RECEIVED Committee on Finance
October 31, 2018
T8 OCT 30 PM U'> 21 n m ?¦
.us cm City Council Meeting
OFFICE Or THE CITY CLERK
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Chicago currently has 360,000 lead service lines, the largest number of lead service lines in the country; and
WHEREAS, EPA standards for drinking water mandate that maximum allowable levels of lead in drinking water are 15 parts per billion, and;
WHEREAS, it is reported that over the last two years, elevated levels of lead have presented in approximately 70% ofthe almost 2,800 homes that undertook lead tests; and
WHEREAS, tap water in 3 out of 10 homes tested contained lead concentration above the maximum legally permitted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; and
WHEREAS, historically lead poisoning disproportionately impacts low-income - neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, the EPA and the U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention states that it is hazardous to consume any amount of lead; and
WHEREAS, the EPA further states that, "[i]n children, low levels of exposure have been linked to damage to the central and peripheral nervous system, learning disabilities, shorter stature, impaired hearing, and impaired formation and function of blood cells...[b]ehavior and learning problems...lower IQ and hyperactivity, slowed growth, anemia...[and]...ingestion of lead can cause seizures, coma and even death"; and
WHEREAS, infants and young children "are particularly vulnerable to lead because the physical and behavioral effects of lead occur at lower exposure levels in children than in adults...dose[s] of lead that would have little effect on an adult can have a significant effect on a child..." and;
WHEREAS, the indirect cost of lead poisoning nationally is documented, with experts estimating that elimination of lead nationally has the potential to save $200 billion per year; and
WHEREAS, the Illinois General Assembly, in 65 ILCS 5/8-3-19, allows a home rule municipality to increase its Real Estate Tr...
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