Provides for lead hazard risk assessments for certain child care facilities and prekindergarten programs. (8/1/26) (EG INCREASE SG EX See Note)

Senate Bill 274 amends Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:2351.28 to expand the state's lead hazard detection requirements for child care and prekindergarten facilities. The legislation replaces the existing inspection-based framework with a risk assessment model, broadening the scope of covered facilities to include licensed early learning centers, federally-regulated daycare centers, public prekindergarten programs within public elementary schools, and approved nonpublic prekindergarten programs within nonpublic elementary schools. Instead of requiring an inspector to conduct an inspection, the law now mandates that a risk assessor conduct a risk assessment of the facility and grounds for lead hazards at least thirty calendar days before the facility commences operations. The bill also expands the existing data collection authority granted to the Department of Environmental Quality secretary to explicitly include the analysis and reporting of data related to lead hazard detection and reduction activities.

The bill affects facility owners, operators, and governing authorities of covered early learning and prekindergarten facilities first placed in operation on or after August 1, 2012, requiring them to obtain and submit risk assessment results prior to receiving an operating license. The Louisiana Department of Education, Louisiana Department of Health, and Department of Environmental Quality are directly impacted through new reporting and coordination responsibilities. Specifically, the Department of Education must provide written notice to the DEQ and LDH upon receipt of licensure applications for covered facilities, and all three agencies must receive and review risk assessment results before licensure is granted. The risk assessor and facility owner must report findings to the state health officer, LDH, DOE, and the DEQ secretary, with results ultimately compiled in the annual Louisiana Health Report Card. The practical effect creates a coordinated multi-agency oversight mechanism while placing the burden of obtaining and maintaining compliance documentation on facility operators.

The legislation operates within the existing environmental quality framework established in R.S. 30:2351.28 while modifying the compliance mechanism from individual inspections to standardized risk assessments. The bill preserves exemptions for facilities or grounds that have been inspected, assessed, or remediated since 1978, ensuring that previously addressed lead hazards do not trigger redundant assessments. By requiring risk assessments conducted by certified risk assessors rather than general inspectors, the law raises the technical standards for lead hazard evaluation in facilities serving young children. The requirement that risk assessments be submitted to multiple state agencies reflects Louisiana's framework of coordinating environmental quality oversight with education and health licensing, leveraging existing inter-agency agreement authority to implement the expanded program.