the Director
Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control
11/25/2013
HUD’s Healthy Homes Program
FY 1999 appropriation for the Office of Lead
Hazard Control:
“$10,000,000 shall be for a Healthy Homes Initiative,
… that shall include research, studies, testing, and
demonstration efforts, including education and
outreach concerning lead-based paint poisoning and
other housing-related environmental diseases and
hazards.”
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Healthy Homes in HUD Strategic Plans
• FY 2003-08: Objective C4, Mitigate housing
conditions that threaten health.
• FY 2006-11: Objective C5, Address housing
conditions that threaten health.
• FY 2010-14: Sub-Goals 3B, Utilize HUD
assistance to improve health outcomes, and
4B, Promote energy efficient buildings and
location efficient communities that are
healthy, affordable and diverse.
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Healthy Homes Strategy for Action
 Issued 2/4/2013 by HUD, HHS (CDC, NIEHS),
USDA, DOE, DOL, EPA, NIEHS
 Developed by Healthy Homes Work Group, &
Children’s Environmental Health Task Force
 Builds on Surgeon General’s Call to Action to
Promote Healthy Homes, and HUD’s Healthy
Homes Strategic Plan, issued jointly 6/9/2009
 Provides detailed framework for interoffice
and interagency collaboration on making
homes healthy and safe for residents
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Safe and healthy home characteristics
“The Homes Work Group believes that in the
vast majority of cases, homes that meet the
following characteristics can provide a safe and
healthy environment for residents:
Dry
Contaminant free
Clean
Well ventilated
Pest free
Well maintained
Safe
Thermally controlled”
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Healthy Homes Strategy for Action Goals
 Establish Healthy Homes recommendations
 Encourage adoption of Healthy Homes
recommendations
 Create and support training and workforce
development to address health hazards in
housing
 Educate the public about healthy homes
 Support research that informs and advances
healthy housing in a cost-effective manner
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Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy
 Issued 8/19/2013 by Hurricane Sandy
Rebuilding Task Force of 15 agencies, 9 White
House offices, chaired by HUD Secretary.
 Designed to “help protect communities in the
region when future disasters take place.”
 Based on a vision that as “we build for the
future, we do so in a way that makes
communities more resilient to emerging
challenges such as rising sea levels, extreme
heat, and more frequent and intense storms.”
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Rebuilding Strategy and public health
Public health concerns permeate this strategy,
e.g., recommending comprehensive analyses of
local/regional rebuilding needs & options:
• Project design and selection processes should
include assessing:
• Public health and safety impacts (e.g.,
injury, illness, loss of life, impacts to
hospitals and healthcare facilities, and
psychological impacts). …
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Indoor Environmental Pollutants
• FEMA, EPA, HUD, HHS should issue consolidated
guidance on remediating indoor environmental
pollutants (mold, lead, radon, asbestos).
• The agencies should recommend or establish
region-specific and housing-stock specific tool-kits
for States and localities responding to disasters.
• Tribal, State and local governments should ensure
that remediation of these pollutants is in rebuilding
construction/rehabilitation programs.
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Indoor Environmental Pollutants Work
Group
 The Indoor Environmental Pollutants Work
Group, with the four agencies listed and
OSHA, convened on November 5th, and has a
goal of issuing guidance by September.
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HUD’s Connection to this Committee (1)
 Post-disaster recovery strategizing typically has
focused on restoring physical and economic
systems, in particular, the physical infrastructure,
rather than on public health (including
residential health and safety), medical and social
services.
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HUD’s Connection to this Committee (2)
 Just as HUD has worked on integrating public
health issues into its housing strategies and
operations, we appreciated the opportunity the
IOM provided to extend this strategizing effort
through the high level of expertise we expected
would be provided by its establishing this
Committee.
 We look forward to its addressing housing health
and safety issues as an integral part of its efforts.
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Contact information
HUD Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control
451 7th St. SW (8236)
Washington, DC 20410-3000
202-755-1785
TTY: 800-877-8339
www.hud.gov/healthyhomes; or
www.hud.gov/offices/lead
Warren Friedman, Ph.D., CIH
Warren.Friedman@HUD.gov
202-402-7574
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