ALBANY — New York’s Advisory Council on Lead Poisoning Prevention convened Wednesday at the Capitol to review the state Department of Health’s draft regulations for a statewide lead rental registry — which advocates hope will protect children from lead poisoning.
The rental registry, established by the Legislature in 2023, will require landlords in 25 upstate “communities of concern” to have their properties inspected for lead paint — and address any identified hazards — before renting those units to tenants. The program is framed after a similar one implemented in Rochester two decades ago, which has been hailed as a success story for lowering rates of childhood lead poisoning in that city.
In many of the targeted areas — including Albany — the registry will build on older state and federal rules, which only mandate intervention after residents have been exposed to lead. In others, it will build on and standardize rental registries established by local ordinances…