The Honorable Bill Frist
Majority Leader, United States Senate
509 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-4205

The Honorable Harry Reid
Minority Leader, United States Senate
528 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-2803

The Honorable Dennis Hastert
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
235 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-1314

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Minority Leader, United States House of Representatives
2371 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-0508

Dear Senator Frist, Senator Reid, Speaker Hastert, and Mrs. Pelosi:

We the undersigned organizations and individuals working on behalf of children’s health and families’ access to safe, affordable housing write to urge that health-based standards and democratic values guide decisions about re-occupancy, clean-up, repair, and reconstruction in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region.

Much has been said about the unprecedented scale of the damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita--hundreds of thousands of families without housing, the breadth of the affected areas, the dispersion of residents across the country. Of particular concern is the severity and magnitude of health hazards in the homes in the affected regions. Never before have so many homes had such extensive water exposure for so long. Moreover, the Gulf Coast climate’s humidity has greatly exacerbated the growth and pervasiveness of mold and allergens in these homes. Residents face other--comparably dangerous--environmental hazards in their homes such as releases of asbestos and lead paint from damaged surfaces and building components; high carbon monoxide levels generated by damaged combustion appliances and unsafe use of unvented cooking devices and generators; and environmental contamination by toxic chemicals, biological waste, and bacteria left behind by receding flood waters.

The magnitude of this disaster makes it imperative that we harness local initiative and community-based capacity to work with government in shaping the future of the affected region. Community leaders and organizations are best equipped to ensure fair and effective decision-making and distribution of resources. It must be acknowledged that rebuilding the infrastructure and the social fabric is hampered by widespread public distrust because of the initial inadequate response to Katrina. Of immediate concern is whether residents will have equal access to assistance and to helping decide how governments conduct the recovery and rebuilding of these communities.

To that end, we urge that the following standards guide government policy to address environmental health hazards in homes in the Gulf region. Given the great need and opportunity to foster broad democratic participation in the vital decisions about the future, we emphasize mechanisms for ensuring transparency and accountability to citizens of the affected communities, as well as healthy homes principles.

1. Residents have the right to know about the conditions and potential risks in and around their homes and the right to decide about re-occupying their homes.
Homes determined to be structurally sound must be assessed for health hazards. The results of home investigations should be communicated quickly and thoroughly to residents – both owner-occupants and renters – so they can make informed decisions about whether to reoccupy their homes and avoid exacerbating hazards through unsafe clean-up and repair methods. In order to make informed decisions about whether to reoccupy their homes, families whose homes pose health hazards need to know that they can access alternative safe and decent temporary or permanent housing, as well as assistance to repair or replace a home that was damaged by the storms.

2. Indigenous community organizations are ideally suited to conduct assessments of health hazards in homes.
Trained residents working through community, housing, and environmental organizations are best suited to assess homes in partnership with government agencies. Residents can be trained quickly and equipped with simple and yet rigorous assessment protocols that have been validated by researchers and practitioners. Because community residents have more trusted relationships with their neighbors than do outside contractors or government officials, they will be better able to convince other residents to make their homes available for environmental assessments. Moreover, they have the credibility needed to effectively communicate the results of these assessments and the necessary action steps to occupants.

Because an unprecedented toxic sludge was deposited on such wide swaths of land by floodwaters that inundated Gulf communities, the yards of residential dwellings, and especially play areas, must be evaluated to determine the extent of contamination and to scope out the plan for needed clean-up. Local environmental groups and scientific experts from universities should be included in the assessment and clean-up strategies of yards and play areas in order to ensure transparency and accountability to community residents.

3. Free healthy homes training should be provided to homeowners, landlords, and contractors.
Because the scale of the clean-up, repair, and rehab effort in the Gulf region is unprecedented, well intentioned but untrained contractors and workers are flocking to the area. Moreover, many low-income homeowners will have no choice but to do the work themselves. All of these individuals need training in safe work practices around mold and other hazards, in order to protect themselves and residents and to avoid leaving behind, exacerbating, or even creating hazards that will put residents at risk over the long term.

