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Legislative Update
By STEPHANIE GRAVES, HAA Legislative Chair, with BRADLEY PEPPER, Vice President of Government Affairs
CARBON MONOXIDE SAFETY HAA and Harris County Fire Marshal team up for safety.
CARBOM MONOXIDE IS a silent killer. It’s rarely a problem in the southern United States, but last winter’s freeze and associated power outages led to several fatalities – mostly involving people trying to use gas-powered generators improperly. Both Houston and unincorporated Harris County are phasing in new carbon monoxide alarm requirements. By 2025, every apartment unit in a building with either enclosed garages or
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any gas appliances will need to have an approved carbon monoxide alarm. One missing element, however, is in the process of being corrected. Though it should be common sense, Harris County’s fire code, which applies in the unincorporated areas of the county, did not actually ban the unsafe use of certain things that can produce carbon monoxide. The Harris County Fire Marshal, along with the
Houston Apartment Association, is proposing an amendment to the county fire code that would prohibit “charcoal burners, LP-gas cooking appliances, open-flame cooking devices, gas and fuel fired heaters or any other solid, liquid or gas fueled appliance” from being stored or used in an apartment or on an apartment patio or balcony. The amendment would also prohibit “vehicles, portable generators, lawn-care equipment and / See Legislative, Page 59
February 2022
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