Regardless of the agency’s past legal arguments, HUD of cials signaled a dramatic
change of course in 2011.
Adding HUD’s name to a new “Federal Radon Action Plan” promoted by various
cabinet agencies, federal housing of cials promised to gure out how HUD
employees could collect baseline data on radon during inspections of public
housing. HUD would also incorporate testing and radon removal into “as many
agency programs as possible,” including public housing.
Once again, the department failed to deliver.
Three times the agency pushed back its deadline before announcing it wouldn’t
produce a plan for testing during inspections, blaming a lack of funding.
The possibility of forcing local housing authorities to test public housing for
radon was also under discussion, said Gant, the former HUD of cial involved in
radon planning.
Sandra Henriquez, HUD’s former assistant secretary in charge of public housing,
said she could not remember why she and other of cials opted for voluntary
testing instead.
But Gant recalled the reason: Mandatory testing “was too hard.”
“It would require political support on the Hill ,” he said, “and it would have
required a lot of money.”
Instead, Henriquez issued a memo in February 2013 warning housing authorities
about “the dangers of radon.”
Voluntary testing was encouraged.
Henriquez went on to lead Detroit’s housing authority. She has not ordered radon
testing in her city.