Summary: To promote radon testing, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began a public information campaign and gave states grants to encourage radon testing by home owners. Although this effort appears to have significantly heightened public awareness of the problem, only nine percent of home owners surveyed have actually tested their residences. As a result, an EPA-convened panel recommended in May 1992 that the current voluntary approach be continued but with certain programmatic changes. These changes include targeting areas where radon levels are considered high and promoting testing and mitigation at the time of real estate transactions. To support state radon efforts, Congress authorized a grant program for yearly grants of $10 million for three years. Funds for this program were recently extended for a fourth year through fiscal year 1993. Although information to measure states' success in promoting testing by home owners was generally unavailable, GAO did identify some state projects that have increased radon testing by targeting homes in areas with potentially high radon levels. In two states that GAO surveyed, the voluntary use of disclosure statements as part of a real estate sales contract was common; in one state, radon testing often took place during real estate transactions in areas with high radon levels. For the most part, the six housing agencies and federally chartered secondary mortgage institutions that finance or insure much of the nation's housing do not require either testing for radon or the disclosure of radon information for participation in their programs.
