The Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency director updated the Committee on Legislation on July 1 about the city's LEHI lead-hazard remediation grant, saying policy changes in 2023–24 increased the program’s throughput but a federal decision blocked a second extension and curtailed future contracting.

The director said the original HUD grant began in January 2021 and that when the agency’s current leadership took office in September 2022 the program had made little progress. After hiring new staff in 2023 and requesting program adjustments from HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control, the agency received approval in January 2024 to change rules that had limited participation. The director described specific changes: allowing vacant units to be served, revising the definition of “small-scale” landlords so owners of up to five properties could qualify, replacing liens with affordability agreements, and shortening the required child-presence threshold from 20 hours to eight hours.

The director said the changes, plus an extension granted earlier, allowed the program to operate citywide rather than only in selected census tracts and to create a contractor-capacity program that certified additional lead supervisors and workers. “We got a group of 7 supervisor certifications for lead, and then laborers and workers, we got another 5,” the director said. The director reported that about 76 individuals had been served and the program was on track for roughly 96, including approximately 46 children identified as helped by the work.

The director said the original grant award was $2,000,000 and that the bureau was “very close to spending about a million” after the changes. He told the committee that a change in federal administration produced new executive-order guidance that prevented a second extension and that when the agency sought another extension in May it was denied. As a result, the director said the agency ceased taking new applications and worked with Erie County and community partners to transfer clients in the pipeline. He said July 4 was the final date the agency could enter new contracts and that any obligations had to be expended by November of the grant period; the director said he would return with a full report in December outlining numbers served and funds spent.

Council members pressed for clearer, earlier communication and asked for data on inspections, permits and the scope of work funded through Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and other city programs. Council Member Wyatt, who filed the item, asked about the timetable and how many dwellings had been addressed. Members raised concerns about policy hurdles that discouraged participation, such as paperwork requirements and liens, and emphasized the need to coordinate inspections, contractor capacity, and community outreach.

Committee action: the committee opened discussion, received the agency briefing and later voted to table the agenda item for follow-up. The transcript records motions to open and to table; the motion to table was seconded by Council Member Rivera. The director said remaining pipeline items included about 11 additional participants (eight in contract and three awaiting signature) representing roughly $135,000 and about 10 families, and that some remedies will continue through county-administered programs and city CDBG efforts.

The director described the agency’s substitutions of affordability agreements for liens, contractor scholarships to increase certified capacity, and revisions to eligibility that he said raised the program’s output by “about 500%” compared with the prior pace. Council members asked for a consolidated source of reporting so they could share accurate information with constituents and to understand how other city programs (proactive rental inspections, CDBG-funded rehab, vacant rental property and accessory dwelling unit programs) interface with lead remediation activities.

The committee tabled the item for follow-up and the director committed to return with a full report in December with final figures on households served and funds expended.