The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed rule to significantly lower acceptable levels of lead-based paint (LBP) and make abatement protocols much more stringent for federally assisted properties built before 1978 that undergo renovation. Responding to a 2021 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which held that EPA must exclusively consider health factors in establishing dust-lead hazard standards (DLHS) in residential dwellings, the proposed rule would lower the DLHS essentially to zero, which would potentially categorize many more properties as containing unsafe levels of lead. While the change in the DLHS standard in and of itself would not necessarily require property owners to take any action, in the event of rehabilitation of a covered property; the proposed rule would hold property owners, contractors, and others involved in the rehabilitation process to a much higher standard to satisfy EPA’s requirements for full abatement of LBP hazards. The rule as proposed would apply to most HUD-assisted housing units built before 1978, including properties with project-based or tenant-based rental assistance or FHA multifamily mortgage insurance. The proposed rule is open for public comment through October 2.