Survey of Lead Policies for the NSW State Election

by Herbert Beauchamp, Anne Roberts and Elizabeth O'Brien,
Total Environment Centre

This survey was sent to all parties with candidates in the NSW election and replies were requested by 8th March 1995. Candidates were asked to answer in the light of party policy, not their personal view.

Options for every question were limited to "Yes", "No" or "Undecided".

1. Do you acknowledge that there is a serious problem with the preventable environmental health problem of childhood lead poisoning in NSW, specifically in older urban communities with multiple sources of lead contamination?

The remaining questions 2-13 are about the steps that can be taken to ameliorate this problem.

2. Sydney Lead Centre:

1. Will you support the fast-tracking of the Sydney Lead Centre which was promised for Sydney by Environment Minister Chris Hartcher in November 1994 to be opened in early 1995?

2. Will you support broadening the functions of the government proposed Lead Centre to include coordination of blood lead and environmental lead contamination screening in targeted older urban areas of Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong?

3. Lead content of petrol: Will you support a two stage phase out of lead in petrol resulting in zero lead added to petrol by the end of 1996 as proposed in both the Motor Vehicle Emissions and Lead Parliamentary Select Committee Reports?

4. Switching to unleaded petrol: Will you agree to use the registration and insurance notifications as an opportunity to permanently mark those pre-1986 vehicles capable of running on unleaded petrol, and to notify the owners of same?;

5. Reformulated petrol: Will you amend the Clean Air Act to control benzene, total aromatics, 1,3-butadiene and olefines as per the proposed California Clean Air Act 1997?;

6. Car-use reduction schemes: Will you agree to introduce car-use reduction schemes and to do so as a priority in areas where a high proportion of cars are pre-1986?

7. Lead in Air:

1. Will you amend the Clean Air Act to change what is currently only a goal into a standard for ambient lead in air, which is not to be exceeded?;

2. Will you amend the Clean Air Act to allow for a maximum lead in ambient air standard of:

• 1.0 µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre) by 1996;

• 0.5 µg/m3 by 1998 and;

• 0.15 µg/m3 by 2000.

8. Housing:

1. Will you introduce a tax on lead to set up a fund for use on a means tested basis for lead abatement of housing with a high risk of lead exposure of children?;

2. Will you implement an inspection program of public and private housing in order to identify lead hazards (ie housing with a high risk of lead exposure of children)?;

3. Will you implement a lead hazard abatement program for high risk public housing?;

4. Will you set up mechanisms for notification of potential purchasers by vendors of housing containing lead hazards?

9. Food and Drink:

1. Will you amend the Clean Water Act to require house and other building owners to take remedial action if the 90th percentile of a sampling of tap water exceeds a lead level of 15 µg/L?;

2. Will you amend the Poisons Act to phase out the use of lead glazes and lead in crystal by the year 2000?;

3. Will you introduce legislation for the incremental reduction of lead in food which also involves a limit of 0.05% lead or lead compounds in fertilisers?

10. Lead Use Reduction: Will you introduce a Lead Use Reduction Act which requires the reduction by 10% per year in the total amount of primary lead used and ensures growth in the recycling and secondary lead processing industry?;

11. Screening: Will you introduce targeted blood lead screening in urban areas with a high prevalence of lead hazards (such as old housing, past or present industry and traffic)?;

12. Lead Abatement: Will you introduce legislation which requires lead abatement contractors and assessors to be trained and licensed?

13. Lead Hazard Assessment in publicly-owned, -financed, -insured or -certified childcare premises: Will you introduce lead-safety as a criterion in quality certification of all homes and centres where young children are under the supervision of paid childcare workers?

Jeff Angel, TEC & E O'Brien, LEAD Group