HCS/SS/SB 95 - This act modifies the law relating to lead abatement and lead poisoning. SECTION 143.603 - A one dollar check-off on the Missouri income tax return is created and the money designated by the check-off will be deposited into the Childhood Lead Testing Fund. The check-off of one dollar is primarily for taxpayers who are to receive a refund. However, taxpayers who owe taxes may also contribute to the fund and any taxpayer may elect to contribute more than one dollar. SECTION 701.304 - Provides that the director of the Department of Health and Senior Services shall assess fees for licenses and accreditation and impose administrative penalties, with the fees and fines to be deposited into the state treasury to the credit of the public health services fund. SECTION 701.305 - The Department of Health and Senior Services shall provide on its Internet website educational materials that explain the rights and responsibilities of the property owners, tenants, lead inspectors, risk assessors, and lead abatement contractors. SECTION 701.308 - A representative of the department, or a representative of a unit of local government or health department is authorized to re-enter a dwelling or child-occupied facility to determine if the owner has taken the required actions for abating or establishing interim controls for the lead hazard. If consent is not granted, the representative of the department may petition the court for an order to enter the premises to determine if the owner has taken the required actions for abating or establishing interim controls for the lead hazard. The court shall grant the order upon a showing by the department that the department has attempted to notify the dwelling's owner. In commercial lead production areas, if the department identifies lead hazards due to paint, mini-blinds, or other household products/sources in a property where a child has been identified with an elevated blood level, the owner shall comply with the requirement for abating or establishing interim controls for the above stated hazards, in a manner consistent with the recommendations described by the department and within the applicable time period. If the residential property owner is owned by a commercial lead production or transport company, which has not taken the required actions for abating or establishing interim controls for the lead hazard in a manner consistent with the options provided by the department, the commercial lead production or transport company shall be deemed to be in violation of the provisions of this act. SECTION 701.309 - Any lead abatement contractor that fails to notify the Department prior to starting a lead abatement project will be fined two and fifty dollars for the first identified offense, five hundred dollars for the second identified offense, and thereafter fines will be doubled for each identified offense. Written notification shall include disclosure of any potential lead hazards to the owners and tenants of a dwelling by the licensed risk assessor, who conducted the initial risk assessment. Once the abatement has been completed, the lead abatement contractor must submit written notification and the final clearance inspection report to the Department. Lead abatement contractors and public agencies, organizations issuing grants and loans for lead abatement projects or interim controls to inform owners and tenants of dwellings that information regarding lead hazards can be accessed on the department Internet website. SECTION 701.311 - The director of the department may, instead of shall as in current law, issue notices of violation to property owners or persons responsible. The notice shall contain an outline of corrective action which is required to effect compliance. This act provides that nothing in the act shall be construed as requiring the department to issue a notice of violation, but rather gives the department discretion to do so when the department believes that the public interest will be adequately served. However, the department shall develop, publish, and post on its website an enforcement manual that delineates the categories of violation for which the department shall issue a notice of violation or for which the department may either issue a notice of violation or issue a suitable written notice or warning. SECTION 701.312 - The Director shall require lead abatement contractors to purchase and maintain liability and error and omissions insurance. Licensees or applicants for licensure must provide evidence of their ability to indemnify any person that may suffer damage from lead-based paint activities to which they may be liable. SECTION 701.313 - Local community organizations, government agencies, and quasi-government agencies that issue grants or loans for lead abatement projects must provide written notification to the Department no later than ten days prior to the onset of a project. The failure to provide written notification will result in a fine of $250 dollars to be levied by the Department. In emergency situations, the community organization, government agency, or quasi-government agency must notify the Department within twenty-four hours of the onset of a lead abatement project and provide written notification to the Department within five days. SECTION 701.314 - The director shall have the power to issue notices of violation, written notices and letters of warning in the area of training for lead inspectors, risk assessors, lead abatement supervisors, lead abatement workers and project designers. SECTION 701.317 - The department will have the power to elect to impose administrative penalties or to request the Attorney General's office or prosecutor to seek civil penalties in court. SECTION 701.320 - Any lead inspector, risk assessor, lead abatement supervisor, lead abatement worker, project designer, or lead abatement contractor who engages in a lead abatement project while such person's license, issued by the department for such work, is under suspension or revocation is guilty of a class D felony. SECTION 701.328 - The department may release, without consent, information to federal employees and agents as well as to state or local agencies for the employees to perform their public duties. SECTION 701.337 - Any penalties collected from this provision shall be deposited in the "Missouri Lead Abatement Loan Fund". ADRIANE CROUSE