Current Events > Biden admin weakens proposed housing safety requirements

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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/biden-administration-weakens-some-proposed-safety-rules-public-housing-alarming-n1273860

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has backed away from new health and safety requirements for public housing that would require fire extinguishers, a minimum number of electrical outlets and other measures intended to protect residents from serious and potentially life-threatening hazards, according to the latest draft of the new standards.

Housing industry groups had urged HUD to ease some of these requirements, saying they would be too burdensome for landlords alarming some tenant advocates who were caught off guard by the recent changes.

It was surprising because we thought they were moving in a positive direction in a lot of ways. So it was disappointing that there was a retrenchment, said Michael Kane, executive director of the National Alliance of HUD Tenants, an advocacy group. The stronger version is important for people's health and safety.

The standards are part of a sweeping, yearslong overhaul that aims to strengthen HUDs inspection system for federally subsidized housing, including traditional public housing, Section 8 rentals and homes for older people with low incomes.

Under the new inspection system, which is still under development, the agency has significantly expanded the number of severe hazards that landlords must fix quickly, put more emphasis on the condition of residential units than building exteriors and added a slew of new safety and health requirements that tenant advocates have broadly supported. Since last year, however, HUD has also eliminated or relaxed some stricter proposed inspection standards in a number of key areas, according to NBC News analysis of the draft proposals.

Originally, HUD proposed requiring at least one fire extinguisher per floor, according to the first draft of the standards released in July 2020, calling it a life-threatening issue. The agency has since eliminated the requirement and will only consider fire extinguishers to be missing if there is evidence of prior installation, such as a bracket on the wall, according to the latest draft of the standards, released in April.

HUD similarly removed a proposed requirement for a minimum number of working electrical outlets in bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens and bathrooms that was included in the initial draft. A minimum outlet standard is required by many cities and states as part of their building codes to reduce the risk of electrical fires from overloaded outlets, and to minimize the use of extension cords.

The agency also loosened requirements for fans and windows in bathrooms critical to preventing mold and ground fault circuit interrupters for outlets near water, which are proven to reduce the risk of electrocution but are not always required by local authorities in older housing. HUDs proposed rules now allow for alternate means of dehumidification for bathrooms and outlet protection methods that include, but are not limited to GFCI protection. (Its not clear what other protection methods the HUD rule refers to.)

HUD denied weakening protections for residents and said providing safe and sanitary housing is a top priority for the Biden administration.

The initial draft standard for fire extinguishers had been misinterpreted, so HUD clarified it in the following version, the agency said. Other standards were modified after officials determined that the originally proposed changes would require additional rule-making to be implemented. The agency stressed that the new system is still under development.

HUD will continue to make updates to the standards as necessary before their final publication, Ashley Sheriff, an acting deputy assistant secretary for HUD's Real Estate Assessment Center, said in a statement. She added the agency would be guided by input from thousands of demonstration inspections as well as substantial additional dialogue with residents, property owners and agents, public housing agencies and other stakeholders.

But as they currently stand, some of HUDs proposed requirements fall short of the minimum standards for residential housing set by the International Code Council and the National Fire Protection Association, which develop public safety codes that many state and local governments have adopted.

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Pure nonsense. You can't tell me that fans and fire extinguishers cost that much. And walking back something you called a life threatening issue is ghoulish.

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Antifar posted...

The agency also loosened requirements for fans and windows in bathrooms critical to preventing mold and ground fault circuit interrupters for outlets near water, which are proven to reduce the risk of electrocution but are not always required by local authorities in older housing. HUDs proposed rules now allow for alternate means of dehumidification for bathrooms and outlet protection methods that include, but are not limited to GFCI protection. (Its not clear what other protection methods the HUD rule refers to.)

The hell?

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Biden: Better than Trump, but still pretty lousy.

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Solar_Crimson posted...

Biden: Better than Trump, but still pretty lousy.

None of us were necessarily "pro-Biden," rather we were all just "anti-Trump."

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