“I believe that if a government agency is telling Americans to test for radon in
their private homes, then the government should test for radon in HUD-owned
and HUD-assisted housing including public housing,” the late Sen. Frank
Lautenberg, D-New Jersey, said in a 1988 oor speech.
President Ronald Reagan signed legislation backed by Lautenberg that year. It
gave HUD 12 months to come up with a plan for radon education, research, testing
and mitigation that would protect public housing tenants.
Radon testing by 64 housing authorities
The map shows radon levels county by county, coupled with results from The Oregonian/OregonLive’s 2018
survey of housing authorities. Hover over a city or click on a county for more information.
Map created by
davidcansler
Sources: Local housing authorities, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
ABOUT THE NUMBERS
Three years later, HUD presented a lengthy report detailing why it needed another
four years to formulate a strategy.
A top federal auditor pushed back. More delays meant tenants “may continue to
be exposed to hazardous radon levels,” Richard Hembra, an auditor at what’s now
known as the U.S. Government Accountability Of ce, told Congress in 1991. The
proposal “does not meet the basic requirements” of the 1988 radon law, Hembra
testi ed.
HUD promised to do better. Housing Secretary Jack Kemp said his agency would
begin testing housing that HUD directly owned in high-risk areas, then roll out a
fuller program nationwide.
But when tests on about 200 HUD-owned buildings turned up no radon, that was
the end of it. As of 1995, there were “no plans to redesign HUD’s policy to provide
for testing and mitigation programs for HUD-assisted housing,” the government