Toxic lead-based paint was often used to coat walls in homes until it was banned in 1978. Exposure among young children \u2014 such as when paint chips off walls and ends up on floors where toddlers crawl \u2014 can lead to lifelong physical and cognitive harms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Oakland, an estimated 80,000 rental units alone have lead paint. The city has an existing program<\/a> to help households remediate lead paint, but it serves only 10 homes a year, according to the city.<\/p>\n The new grant \u2014 which still needs final approval from the City Council \u2014 still won\u2019t come close to eliminating the problem. But it will serve about 50 additional households (both owned and rented) over the span of four years, the city says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Habitat for Humanity East Bay\/Silicon Valley<\/a> will oversee the remediation work. Low-income households throughout Oakland with children under 6 will be able to apply for the grants. But the city will specifically reach out to and prioritize households in 33 Oakland census tracts that are in the top 5% of lead risk across the state. The tracts, according to a map<\/a> provided by the city, are almost entirely in West Oakland and the East Oakland flatlands \u2014 predominantly communities of color.<\/p>\n The selected households will also have access to funds for remediating other home health hazards, like mold or radon.\u00a0<\/p>\n The program is expected to launch this fall, said city spokesperson Jean Walsh. The application process is still being developed. In the meantime, she said, residents can check out similar existing services through the city<\/a>, county<\/a>, and Habitat<\/a>.<\/p>\n Also included in the new grant is $321,000 for building up workforce and contractor capacity for lead paint abatement in Oakland. Workers need special certification to work with lead paint, and the cost of getting certified can be prohibitive for employees and small firms, according to city staff. Small businesses may need extra support to work on these projects, too; for example, lead paint remediation in multi-family buildings comes with additional requirements for contractors. (The new program will start with single-family homes as a result.)<\/p>\n A just-released study revealed gaping racial and gender disparities<\/a> among companies Oakland contracts with for goods, services, construction, and more. It also found that the city too frequently waives its requirements to prioritize small and local businesses in its contracts.<\/p>\n With the federal lead program, the city is indeed asking the council to waive requirements around using small and local contractors for the work. Staff said that\u2019s a reflection of the paltry number of firms qualified to work with lead paint.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our experience, it\u2019s a very limited pool,\u201d said Caleb Smith, a staffer in Oakland\u2019s housing department, at Tuesday\u2019s meeting of the council\u2019s Community and Economic Development Committee. \u201cIt\u2019s well-short of what we need to address our forthcoming pipeline. So that\u2019s why it was important to us to include [in the grant] not just workforce development, but also small business development, to grow that capacity.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n Councilmember Carroll Fife, who represents West Oakland, said that including business development funds in the grant should be considered a \u201cmodel\u201d for future city grant applications.<\/p>\n While the federal grant program, from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, has existed for years, this is the first time Oakland has applied. Alameda County has previously received funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n Oakland housing staff say the city will be well-positioned to apply for more funds when the current grant runs out in four years.<\/p>\n A bigger solution to lead contamination is under development with money won in a lawsuit<\/p>\n If funding for lead paint abatement sounds familiar, you\u2019re not experiencing d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu.<\/p>\n In 2019, a $305 million settlement was reached in a 19-year-old lawsuit filed by local governments in California against companies that sold poisonous lead paint. It took Alameda County and Oakland, which together received $24 million in settlement funds, two more years to reach an agreement<\/a> on how to divvy it up. In 2021, it was determined that Oakland would receive $14 million and develop an equity-based program for remediating lead paint in its most vulnerable communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-12-at-12.30.57-AM.png\")
The yellow areas represent the Oakland census tracts in the top 5% for lead risk across California. The new grant will target those areas. Credit: City of Oakland<\/p>\n