4. Assistance to make safe re-occupancy possible should be provided quickly and distributed fairly.
Landlords and homeowners will not be able to make needed repairs unless financial institutions, including insurance and mortgage companies, meet their corporate and civic responsibilities to assist their customers. Insurance companies should meet their obligations to policy-holders with timely and fair payment of claims, and should cover the full range of damage from both the wind and rain brought by the hurricane. Because many residents have lost their jobs, mortgage companies should accommodate homeowners’ and landlords’ need to defer payments and adjust payment schedules without adverse credit consequences. Federal and state officials should vigilantly oversee these financial institutions and protect the rights of consumers.

Statutes regarding federal disaster-relief programs need to fairly address the needs of low-income renters. The long-term assistance programs presently are weighted in favor of owner-occupants, without equal opportunity for renters to be compensated for their personal property losses or regain their financial footing. Local governments should help rental property owners meet their responsibilities to remediate environmental health hazards and allow renters back into their homes as soon as possible.

5. Community residents are best equipped to shape decisions about recovery and rebuilding of neighborhoods and communities.
Determining how to rebuild communities, including land use, zoning, siting of industrial and transportation facilities, and the mix of housing options, must fully involve and empower the residents of the affected communities to ensure that their needs are considered. Special attention should be paid to ensuring the availability of affordable housing within all neighborhoods.

6. Local individuals and companies should be given priority in rebuilding and restoration projects.
Because of large-scale job displacement and resulting unemployment, Gulf residents desperately need gainful employment in rebuilding and restoring their communities. This provides an important economic development opportunity for local residents and businesses. Workers who take on the dangerous job of clean-up and recovery are entitled to fair wages and to vigorous enforcement of health and safety standards.

7. Repair, rehab, and rebuild homes to higher standards that protect occupant health and withstand weather conditions.
The clean-up, repair, and rehab of salvageable homes, as well as the construction of replacement homes, should use construction standards, building materials, and methods that will ensure a healthy living environment for occupants and the durability of the home. Building replacement housing provides an opportunity to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of building homes right – so that they are energy efficient, healthy environments for occupants, and a good investment for lenders, insurers, and owners.

8. Funding for assistance to affected residents, as well as for cleanup and recovery should not displace funding for prior and continuing social needs.
As has been eloquently noted elsewhere, the hurricane disasters dramatically illuminated the extent of poverty, a severe shortage of decent affordable housing, and the substandard housing conditions in which many Americans live. It is neither fair nor sensible to further exacerbate these crises for the rest of the country by using disaster relief spending as an excuse to further cut domestic discretionary spending. Our spending priorities must ensure basic dignity and fairness for all Americans.

Sincerely,

National Organizations
1. African American Environmentalist Association
2. Alliance for Healthy Homes
3. American Association on Mental Retardation
4. Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
5. Center for Health, Environment, and Justice
6. Greenpeace Toxics Campaign
7. Healthy Building Network
8. Lead and Environmental Hazards Association
9. National Black Environmental Justice Network
10. National Center for Healthy Housing
11 . National Low Income Housing Coalition
12. Natural Resources Defense Council
13. Science and Environmental Health Network

State and Local Organizations
1. Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Anchorage, AK
2. Arc BRIDGES, Gary, IN
3. Boston Urban Asthma Coalition, Dorchester, MA
4. California Communities Against Toxics, Rosamond, CA
5. Center for Environmental and Economic Justice, Inc., Biloxi, MS
6. Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment, San Francisco, CA
7. Childhood Lead Action Project, Providence, RI
8. Cleveland Communities Organized Against Lead, Cleveland, OH
9. Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, Baltimore, MD
10. Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, New Orleans, LA
11. Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, Detroit, MI
12. Environmental Awareness Foundation, Atlanta, GA
13. Environmental Health Watch, Cleveland, OH
14. Greensboro Housing Coalition, Greensboro, NC
15. Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, Cleveland, OH
16. Metropolitan Washington Public Health Association, Washington, DC
17. Michigan League for Human Services, Lansing, MI
18. New Jersey Citizen Action, Hackensack, NJ
19. Omaha Lead Site Community Advisory Group, Omaha, NE
20 . Public Health and Safety, Inc., Rockford, IL
21. Residents of Pico Rivera for Environmental Justice, Pico Rivera, CA
22. Vermont Lead Safety Project, Bristol, VT
23. West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc., New York, NY

