Law proposed to require carbon monoxide detectors
Would make installation mandatory at all rental properties
By Bryan P. Sears
bsears@patuxent.com
Posted 11/04/09
Owners of rental properties could be required to install carbon monoxide detectors under a new law proposed Wednesday by County Executive Jim Smith.
Baltimore County firefighters responded to more than 1,300 incidents carbon monoxide poisoning last year. The department projects it will be called to about 1,400 incidents this year.
Smith said the law is needed because carbon monoxide poisoning “poses a serious threat to the health and safety of people in Baltimore County.”
Smith said the carbon monoxide poisoning-related deaths of three people at an apartment complex in Essex in July 2005 as well as an incident in June in which eight people were taken to the hospital, were part of the reason behind the proposed law.
“We’re doing it now to protect folks now and in the future. We think it is sound legislation,” Smith said. “We think it will prevent things like what happened in 2005.”
Carbon monoxide poisoning cases are not uncommon especially in the fall and winter as temperatures drop and people turn on their furnaces — one of the main sources of the odorless and colorless toxic gas, according to Baltimore County Fire Department Chief John Hohman.
The gas binds to red blood cells, displacing oxygen, according to county Health Officer Dr. Gregory Branch. Symptoms include nausea, headaches and dizziness; high levels of the gas can be fatal.
Sources of the gas typically come from improperly vented gas stoves and clothes dryers, gas generators being used inside of or too close to a house and automobiles left running in garages, according to Hohman.
Smith said he is just now proposing the legislation because it took time to develop a “greater appreciation of the nature of the problem and the potential causes” and that urging on the part of the county health officer and more information from the fire chief led him to conclude “that we really should do something legislative for this.”
The proposed law would require owners of rental units including the 15,000 properties in the county rental registration program as well as all apartment complexes to install at least one carbon monoxide detector in common areas outside bedrooms.
The detector can be combined with a smoke detector but must be either wired into the electrical system or plugged into an outlet that is not controlled by a wall switch. The units must also have a battery backup.
The property owner would have to provide certification of installation to the county and product information to at least one adult per rental unit. Residents would then be responsible to replace batteries and would not be allowed to disable the detectors.
The county would enforce the law through its rental registration program as well as by making spot checks of rental properties. Violations would be subject to a fine of $200 per day.
Prince George’s County and Ocean City have similar laws on the books.
State law already requires the monitors for rental units built after Jan. 1, 2008.
Smith’s bill will be formally introduced at the council’s Nov. 14 meeting. A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 15 with a final vote expected on Dec. 21.
If approved, the bill would take effect 45 days later. Property owners would then have up to a year to install the detectors.
Katherine Howard, general counsel for the Maryland Multi-Housing Association said the cost of the bill is not yet fully known.
“It is not inexpensive to do for these owners,” Howard said. “However, the industry is very willing to be a participant in this and thinks this is a good item to make a priority in the next 12-18 months of working together with the county.”
Baltimore County firefighters responded to more than 1,300 incidents carbon monoxide poisoning last year. The department projects it will be called to about 1,400 incidents this year.
Smith said the law is needed because carbon monoxide poisoning “poses a serious threat to the health and safety of people in Baltimore County.”
Smith said the carbon monoxide poisoning-related deaths of three people at an apartment complex in Essex in July 2005 as well as an incident in June in which eight people were taken to the hospital, were part of the reason behind the proposed law.
“We’re doing it now to protect folks now and in the future. We think it is sound legislation,” Smith said. “We think it will prevent things like what happened in 2005.”
Carbon monoxide poisoning cases are not uncommon especially in the fall and winter as temperatures drop and people turn on their furnaces — one of the main sources of the odorless and colorless toxic gas, according to Baltimore County Fire Department Chief John Hohman.
The gas binds to red blood cells, displacing oxygen, according to county Health Officer Dr. Gregory Branch. Symptoms include nausea, headaches and dizziness; high levels of the gas can be fatal.
Sources of the gas typically come from improperly vented gas stoves and clothes dryers, gas generators being used inside of or too close to a house and automobiles left running in garages, according to Hohman.
Smith said he is just now proposing the legislation because it took time to develop a “greater appreciation of the nature of the problem and the potential causes” and that urging on the part of the county health officer and more information from the fire chief led him to conclude “that we really should do something legislative for this.”
The proposed law would require owners of rental units including the 15,000 properties in the county rental registration program as well as all apartment complexes to install at least one carbon monoxide detector in common areas outside bedrooms.
The detector can be combined with a smoke detector but must be either wired into the electrical system or plugged into an outlet that is not controlled by a wall switch. The units must also have a battery backup.
The property owner would have to provide certification of installation to the county and product information to at least one adult per rental unit. Residents would then be responsible to replace batteries and would not be allowed to disable the detectors.
The county would enforce the law through its rental registration program as well as by making spot checks of rental properties. Violations would be subject to a fine of $200 per day.
Prince George’s County and Ocean City have similar laws on the books.
State law already requires the monitors for rental units built after Jan. 1, 2008.
Smith’s bill will be formally introduced at the council’s Nov. 14 meeting. A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 15 with a final vote expected on Dec. 21.
If approved, the bill would take effect 45 days later. Property owners would then have up to a year to install the detectors.
Katherine Howard, general counsel for the Maryland Multi-Housing Association said the cost of the bill is not yet fully known.
“It is not inexpensive to do for these owners,” Howard said. “However, the industry is very willing to be a participant in this and thinks this is a good item to make a priority in the next 12-18 months of working together with the county.”
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