Bill
HB 2285
Kansas would lower lead-based paint threshold to 0.009% by weight (or federal amount, whichever lower), expanding regulated renovations and disclosures.
Status: Introduced Jan 30, 2025; Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services.
Purpose
- HB 2285 amends the Kansas Residential Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act to change the statutory definition of “lead-based paint.” The bill would lower the state threshold used to classify paint as lead-based, increasing the range of paint products and surfaces subject to lead-based paint rules and activities intended to prevent childhood lead poisoning.
Key provisions
- Revises the definition of “lead-based paint” to mean paint or other surface coatings that contain lead:
- equal to or in excess of 0.009% (by weight), or
- in excess of the amount specified in federal law,
- whichever amount is less.
- Retains cross-reference to the federal program (40 C.F.R. part 745, subpart L) and existing program structure: accreditation, certification, licensing, and the scope of “lead-based paint activities” (inspection, assessment, abatement, and related waste disposal).
- The bill repeals the existing statutory section and replaces it with the amended language (K.S.A. 65‑1,201 as amended).
Who or what would be affected
- Property owners and landlords of pre-1978 residential dwellings (definition of “habitation” remains tied to pre-1978 construction).
- Contractors, renovators, inspectors, and abatement firms who perform lead-based paint activities (may face altered scope/volume of regulated work).
- Sellers, lessors, and health agencies involved in lead hazard disclosure, inspection, remediation, and enforcement.
- Certified training programs and personnel whose activities depend on the statutory definition.
Practical effect / implications
- By adopting the lower threshold (0.009% by weight) or the federally specified level, whichever is the lesser amount, Kansas would classify more surface coatings as “lead-based paint” than under the older threshold (historically 0.5% by weight or ≥1 mg/cm² under federal rules).
- This could increase the number of dwellings and renovation projects subject to inspections, disclosure requirements, abatement, and clearance testing. That may increase compliance activity and private-sector abatement demand; it may also increase costs for owners and contractors undertaking renovations or sales.
- Public-health rationale: a lower threshold is intended to expand protection for children and reduce lead exposure from more sources.
Fiscal note and timing
- Kansas Division of the Budget fiscal note (Feb 20, 2025) reports the Kansas Department of Health and Environment estimates no fiscal effect to the agency from enactment.
- The bill as introduced would take effect upon publication in the statute book (per the introduced Kansas text).
Related / implementation notes
- The amended definition references the federal program (40 C.F.R. part 745, subpart L) and federal statute language; if federal definitions change, the statute uses the lesser (more protective) threshold.
- Sponsors and procedural history in the provided materials are mixed across jurisdictions; the Kansas introduced text indicates the change was submitted by the House Committee on Health and Human Services (requested by Representative Oropeza on behalf of Representative Carr). Companion legislation identification in the materials includes SB 880 and HB 4960.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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