Individuals (affiliation shown for information purposes only)
1. Chet Atkins, Director, ADS Ventures, Inc., Boston, MA
2. Nancy Boros, Board President, Josiah Hill, III Clinic, Portland, OR
3. Jill Breysse, Columbia, MD
4. Elyce R. Brown, Mt. Angel, OR
5. Mary Burns, Community Projects Director, Lead Safe Housing Initiatives, ChildLaw Center, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL
6. Luke Cole, San Francisco, CA
7. Gian A. Cossa, Director of Government Lead Programs, Rx Solutions International/BTS Laboratories Inc., Waldorf, MD
8. Lelia M. Coyne, PhD, MST, Certified Risk Inspector, Lincoln, NE
9. Jonah M Deppe, Natural Resources Director, League of Women Voters of Greater Omaha, Omaha, NE
10. Frank DiBiase, WA
11. Laura Dupuy, Lynchburg Neighborhood Development Foundation, Lynchburg, VA
12. Marian Feinberg, Environmental Health Coordinator, For a Better Bronx, Bronx, NY
13. Monique Ferguson, Program Director, Community Toolbox for Children’s Environmental Health
14. Scott Fitzpatrick, Anaconda, MT
15. Bethany J. Fleishman, West Hartford, VT
16. Kim Foreman, Environmental Health Watch, Cleveland, OH
17. Nicole Gaunt, BSW, Ft. Wayne, IN
18. Suzanne M. Gaynor, Washington, DC
19. Edward J. Gorman III, President, American Community Partnerships, Washington, DC
20. Dr. John W. Graef, Cambridge, MA
21. Judith Hartley, RN, MPH, COHN-S, Savannah, GA
22. Leann Howell, Education & Outreach Coordinator, CLEARCorps—NJ, Riverside, NJ
23. Sharon R. Hudson, R.N.,M.S.N.,C.N.M., Coordinator, Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, Lansing, MI
24. Riyaz A. Kanji, Ann Arbor, MI
25. Gale A. Kirk, BS, CG, RG, Richfield, NC
26. Joseph Laquatra, Ph.D., Hazel E. Reed Human Ecology Extension Professor in Family Policy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
27. Roger D. Lewis, PhD, CIH, Associate Professor, Saint Louis University School of Public Health, St. Louis, MO
28. Dennis Livingston, Director, Community Resources Inc., Baltimore, MD
29. Patrick MacRoy, Chicago Department of Public Health, Chicago, IL
30. Bill Menrath, Cincinnati, OH
31. Kathleen L. Miller, RN, Steubenville, OH
32. Kathleen Morris, RN, Columbus, OH
33. Kathleen Overr, Washington, DC
34. Sean Palfrey, MD, Massachusetts Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics, Cataumet, MA
35. Dr. & Mrs. Joseph Ponessa, Moorestown, NJ
36. Richard Rabin, Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, Dorchester, MA
37. Sandra J. Roseberry, Lead Poisoning Prevention Specialist, South Berwick, ME
38. Dr. John F. Rosen, Professor of Pediatrics, Head, Division of Environmental Sciences Lead Program, The Children's Hospital at Montefiore, The Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
39. Beth Rosenberg, ScD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
40 . Don Ryan, MURP, Arlington, VA
41. Dr. Megan Sandel, Doc4kids Project, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA
42. Mrs. Charles S. Saxe, Houston, TX
43. Xanthi Scrimgeour, Northampton, MA
44. Claudia M. Smith, RN, MPH, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland School of Nursing, Baltimore, MD
45. Lenora S. Smith, Old 5 Points Neighborhood Assn., Durham, NC
46. Cynthia Soule, Fitchburg Lead Action Group, Fitchburg, MA
47. Greg Spiegel, Western Center on Law and Poverty, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
48. Ellen Tohn, Wayland, MA
49. Cynthia Weston, Cleveland, OH
50 . J.W. (Bill) Whitlow, Jr., Director, Science Preparation Alliance of Rutgers & Camden, Camden, NJ

cc: The Honorable Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
The Honorable Julie Gerberding, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Honorable Stephen Johnson, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency