HUD and the EPA are continuing what appears to be a carrot-and-stick approach to enforcement of lead-based paint laws, handing out steep fines for those who ignore the law but also handing out help to those who want to aggressively comply.

In a five day period, HUD levied more than $600,000 worth of fines against landlords who had failed to protect children from the hazards of LBP and the EPA filed lawsuits to collect another $128,000, but the agencies also distributed some $68 million in grants to other residential building operators to assist their abatement efforts.

The agencies also signaled their intent to work with governments in other ways to ease and speed the abatement process.

On the stick side of the ledger, some $638,000 in penalties were handed out to three real estate management companies in Washington, D.C. for failing to warn hundreds of tenants that their homes may contain lead-based paint - a primary cause of lead-poisoning in children.

Borger Management, Wm. Calomiris Corporation and American Rental Management Company agreed to pay a total of $563,000 in lead paint abatement. In addition, the three companies were ordered to pay nearly $75,000 in penalties for violating the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act.

In a separate action, EPA also announced it had filed an administrative case seeking $128,920 in monetary penalties against San-Tex Lumber Co., a property management firm in San Antonio, Texas. This EPA enforcement

In more positive action, awarded $68.3 million for lead abatement and testing to a wide number of state and community organizations.

The money is to help owners remove lead-based paint from some 8,000 privately owned low-income homes in 16 states where approximately 12,000 children and their families live. A portion of the money - about $7.5 million - was given in "Healthy Homes" initiative grants to help protect the health of nearly 18,000 children in seven states.

Another $800,000 in grant money was awarded for lead hazard research to discover new technologies and methods for lead abatement.

HUD, the EPA and the state of Massachusetts also announced they had reached an agreement allowing lead-based paint debris to be put into ordinary landfill dumps, an agreement that suddenly makes abatement a lot cheaper.

Prior to the agreement, dust and other material from lead-paint abatement had been considered "hazardous waste," which is expensive to get rid of. The new agreement makes the debris "ordinary waste," which may be put in landfills.

Typically, it costs about $7,500 to remove lead-based paint from homes, including about $600 to dispose of debris.

The Massachusetts accord is expected to soon be extended nationwide.