BILL REQ. #:  S-1619.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/13/09.   

     AN ACT Relating to the installation of carbon monoxide alarms in dwelling units; adding a new section to chapter 19.27 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature recognizes that carbon monoxide poses a serious threat. According to national statistics from the centers for disease control, carbon monoxide kills more than five hundred people and accounts for an estimated twenty thousand emergency department visits annually. Specifically, Washington state has experienced the dire effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. In the storms that struck Washington in December 2006, it was estimated that over one thousand people in the state were seen at hospital emergency rooms with symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, and eight people reportedly died of carbon monoxide exposure. It is the intent of the legislature to implement policies to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 19.27 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) By July 1, 2010, the building code council shall adopt rules requiring that all buildings classified as residential occupancies, as defined in the state building code in chapter 51-54 WAC, be equipped with carbon monoxide alarms.
     (2) The building code council may phase in the carbon monoxide alarm requirements on a schedule that it determines reasonable, provided that the rules require that by January 1, 2011, all newly constructed buildings classified as residential occupancies will be equipped with carbon monoxide alarms, and all other buildings classified as residential occupancies will be equipped with carbon monoxide alarms by January 1, 2013.
     (3) The building code council may exempt categories of buildings classified as residential occupancies if it determines that requiring carbon monoxide alarms are unnecessary to protect the health and welfare of the occupants.
     (4) The rules adopted by the building code council under this section must (a) consider applicable nationally accepted standards and (b) require that the maintenance of a carbon monoxide alarm in a building where a tenancy exists, including the replacement of batteries, is the responsibility of the tenant, who shall maintain the alarm as specified by the manufacturer.