By LEE BOWMAN
Scripps Howard News Service
WASHINGTON -- In a move that marks the first federal attempt to aid tens of thousands of homeowners with properties containing potentially toxic Chinese drywall, lawmakers have acted to make them eligible for the same low-interest loans available to disaster victims.
The House on Thursday approved, without objection, an amendment to a bill dealing with small business financing that allows the federal Small Business Administration to make loans out of a disaster loan fund to homeowners who have been "adversely impacted by the installation of toxic drywall manufactured in China."
No loans would be made available until the change is also adopted by the Senate and signed by President Barack Obama.
The House action came shortly after the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced its first findings from a series of studies it is conducting in response to more than 1,300 complaints about the material. The agency, based on testing thus far, said it cannot link extensive health complaints from homeowners to the presence of the drywall in their homes.
But on the House floor, several members, including Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., and Glenn Nye, D-Va., said they have no doubt that the drywall is releasing poisonous fumes.
"The impact of Chinese drywall is no different than a hurricane or any other natural disaster," said Buchanan, who said an estimated 36,000 Floridians are affected by the toxic wallboard, out of some 100,000 homeowners nationwide. "These people can't wait indefinitely to clean up their homes."
Nye, who represents the Virginia Beach area where the material has also been extensively used, said that while the safety commission and the Environmental Protection Agency investigate, "many families simply cannot afford to wait for the test results and there is no guarantee anything will come of these efforts… we can take immediate action today for these struggling families."
The provision adopted by the House states that the loans could be used only to replace toxic drywall and repair any other damage to the home it may have caused.
