Industry groups are warning that the Environmental Protection Agency’s new zero-tolerance standards for removing lead dust in a property, which is meant to prevent lead exposure for children, could hinder access to affordable housing programs.

Last month, the EPA finalized stricter standards for removing lead paint dust in pre-1978 homes and childcare centers. The standards are focused on preventing long-term effects from exposure to lead, specifically for children, who can suffer behavioral problems, lower IQ, slowed growth, and other harms.

But for the first time, the agency separated two standards for testing and clearing lead dust levels in a property in the final rule, which Paula Cino, counsel for the National Multifamily Housing Council, said could be complicated and impossible for housing providers to meet.

First, property owners would only need to test for lead contamination if a child is showing lead exposure through a blood test or other measures. If there are signs of lead contamination, the property owner needs to test for lead dust levels in the property, also known as dust-lead reportable levels. The final rule considers any amount of lead in a property to be hazardous, which would then trigger a mandatory abatement process.

Second, after the abatement process is finished, the property must meet the final rule’s clearance standards, or dust-lead action levels, to determine whether the cleaning work can be considered complete. The clearance levels for floors, window sills, and window troughs are 5, 40, and 100 micrograms per square foot, respecrively.

Property owners only need to meet the EPA’s clearance levels to allow residents back onto the property. But those who do not completely remove all lead dust would still be required to disclose to inhabitants that there is known hazardous presence of lead in the property.

“There’s a strong possibility that you’re going to have properties who are appropriately abating, doing everything they can do, meeting that clearance level, and you’re still going to have some trace of lead, and so you’re going to still carry that lead hazard designation,” Cino said.

Previously, the standards were set at the same level. But now, the DLRL being set at any amount and the DLAL set at a higher level, property owners or landlords face the possibility that they could meet the second standard and still be forced to issue disclosures that the DLRL was not met. The confusion could scare away would-be buyers or investors, they say.

It is required that federal housing programs disclose known lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards before selling or leasing.

Cino said the lead hazard disclosures in federal housing programs could discourage people from participating and investing in the programs. That could leave those who are most vulnerable without affordable housing options.

“We are operating in unknown territory but the concern is moving forward,” Cino said. “Does carrying lead hazard designation impact the lending on the property? Will it impact people’s appetite for investment in that property just because it now is labeled as a risk?”

Lead paint has been banned for residential use since 1978, but the EPA estimated that 31 million pre-1978 houses still contain lead-based paint, which, when it crumbles, becomes lead dust.

Nicole Upano, the National Apartment Association Assistant vice president of housing policy and regulatory affairs, also noted that the standards could discourage people from using certain programs even if it is quality housing.

Upano said often the standards that the EPA applies become U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regulations for assisted housing. The new rules will thus have an “impact on affordable housing, or the affordable housing stock as well,” she said.

The agency estimated that its new standards would reduce lead exposure for nearly 1.2 million people yearly, including 178,000 to 326,000 children under 6.

But Cindy Lehnhoff, the director of the National Child Care Association, raised concerns about the rule leading to the closures of childcare centers.

“We are currently experiencing a shortage of licensed childcare centers and homes, particularly in rural areas,” Lehnhoff said via email.

“Unfortunately, the EPA’s proposed changes to tighten lead dust standards could lead to further closures of centers operating in older facilities, especially in these underserved markets,” she added. “In order to avoid this there needs to be funds provided to ensure this standard is met.”

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In response to a request for comment, an EPA spokesperson said the agency “will continue to work closely with HUD during the implementation of this final rule, to try to ensure that this rulemaking does not disincentivize voluntary testing and participation in any federal programs.”

“EPA believes in the importance of the availability of affordable housing in the United States and this Administration has taken steps to tackle the issue of housing affordability, including making it easier to create and expand affordable housing,” the spokesperson added.